The U-11 Krush Academy Blue had an excellent weekend of soccer. On Oct 13th they had an early 8am start and maintained possession for most of the first half. Bella G started the scoring after a perfect one-two pass with Izzy P. Minutes later, Izzy P gave the Krush a 2-0 halftime lead with a rip from the outside of the 6 yard box at a tough angle. Their opponents tied the score early in the second half with two quick hard fought goals and the Krush found themselves in an intense competitive game throughout the second half. Solid midfield play by Amanda M, Sabrina T, Nina K, Bella G, Chrissy P, and Alexa S helped create several chances throughout the second half. The score remained tied 2-2 until Sabrina T beat her opponent to a loose ball, turned, and made a great pass to Chrissy P who beat the last defender and slipped the ball past the keeper to take a 3-2 lead midway through the second half. Natalia M, Kiele M, Izzy P, and Arielle P anchored the defense with some sure, strong play. Late in the second half, Natalia M iced the game when she took a quick, low, hard shot which gave the Krush a 4-2 lead that would stand for a nice well earned victory. With only two subs, every Krush player contributed tremendously and showed a lot of heart during the well played match. The second game of the weekend was on Oct 14th at the beautiful fields in Deltona. The Krush played an evenly matched game for the first 10 minutes until Amanda M broke the scoreless tie with a left foot blast from 12 yards out to give the Krush a 1-0 lead. Midway through the first half, the Krush elevated their play with some great passing as they opened up the field and distributed the ball wide. This was led by midfielders and forwards Nina K, Alexa S, Bella G, Amanda M, Izzy P, Chrissy P, and Alison B. The nice play paid off when Izzy P dribbled into the box and calmly beat the keeper to give the Krush a 2-0 lead. The first half defense was led by Kiele M, Arielle P, Natalia M, Savannah C, and Kaitlin M who carried the Krush to a first half shutout. Their opponents played tough throughout the game and helped cause an unlucky own goal to close the gap to 2-1 at the start of the second half. While playing goalie, Nina K came up with three big saves including a diving effort to stop a ball on the goal line. The Krush continued their excellent passing and ball movement which created some exciting runs and near misses by Arielle P, Alison B, and Chrissy P. Then, midway through the second half, Chrissy P broke free and beat the keeper for her 5th goal of the season. Later in the half, Kaitlin M ripped a shot from 11 yards out which proved to be too much for the goal keeper to handle giving the Krush a 4-1 lead. The Krush finished the game with solid play to earn another well played “W”. The U-11 Krush Blue played nice soccer over the weekend which was led by great passing, movement, defending, and teamwork. All players played different positions throughout the games which is excellent for their overall individual development as well as team chemistry. Coach Mike is pleased with the progress the team has made throughout the season and acknowledges they still have a lot of work ahead of them.