Emi's Surprise Tourney: Day Two

Early in the first half of Emi's second tournament game with the U-14 team, Emi subbed in as a left forward and took a push in the box.

He later took another.
We were down 1-0 throughout much of the first half, before an own goal following a corner knotted us with Real Madill, 1-1. which remained the score at half-time.

Emi started the second half at forward.

11:36

This score by Phillip put us up for the first time in the game: 2-1. Alas, I did not record the pass Emi made to set up this run. It was probably Emi's tournament highlight.
After Madill tied it up again, another scoring run by Phillip gave us a 3-2 advantage.
11:43


11:50: With Phillip playing back on defense alongside Sam and Eli, Emilio led the forward line and delivered a nice pass to Ian.
Final score: Ada Energy 3, Real Madill 2. And after three matches, with one match to go, Ada Energy is in first place with a 1:30 p.m. match with Duncan awaiting.

Coach Rhoades chose Emi to start at forward in the final first-round game of the tournament.
Emi played hard. Unfortunately, the team did not enjoy many highlights. We were down 1-0 at half, couldn't make up the deficit, and did not advance. Ugh. The agony of defeat.

Tournament Surprise!

After watching Nina's team play in their first Monsterball Tournament game in Ardmore, Emilio skipped a lunch date at Pizza Hut to watch the first tournament game for the U-14 Ada Energy, which includes many teammates (Sam, Angel, Logan, Dexter, Colton, Ian) from the U-12 team Emilio played on last year as a nine-year-old. When Nina's coach saw Emilio, he asked him if wanted to play. "Yes!" was the answer, and after talking to the U-14 coach, he made it happen. So after Pablo's game in Atoka ended, he and I drove back to Ada to pick up Emi's cleats, shorts, and shin guards, and headed down to Ardmore. Emi wore Nina's jersey (because the U-14 team already had a #10; they also had a #7, but we didn't know that) and yellow socks borrowed from Dex, who couldn't stick around the U-14's 5 p.m. game against the Ardmore Thunder (whom the Energy lost to 5-4 when they played on September 24th).
Emi subbed in at left midfielder, with the score 1-0 in our favor, and almost connected on a corner. Afterwards, he looked over at me, thinking "Did you see how close I was to making that?"


From the defensive end of the field, Emi forwarded the ball to set up a score by #29, center forward, Phillip Jones--Emi's best play of the game. Phillip gave Emilio a high-five just before I took this picture.

We went into half-time leading 3-0.
Emi came again at left midfielder in the second half.

Final score: Ada Energy 4, Ardmore Thunder 2.
At the end of the first day of the Tournament, the Ada Energy is tied for second place with Woodward (the team they played to a 1-1 tie in Saturday's first game), and Emilio has been invited back to play in the Energy's 10:30 game against Real Madill on Sunday (whom the Energy beat 3-0 on September 10th).

Season Ten, Game Four: Spartans vs. Midwest City Force

The Force score first. And then, sixteen minutes in, Emi's first ties it up 1-1.
Ten minutes later, seconds before halftime, Emi intercepts a careless goal kick and wastes no time in netting it.  We go in to halftime leading 3-2.
Late in the second half, Emilio hangs around the top of the box and is Johnny-on-the-spot when Blake gets him a free ball. That's goal #3, and we're up 4-2. Unless they called Devin (#2) for being offsides and disallow the goal? Emi takes Blake's inbounds and wills it off the goal-keeper's mitts and the far post and into the net.

Coach says we win 5-4  (I thought it was 6-4). Our record is now: 4-0.
Emi scores four, giving him seventeen through four games.
Next up:  Tournament play on Saturday, October 22.

Season Ten, Game Three: Spartans vs. Harrah Punishers

At 1:16, Emi escapes the goalkeeper and serves a sweet assist to Devin for the first score of game.

One minute later, Emi almost gets Devin another. After Devin loses control, Emi comes across the field steals the ball, loses it, gets it back again and gets off a shot from near the top of the box that hits the net, and we're up 2-0.
Thirteen minutes later, Emi takes control near midfield and takes a shot from the top of the box. That's goal #2 for Emi.
Just seconds into the second half, Emi picks a pocket and makes scoring his third look easy. Mami likes.
Three minutes later, Blake's corner makes it all the way across the field and back before Emilio's foot finds it off the bounce and converts it into his fourth goal of the game.
Emi uses his body to take control of this one and get it in the net following another Blake corner, but he is called for offsides, and the goal does not count.

After the coaches tell Emilio to spread the love, Emi takes a throw-in and delivers a good-looking crosser to Bentley that's just a little too fast.
Emilio uses his thigh to field this bouncing throw-in from Blake and converts it into his fifth goal of the game.

Spartans win 10-1 and have a 3-0 record on the season.
Emi scores 5 goals and has 13 through three games.

Season Ten, Game Two: Spartans vs. the Seminole Razor . . . and the Rain

We believed today's Sunday afternoon match up in Shawnee was going to be canceled because of the rain. It rained hard Saturday night, Sunday's games played in Ada were cancelled, and it rained on the drive up. We were supposed to arrive thirty minutes before kickoff, but after we had to return to the house to pick up Emi's green jersey, in case it was needed (it was), we arrived fifteen minutes before kickoff to find that the coaches and official had agreed to start the game ten minutes ahead of the scheduled start time to get in and out of the rain as quickly as possible. Emi made it just in time for the ritual cleat inspection and then, for the first time since the first game of last year, when he was playing up with a team he hadn't practiced with, started the game on the sideline. When the Razor scored, about ten to fifteen minutes in, Emilio subbed in at center forward. Not long afterwards, he got off the shot-on-goal below with such suddenness that I didn't see where the ball went.
As it turns out, the Razor goalkeeper made a great save.



Seven minutes later, the battery I put in two days ago is blinking, and I don't have any in reserve. I am so grateful that I have enough juice to catch Emi delivering one of his best ever: a double swerve, through-the-legs, Luke-Skywalker-into-a-narrow-Death-Star-channel laser between the goalkeeper and the far post. And the score is tied. Wait for the post-goal smile.


Because the battery is dying, after I shoot a video, it takes the camera a long time to get ready for the next shot, so I miss Emilio robbing the ball from the Razor on the ensuing kickoff and weaving his way through the defense. But I do not miss the shot he scores a mere minute after the first to give the Spartans the lead: 2-1.

At half time, I jump in the van and rush to the nearest gas station, where I buy replacement batteries. By the time I get back, the second half has already started, after an abbreviated half-time.

Emi gets bumped to the ground a number of times in the second half. The score remains 2-1 throughout until almost the end of the game, when we get in a late comforter.

Final score: Spartans win, 3-1.
Emi scores 2 and has 8 through two games.
Our record: 2-0.

Season Ten, Game One: Spartans vs. the Choctaw Sting

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.

A corner.

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.

Emilio 1, Duolingo 0

Emilio conquers Duolingo's Spanish Skill Tree the night before he starts 5th grade.
Estoy orgulloso de él.