Adding insult to injury, Kendall Carter beats a Pacific player to the ball AND sticks her tongue out at the beaten player. That's cold, Kendall. 

Our new all-star mascot. We have to get a suit that fits David Gregg. 

Le Grand Orange

Dakota Earnhart takes a corner kick at the Carbondale tournament.

The big question, though, is what the heck is going on in the back ground. Did that kid steal the ball from the grown up? Is the grown up trying to steal the ball from the kid?

Champions of the 3rd Grade Division A at Carbondale, Sikeston and Cape Girardeau! Not only did they win, they din't lose a game.

They are: (front)Colten Jerolds, John Haar, Jacob Brush, Garrett Nadeau, Joel Hardin, and Branden Duffield. (Back) Zane DeWitt, Dustin Ryan, Derek Harvel, Aaron Areola, Steven Wells, Jake Hardin, and Noah Fuller. Coaches Bindi Jerolds and Jennifer Nadeau.

They played like they had soup on their heads!!!

Iranian Soccer

I am throwing all my considerable prestige and power behind this recommendation.

Who knew that Iran even HAS a soccer team?

Brennan vs. Festus

Sure Festus can beat us, but I bet Walter Brennan can beat Festus.

Festus!

The 5th and 6th grade boys lost to Festus...how can that be?

Oh wait a second...he's packin' heat.

Cape Girardeau Update

I predicted it, and so it was...the 1st and 2nd grade boys won the championship, 6-2. I also heard that our 5th and 6th grils team finished fourth, losing a playoff game in a shoot out. For those of you wondering, a game ending in a tie goes into a 5 minute overtime; if no one scores, they play another 5 (it's sudden death - or as they call it in soccer, the "golden goal"). If it's still tied, a shootout begins - five players from each team, alternating penalty shots. If it stays even, they do it again with 5 different players. It is excruciating to watch...especially when your kid misses.

Am I sure of the length of the overtime or the number of players involved in the shootout? No. I've never refereed a game that went into overtime. Here's hoping I never will.

Cape Giradeau Results

Another tournament, another successful weekend for the Union County Soccer League!

Let's go to the scoreboard:

First and Second Grade

I have to admit I didn't see the end of the boys' last game, but they were up 4-0 in the championship game versus Jackson County at halftime. I'm going out on a limb here but CONGRATULATIONS for another terrific tournament CHAMPIONSHIP. The boys beat Mineral Area 7-0, Perryville 3-0, and Cape Girardeau 5-1.


The girls' team played shorthanded all tournament and played hard, beating Perryville 7-0 but losing to Jackson County, Sikeston and Cape. FOUR games playing with NO SUBSTITUTES. Way to go girls...now go to bed.


Third and Fourth Grade Boys

The 3rd graders won the championship for the THIRD STRAIGHT tournament beating Carbondale, their arch-rival Sikeston, and Cape Girardeau, ending with a tie against Perryville. Final score: Union County 10-4.

The forth grade boys beat Jackson 6-1 and Sikeston Red 4-0, but lost to the club team from Farmington 0-2. The also were trailing in their last game but I don't know the final results.

Fifth and Sixth Grade

The girls played one of the most exciting games of the tournament, scoring with 2 minutes to play to win 1-0 against somebody called the D.C. Hot Shots. Anybody know where they're from? Anyway, they also beat Jackson and Kennett but lost to Perryville. They were playing one last game for third place; no results at press time.

The boys beat Cape 4-2, but lost to Sikeston and Festus. Festus? Wasn't he a character on Gunsmoke or something? I'll get back to you.

High School

They lost to Perryville 0-1, Cape 1-4, and San Francisco 1-2 but beat Cobden 2-0 so it was all worth while.


Can you tell I learned how to put color in my posts?


If you have any pictures that you would like to post, please send them to me at jope@cba.siu.edu!!! Not hundreds at a time!


By the way, I'll be glad to publish anything you may consider newsworthy (as long as it's soccer related)!

DR. WELLS, CALL YOUR OFFICE!

Katie Edwards. Sammy Schott, and Courtney Kendrick. Put down the cupcake and back away slowly.

