Last year, Emilio was supposed to play in the U-10 league as a nine-year-old, but we decided to play him up in the U-12 division. This year, all but three of his U-12 teammates aged into U-14, but Emilio was assigned to the U-12 league. He will wear the #10 jersey for the Spartans, who will play nine on a side. Above: #7 is Blake, #14 Luke, #6 Bentley, #18 Carl.
Emi starts at center forward.
Three minutes in, Emi delivers a tricky cross through traffic.
Five minutes later, he intercepts a goal kick and takes a shot that goes wide of the mark.
One minute later, in the eleventh minute, Emilio receives a throw-in from Blake, dribbles through the box and scores his first goal of the season to break a scoreless tie.
Three minutes later, Emilio intercepts another goal kick and scores his second, to put the Spartans up 2-0.
A third, first-half goal followed. After his shot struck the cross bar, Emilio recovered the rebound, and sneaked it through a crowd of feet to give the Spartans a 3-0 lead. When I was reviewing it at home after the game, I accidentally hit the "delete" button. Arrrggghh!
In the seventeenth minute, it's Emi on a breakaway. He niftily slips by two defenders before crashing into a charging goalie.
A few minutes later, Emilio serves up his first assist: a dribbler to Devin.
Another intercept almost leads to a fourth goal, but the goalkeeper makes a great save.
Goal #4 comes early in the second half. We're up 5-0 now, and the coach encourages Emilio to "make a pass."
Two minutes later, Emi takes a tumble, recovers, hustles to the end line and strikes a sweet feed that Blake puts in the back of the net.
Three minutes later, Emi steals the ball and sends the ball through a narrow window between the sidebar and the goal keeper's outstretched hands. That's goal #5. Carl asks Emi for a little dab, and Emi gives him a taste. At this point, I start taking photos.
Goal number six follows a fine crosser from Garrett (not pictured).
Final score: Spartans 11, Sting 1. Emi finishes with six goals and has three assists.
