Spring 2003

As luck and rain would have it, the girls of United Quest 88 White would have the luxury of playing six tournament matches before having to step on the pitch for their first Spring Athena A match. It was evident pretty early that the late-season form from Fall 2002 was still in winter hibernation, as the girls dropped two and drew one at the Concorde Challenge tournament by the combined margin of 8 goals to zero. Clearly, this was a team that had taken the entire two-and-a-half months between seasons off, but even in these games the spark of their former selves was beginning to be fanned. Their draw against Forsyth Rowdies was a stepping stone on their path back to top form, and a mere look at the numbers betrays the good form the girls displayed at times throughout the tournament. Concord Challenge Results: Loss to St. Giles Extreme 5-0; Draw with Forsyth Rowdies Red 0-0; Loss to AUSA Freedom Gold 3-0. Clearly, the team had some work to do, and Coach Kyle Cornell got them right to it. The second tournament run would prove more successful, yielding glimpses of the team's potential and revealing some obvious rustiness in their form. The Vulcan Cup, just in it's fourth year, attracted many quality sides to Birmingham, Alabama for some great soccer matches in early March. The United Quest girls were determined to improve upon their previous tournament performance and came out of the gates strong. They dispatched two fairly impressive sides before falling in their third match to a team that they had beaten on their way to the 2002 Top Gun Invitational Championship in Pensacola in the Fall. Quest failed to advance on points, but their game improved tremendously as they continued their steady road back to top form. Vulcan Cup Results: Win over Chattanooga Assault 1-0; Win over SMSC Rockets 3-0; Loss to Bay United Sharks 1-3. Though the team would squeeze in one Athena A league victory before their next tournament, essentially it was all tournament preparation for Quest to start the year. The AFC Lightning Challenge saw the 88 Whites turn their offensive fortunes around and continue to sharpen their defense to the point that both started to resemble their Fall 2002 form. The girls had an excellent bracket draw in the tournament that allowed them to progress against tougher and tougher teams. Their first opponents were overmatched by the athleticism and speed of the Quest side, and the 88 Whites did not fall into the trap of playing down to a lesser team's level, as has been the case at times in the past. They cruised by the CCSA Glory 5-1, with only a soft goal to tarnish their performance. That goal, however, would unfortunately point toward future defensive problems even as the offense had finally started to click up top. Next up was the MPSC Sting, and United used all of their mental toughness to squeak out a 2-1 victory after yielding another wacky goal. The offense also struggled, but benefitted from some defensive miscues on the other side to stay in the match and eventually prevail on grit and guts more than style. United's third match saw them pitted against a very good AFC Lightning Silver squad that was anxious to defend their home tournament turf. The first half was a seesaw affair complete with near misses on both sides, great defensive work on both sides, and momentum shifts that had parents of both teams clutching their hearts. Still, United began to dominate play midway through the first half and AFC was fortunate to come through it with the score standing at 0-0. Half-time speeches can be the stuff of legends and whatever coach Kyle Cornell said to the girls should have been recorded, because when the second half began it was evident immediately that AFC was in big trouble. The United girls came out fast, dominating play early, and saw several individuals raise their commitment and effort to near heroic stature. Midfielder Ali Schultz was particularly impressive and her play seemed to inspire the entire group to elevate the level of their team play. Several exciting and stylish sequences brought gasps from the sideline and goals to the United side of the scorecard. When the dust settled, Quest's defense had a well-deserved shutout, the United offense had three impressive goals, and the team had played themselves into the final. Quest's next task was to knock out a sizable and speedy Tophat team. Throughout two halves of give and take, attack and counterattack, the United girls found themselves in a pretty evenly-matched affair that neither side could dominate for any long stretches of time. Both teams displayed moments of brilliance as well as moments of shakiness, and at the end of regulation time both had benefitted from the other in the form of wacky, soft goals. The match ended in a 2-2 draw, and fittingly remained that way through two overtime periods. Only the dreaded penalty kicks remained, an ending that neither team relished. Through four kicks, Tophat had a 3-1 advantage and were declared the winners of the 2003 Lightning Challenge. To the credit of both teams, the match had been very exciting, if not always very polished, and everyone went home with some level of satisfaction. AFC Lightning Results: Win over CCSA Glory 5-1; Win over MPSC Sting 2-1; Win over AFC Lightning 3-0; Draw in final to Tophat 2-2, lost in PKs.