Elijah Haar (1st and 2nd Grade All-Stars) appears to have the only long sleeved all-star shirt we have in stock. Either that or he has hoisted his sails... 

Having bagged his first crane with a rifle butt, Robby Kendrick tries a new apporach. 

Sikeston Results

You older soccer moms and dads (and younger soccer grandmothers and grandfathers) may remember the boffo hit by Robert Palmer in 1976, "Women Are Smarter". Apparently not only are they smarter, they can play soccer! OK, they're girls, but if we call them pre-women it makes sense.

All 3 of our girls' teams finished in the money in Sikeston. The 1st and 2nd graders took FIFTH (out of 12 teams), finishing with 2 wins and a loss. The 3rd and 4th graders took the CHAMPIONSHIP, beating undefeated Pacific 7-0. The 5th and 6th graders swept their division and they too won a CHAMPIONSHIP with a 3-0 record.

The boys did pretty well to. The 1st and 2nd graders won the CHAMPIONSHIP with a 3-0 record; Jennifer Nadeau's 3rd grade machine took a home a CHAMPIONSHIP (their second in a row, and in the A bracket!) with a 3-0-1 record. In the final, they had to score at least 3 goals (I think) and hold the other team to less than 2. They won 7-0!

The 4th grade boys took THIRD with a record of 2-1; the 5th and 6th grade boys finished 1-2, as did the Junior High Co-ed squad. I did not get any High School results.

So we had an overall record of 19-6-1 with FOUR # 1 teams (out of 8 ). This has been a wildly successful tournament season and I want to thank once again the coaches and parents for their support, and congratulations to all our players who have played hard AND fair.

See you in Cape Girardeau!

Top 10 Things Parents Don't Get...

about kids and sports. Attention! Soccer parents!

Thanks for the tip, Jennifer!

The undefeated 1st and 2nd grade boys, in no particular order:

Dakota Earnhart, Hunter Garver, Elijah Haar, J.T. Moore, Zack Paar, Isaac Pender, Colin Prather, Wyatt Smith, Ryan Stark, Orlando Arreola, and Dale Prater.

Winning the War, One Soccer Ball at a TIme

From the National Review.....

Things got so boring for the 1st and 2nd grade boys, they started shooting at their own goalie. That's Isaac Pender in the goal. Any body know who #39 is in the retro shirt? 

Carbondale Tournament Photos

The official photographer of the Carbondale Tournament, Time Piece Photography, has posted a bunch of photos at their website. Buy a bunch so they can afford to buy a zoom lens.

The socks look like Dusty Whiteside's, but the rest of the uniform I can't place. Saline County maybe? 

A Comparison

For comparison purposes, I checked how we did in last spring's Marion Tournament. UCSL went 20-18-3 with 10 teams, as opposed to our record at Carbondale of 24-5-5.

Carbondale Final Results

Here are the results from the Carbondale Tournament. Overall, our 8 teams compiled a record of 24 wins, 5 losses, and 5 ties. Unbelievable! Thanks to all the coaches and parents who made it happen...

First and Second Grade:

There are no championships awarded in this category when the tournament takes place in Illinois. The boys' team (playing in the A bracket) went undefeated with a 4-0 mark. The girls' team won 3 games and lost only 1, and played well enough that the Sikeston Tournament director asked them to move up from the B to the A bracket.

Third Grade Boys:

Won the championship. Not only did they win it all, they played 5 games AND DID NOT ALLOW A GOAL. Eight of their players scored goals; they scored a total of 21! If there was an A+ bracket, they'd be in it.

Fourth Grade Boys:

Won 4 games before losing to Cape Girardeau in the Finals.

Third and Fourth Grade Girls:

Won 4 games, and took third place. They, too, were asked to move up to the A bracket in Sikeston.

Fifth and Sixth Grade Boys:

Went 1-1-1 and finished second.

Fifth and Sixth Grade Girls:

Went undefeated, winnning one and tieing three. They finished third in the division.

Junior High Co-ed:

Lost in OVERTIME to Cobden in the finals.

So there you have it. Six teams (not including the 1st and 2nd graders) and a first place finish, three seconds, and two third place finishes. Did I mention...UNBELIEVABLE.