Girls’ squad takes on coed team
Optimist Soccer’s The Rockets took on a U-10 coed team from Pilot Mountain sponsored by Mezzy’s Pizza on Saturday.
The Rockets is a girls U-9 team made-up of 7-and 8-year olds. The team was given an option of picking up two 10-year old boys and an older girl to help it become more evenly matched with the Pilot Mountain squad, but members refused the offer.
“It takes a special group of young ladies to look at their coach and say, ‘We don’t need the help,’” said Rockets Coach Craig Smith.
And indeed, they did not need the help. Both teams delivered strong play, splitting the four game match up with two wins each. The Rockets hold the winning record in the series, however. The girl’s team has bested the older coed squad, 2-1.
The Rockets, made up of Madison Flynn, Cady Barlow, Amelia Baskin, Lily Smith, Regan Robinson, Riley Robinson, Ellie Pearsall, Abbey Rice and Veronica Matheson, are the older team in the Optimist U8/U9 girls division. Smith praised his squad for coming back from two points down in the first half of Saturday’s match.
“The halftime score was Pilot Mountain 2 and the Rockets 0. In the third quarter, the Rockets got on the scoreboard with a goal by Abbey Rice in the third quarter,” Smith said. “In the fourth quarter, Ellie Pearsall had a great assist for Lily Smith to kick home the tying goal. Not too much later, Lily Smith put the winning goal on the back of the net … The Rockets believed in themselves individually and in their teammates to take on the challenge.”
To learn more about Optimist Youth Sports, email Program Director Daniel Levstek at program_director@bellsouth.net or go to http://www.wsoptimist.com.Chronicle Staff Report
