Joe posted on July 30, 2010 12:38
Weekend of the 10th-11th July
It was well supported by all the Atom Clubs and first and foremost we congratulate Dawn and her team for a job well done in running the tournament and organising the Picnic for the teams. It was a great bonding session even though the weather could have been nicer. Next year we have to get the Big Cohuna on our side.
LCC Saints kicked off the morning games with one team member short, Mathew Wu who had to play a representative soccer match. Special thanks to the Okabe family as well for bringing down our defence player Calvin Kwan to join his team mates in the tournament as his Mom had work commitments.
Our team’s first game was against the Senators and we played extremely well coming out the victors. This set the course of the morning for the Saints with the highlight being a goal scored by Calvin Kwan from the blue line. Zac Okabe as usual put his heart and soul into the games and led his team to victory. Sam Brennan followed suit and got a couple of goals in as well. With quick changes and team supporting each other from the bench we won 2 games and drew with Canterbury Eagles.
After a team bonding exercise of bowling, we returned for the afternoon session in full force with the team pumped with lollies, thanks to Sue. The highlights of the afternoon saw Ray Brennan scoring his first goal of the season and Tianna Elaya who not only assisted but managed to score a goal of her own as well. Dylan Sables managed to stay out of the penalty box to score 2 goals after each other. Matthew Wu showed a strong sense of team spirit by turning up in the afternoon and firing shots at the opposing goalies getting most of them in. However, the Saints sugar level must have depleted as the last game of the afternoon saw the fatigue set in but that did not hinder Super Coach Bob Okabe, who pumped them up together with our personalised cheer squad and we managed to win the game. Needless to say, the parents had a good night as the kids went to bed early.
Sunday games were just as vigorous as the previous day and the end result leading into the semi finals was:
LCC Saints 1st Senators 2nd Centurians 3rd Eagles 4th
Saints versus Eagles were as usual a very intense game. Our power line worked very hard in this game to secure a place in the finals. Dylan, Calvin, Sam, Zac and Matthew did what they had to do and the team on the bench cheered and encouraged their team mates. They came off puffing and interchanged with Ryan McNeill and Tom Fleming who held the fort tremendously. I must mention that Ryan had his debut as player in the tournament and he was a force that needed boards to stop him. In addition the standout effort of our goalie Leila Okabe who was well and truly our last line of defence.
Senators versus Centurians had everyone on tenterhooks. Fulltime, they tied with no score on the board. Extra time, same results which led to a penalty shoot out! Centurians came out the victor of this match by one point, well done.
The final game between Saints versus Centurians saw the Saints having an eye on the gold medal and we came out hard putting goals on the board and we saw Madison Bric put his body on the line defending and getting in the net where he had a few shots on goal. In this game we saw Chloe Walker play her personal best getting the puc and passing it on to her team mates clearing the zone. As a result, when the final buzzer sounded, Saints went crazy and the manager had a couple of extra grey hairs. All we heard was Madison screaming at the top of his lungs and Chloe was doing her little jig.
Super coach Bob is congratulated for his dedication and motivation to the team. He encouraged all the players to play their best and to support each other as a team. Thanks to Corey Kwan who assisted Bob at the tournament mentoring the players and supporting team management. Lastly, thanks to the parents for supporting the decisions of the coach and team management. The encouragement from your cheering did not go unnoticed even at the end when the tears flowed. Bob, Annette, Susan and parents would like to say we extremely proud of the Atoms as their behaviour over the weekend was well and truly that of a team. We are proud to be the first LCC Saints Atoms team to bring home the gold.
LCC Saints would like to thank the other Clubs as we enjoyed their company during the tournament.