News for the Week of July 30, 2012

Program Notes for the Week of 7/30/2012:

Calendar for this Week:
Monday & Wednesday - Conditioning 7:30 - 9:00 a.m. at Troy

Tuesday & Thursday - Open Play 5:00 - 7:00 p.m. at Troy

Olympic Soccer:
The women are off to a good start in pool play with a victories over France & Columbia for 2-0 record.  Their next game is on Tues. 7/31 at legendary Old Trafford vs. North Korea at 12:15 p.m.  Quarterfinals are on Fri. 8/3, Semifinals on Mon. 8/6, and the final on Thurs. 8/9.  I believe most of these games are being televised on channel 323 in Avon Lake.  Google for a more exact listing.

I wish the US team could avoid the controversy that always seems to surround them.  It leaves a bad impression with the rest of the world. Every day something new pops up especially with Hope Solo & Abby Wambach.  They are not positive role models for our girls to follow.  Much better role models for the girls would be former Shoregals Annette Ilg, Jeannie Stuckey, & Meg Ryan who excelled athletically, academically, exhibited good sportmanship, and have solid personal lives.


Septic Shock Alert:
Something for all parents to at least be aware of is septic shock/septic poisoning.  The attached article reveals how dangerous this can be and how easily it can be contracted. Please give it a quick read.

Gym class cut leads to deadly sepsis in boy, 12


20th Anniversary of Shoregal Soccer:
This season we will celebrate 20 years of Shoregal soccer. That is a long time and we have had a lot of terrific girls pass through our program over the years who have set the bar high for future generations. Each week, we are going to highlight some of the important games and important people to the program over these last 20 years.

This week we will feature the Shoregals first win vs. Bay Village:

If one team in the history of Shoregal soccer has given us fits it would be Bay.  In the first 12 years of our program, Bay was unbeatable for us.  We had never beaten them in 17 games in which we lost 15 times and managed 2 ties.  Then in 2005, things began to change.  On a dreary September night at the Bay stadium, the Shoregals did something unheard of - they defeated Bay 1-0 at Bay no less.  By this point, it had become a given that Bay would beat Avon Lake - a guaranteed W on the schedule.  So, a very confident Bay team took the field that night and was not expecting the batlle they would get from the Shoregals.  The 2005 team is probably the most talented team 1 through 20 that we have ever fielded.  There was either a star or solid player at every single position.  Our team had All-Ohio players, multi-sport stars, and future college players all over the field that night.

The teams battled to a 0-0 tie at the half and there was this little feeling in the back of everyone's mind that maybe this time it would be different.  The two teams continued to battle to a scoreless draw throughout the second half. Then with about 10 minutes to go Bri Kenny forced a Bay girl to lose a ball out of bounds at midfield and then a couple of passes later the ball found the foot of Lisa Wilson who was left open on the right side of the field. She collected the ball, got herself set for a shot and blasted the ball past the Bay goalie.  The fired up Shoregals now had to brace themselves for an onslaught from Bay.   The Bay girls did come at the Shoregals hard and got off a number of good shots, but the AL defense led by sweeper Sarah Richardson and All-Ohio goalie Caitlin Bodzioney was equal to the task.  When the final whistle sounded, there was pandemonium on the field as they had finally beaten Bay.  The pure joy of the moment was amazing as the girls were literally rocking the school bus the whole way back to Avon Lake.  I have never heard that much noise come out of a school bus.  That win set up a turnaround in the AL - Bay series as from 2005-2009 our record vs. Bay was 2-1-2.  Unfortunately, after Bay left the SWC they eventually dropped us from their schedule and thus ended a great rivalry which featured many well played, competitive games through the years.