Avalanche went into
the final game with a sense of determination and resolve. It would be against
the Tracy United Fury on a very nice field used during the NFL Raiders training
camp. This time, instead of the opposition scoring early and often, Avalanche
turned the tables. In the third minute, Jane did a very nice volley on one
touch on a ball in the air from ten yards out that got into the top right
corner. Then, only a minute later, Avalanche beat the offside trap when
Tracy pulled up their defenders to the center line. Jane, seeing she was
offside, immediately ran to the Avalanche side of the field. However the
ball was played forward, and Katy was able to run from her position behind
the ball on the right side to burst thru, running half the field and getting
1 on 1 against the keeper. Katy expertly played the ball away from the keeper
into the net for a 2-0 lead. "That play was spectacular for many reasons,"
said Ed. "First Jane was smart enough to know not to try to play the
ball but get onside. You can only be called offside if the referee thinks
you are involved in the play. So even if Jane was in offside position, she
did not try to play the ball, and was not called. Katy smartly continued
to play hard, even though Tracy froze because they thought it was an offside,
and so Katy was able to get behind their defenders. Always play to the whistle;
no whistle, keep playing!" Tracy protested, but to no avail. Avalanche
continued to play well, often frustrating Tracy with their passes to outside
backs, or their combination play from backs playing to mids, playing it
back to the backs who played it forward to an attacking forward. At half
the score was still 2-0, but the team was determined to keep up the pressure.
It paid off only three minutes into the second half. Emma had a free kick
just outside the center circle, and she placed it perfectly behind the defensive
line to Sarah, who was running with the kick and received the ball with
no defenders near her. Sarah calmly put the ball into the corner for the
third goal. "Again, we are doing great at capitalizing off the free
kicks. Professional teams will score almost 40% of their goals off free
kicks and corners, so we're in good company!" said Ed. Finally in the
49th minute Jane finished off one of her best games with Avalanche with
a blazing shot. She forced the defender to turn with the ball facing her
own goal, and the defender put a weak pass back that Jane was able to intercept
and quickly shoot from 25 yards out into the upper right top of the goal.
Avalanche finished with a convincing 4-0 win.
