This morning, Kenna's team played Souli's La Roca team in the semi-finals. I prayed this morning that Kenna would do her best and that when it was all done and over, that she would feel good about the way she played. It's tough being a keeper and having such pressure, but she really does love it and thrives on the pressure. She is awesome. She was diving all over the place to save the ball and in the end her team beat La Roca 1-0. Her teammates were saying "Kenna for MVP" It was amazing and Ray was ecstatic!! He came over to Kenna and said "Way to go!" and held out his fist for a bump..she loved that!
They moved onto the finals at 2:00 against Sparta, whom they already played on Friday and lost 3-1. Between games the girls all hung out at Sadie's, ate Subway, messed around and tried to rest up for the game. Dad and the kids and I celebrated her victory by going to IHOP without her :)
We met back at the field with grandma and grandpa Nichol and grandma and grandpa Sill cheering her on. It was an aggressive and tough game, Sparta dominated and we played defense most of the game. Their coach was kicked off the field by the ref and one of their players received a yellow card...at this point we were winning with the score 1-0 and Sparta was not happy. In the last 10 minutes of play, they probably shot 10 times on Kenna and she blocked every single one...then they got one in off a corner kick and we were tied. It was sad because the girl was really off-sides, but the middle ref couldn't see it and the line ref, who should have been watching the game was busy talking to the coach that had been kicked off the field but instead he was hiding still coaching from the sideline, didn't see it either and so the middle ref had to make the call and decided it was a goal. We were all devastated and so sad for our girls. Bad referee's can really mess up a game. In the end, after one ten-minute overtime and into the second overtime with 2 minutes left to play, Sparta made a goal and it was over...golden goal. It was a tough loss. Sparta's girls and coaches were cocky and arrogant and not the best winners. Their goalie even yelled at Ray. All in all, it was a great tournament...the girls worked hard to bring home 1st place for Ray, but 2nd is close to it and they should be extremely proud! Kenna's knees and sides are covered with dirt and bruises...she is one touch chick!
