How many hats can Emi wear?

The Spartans are playing this game without Blake, who usually plays center mid and is the heart of the defense. Before the game, Coach Underwood tells Emilio he will be playing him some at center mid, which means more distributing, more defense, and fewer shots on goal. It also means he'll make the throw-ins and kick the corners and, therefore, won't get to wait in the box for the corners to come to him).
Emi did a great job on the corners.
The first scoring opportunity in the game comes when Emilio gets fouled in the box. His penalty kick bounces off somebody's butt and comes back to him. His second kick almost gets in. Three minutes later, Emilio's corner kick comes back out to him, and he delivers a bending strike into a narrow gap between the keeper and the post to put us up, 1-0. Seventeen minutes later, we're down 2-4 (!), when Emilio makes a run that produces another strike between the goalkeeper and the near post, and we're within one at halftime. Emilio starts the second half at his usual position--forward--and it doesn't take long for him to get this one off. And that's the hat trick.
Three minutes later he makes a great crossing pass with the left to Bentley. Three minutes after that, he makes a great pass to Gareth. Eight minutes later, we are losing 4-8 (!), and another team is walking behind me, when Emilio hustles into the corner to steal the ball and nutmeg the defender. You can hear their admiring "ooooooo." You can also hear Emi's mama shouting encouragement. The play ends with Emi winning a corner.
For the first time in this game, someone other than Emilio makes the corner kick. Emilio assumes his place on the edge of the box and with perfect economy delivers a strike to the near post. That's #4 on the game. According to my good friends on the internet, that's called a "haul." And we're down 5-8. One minute later, Emilio steals the ball and delivers a great pass to Gareth. His first shot is blocked, but his second is clean, and we're down 6-8. Gareth dabs afterward, to the displeasure of his vocal dad/coach. Two minutes later, Emilio backs off to avoid an offsides call. Shortly afterwards, Gareth scores, but the point is nullified because Gareth is ruled offsides. Video replay suggests that he was not offsides at all. Two minutes later, Emilio gets loose on another run, and his kick is true. That's #5 on the day--a "glut"?--and we're down 7-8. Two minutes later, Emilio steals the ball and pops in his sixth goal of the day. That's a double hat-trick, and the score is tied 8-8.

Unfortunately, CNP Sting sneak in their ninth goal of the game just before the final whistle. If we'd had Blake in midfield, I think we would have won this one.

Emi's six goals (how many hats can Emi wear? Today, the answers is: two) give him twenty-nine goals in nine U-12 games this season. Our division record is 4-2; our tournament record is 1-2.

Spartan Team Pic

Front row, from left to right: Luke (defense), Christian (defense), Gage (goalkeeper), Tristan (defense/forward), Gareth (right forward), Devin (left forward). Back row, from left to right: Ethan (defense), Blake (center mid), Carl (defense/injured), Caden (defense), Tyler (defense), Emilio (center forward), Asher (defense). Not pictured above, but pictured below at the left end of the back row: Bentley (left/right forward).

Now starting at point guard . . .

In his second game, Emilio gets the start at point guard. He'll play the first half of each quarter, and then his crew of five will rotate off to be replaced by a fresh group of subs from the bench.
This highlight reel begins with the first possession. When Emi gets passed back to, he is open and launches one from the top of the key. It doesn't hit the mark, but it's close, and shows the kind of confidence he plays with. He told me afterwards that he declined to take any other open shots from outside because he didn't think his coach would want him to. He was perfect on his breakaway layups, and finished with six points on the day, which probably led the team (which scored 21 points total). When he penetrates and gets stopped, he passed the ball back out, chased down lots of loose balls and nabbed several rebounds. He loves to drive and dish. And when his group left the court midway through the fourth, we were winning a game that we eventually loss by a single point.

Emi digs b-ball.