WHOOO HOOO!

Gotta give some love to Gabrielle, and also eat a little crow. Gabrielle has been playing soccer for 6 years now. She has always loved it, and has always been one of the fastest girls on the field. But in my opinion, she didn't really seem to "get" soccer. She could beat most anyone to the ball, but then would just give it a big boot; sometimes right to the other team. The coach would be yelling "dribble" or "pass" but one good kick was usually all he got.

When they asked for volunteers to play keeper (goalie), she would volunteer, but was still a bit afraid of the ball, and sometimes actually ducked as the ball came at her while she was in the net.

Fast forward to approximately 3 weeks ago. She had the best quarter, and best game I ever saw her play. They don't play exclusive positions yet at this level, so this particular quarter, she happened to be playing defense. She was fast, seeing the field, making some great plays and great passes. And during one play, she blocked the ball with her body without flinching.

Fast forward to game 1 of today's double header. Coach put her in goal first quarter. Her team played amazingly well, so granted, she didn't have much work to do as the ball was at the other end of the field for most of the quarter. BUT, when it counted, she stepped up and made 3 nice saves, one which came pretty hard and fast right at her chest.

And then, coach put her in at forward, midfield, and forward again, and she had another great game where she was seeing the field, making plays, passing, and yes, when necessary, booting the ball up the field. The difference was today, it was a conscious decision to boot it over the opponent's heads to her teammates up the field. She ended up scoring 2 goals in their 4-0 shut out, and another 2 goals in the afternoon game of their double header. SO proud of her!

Props also to her whole team. I must say, in 6 years of watching soccer games, this team plays AS a team more than any other I've seen. They are all just clicking, and it's so much fun to watch. Usually by now I am sooo ready for soccer to be over, but I gotta admit, I'm gonna miss watching these girls.