	Silverbacks White \| Home back to Game Stories Preseason Tournaments As luck and rain would have it, the girls of United Quest 88 White would have the luxury of playing six tournament matches before having to step on the pitch for their first Spring Athena A match. It was evident pretty early that the late-season form from Fall 2002 was still in winter hibernation, as the girls dropped two and drew one at the Concorde Challenge tournament by the combined margin of 8 goals to zero. Clearly, this was a team that had taken the entire two-and-a-half months between seasons off, but even in these games the spark of their former selves was beginning to be fanned. Their draw against Forsyth Rowdies was a stepping stone on their path back to top form, and a mere look at the numbers betrays the good form the girls displayed at times throughout the tournament. Concord Challenge Results: Loss to St. Giles Extreme 5-0; Draw with Forsyth Rowdies Red 0-0; Loss to AUSA Freedom Gold 3-0. Clearly, the team had some work to do, and Coach Kyle Cornell got them right to it. The second tournament run would prove more successful, yielding glimpses of the team's potential and revealing some obvious rustiness in their form. The Vulcan Cup, just in it's fourth year, attracted many quality sides to Birmingham, Alabama for some great soccer matches in early March. The United Quest girls were determined to improve upon their previous tournament performance and came out of the gates strong. They dispatched two fairly impressive sides before falling in their third match to a team that they had beaten on their way to the 2002 Top Gun Invitational Championship in Pensacola in the Fall. Quest failed to advance on points, but their game improved tremendously as they continued their steady road back to top form. Vulcan Cup Results: Win over Chattanooga Assault 1-0; Win over SMSC Rockets 3-0; Loss to Bay United Sharks 1-3. Though the team would squeeze in one Athena A league victory before their next tournament, essentially it was all tournament preparation for Quest to start the year. The AFC Lightning Challenge saw the 88 Whites turn their offensive fortunes around and continue to sharpen their defense to the point that both started to resemble their Fall 2002 form. The girls had an excellent bracket draw in the tournament that allowed them to progress against tougher and tougher teams. Their first opponents were overmatched by the athleticism and speed of the Quest side, and the 88 Whites did not fall into the trap of playing down to a lesser team's level, as has been the case at times in the past. They cruised by the CCSA Glory 5-1, with only a soft goal to tarnish their performance. That goal, however, would unfortunately point toward future defensive problems even as the offense had finally started to click up top. Next up was the MPSC Sting, and United used all of their mental toughness to squeak out a 2-1 victory after yielding another wacky goal. The offense also struggled, but benefitted from some defensive miscues on the other side to stay in the match and eventually prevail on grit and guts more than style. United's third match saw them pitted against a very good AFC Lightning Silver squad that was anxious to defend their home tournament turf. The first half was a seesaw affair complete with near misses on both sides, great defensive work on both sides, and momentum shifts that had parents of both teams clutching their hearts. Still, United began to dominate play midway through the first half and AFC was fortunate to come through it with the score standing at 0-0. Half-time speeches can be the stuff of legends and whatever coach Kyle Cornell said to the girls should have been recorded, because when the second half began it was evident immediately that AFC was in big trouble. The United girls came out fast, dominating play early, and saw several individuals raise their commitment and effort to near heroic stature. Midfielder Ali Schultz was particularly impressive and her play seemed to inspire the entire group to elevate the level of their team play. Several exciting and stylish sequences brought gasps from the sideline and goals to the United side of the scorecard. When the dust settled, Quest's defense had a well-deserved shutout, the United offense had three impressive goals, and the team had played themselves into the final. Quest's next task was to knock out a sizable and speedy Tophat team. Throughout two halves of give and take, attack and counterattack, the United girls found themselves in a pretty evenly-matched affair that neither side could dominate for any long stretches of time. Both teams displayed moments of brilliance as well as moments of shakiness, and at the end of regulation time both had benefitted from the other in the form of wacky, soft goals. The match ended in a 2-2 draw, and fittingly remained that way through two overtime periods. Only the dreaded penalty kicks remained, an ending that neither team relished. Through four kicks, Tophat had a 3-1 advantage and were declared the winners of the 2003 Lightning Challenge. To the credit of both teams, the match had been very exciting, if not always very polished, and everyone went home with some level of satisfaction. AFC Lightning Results: Win over CCSA Glory 5-1; Win over MPSC Sting 2-1; Win over AFC Lightning 3-0; Draw in final to Tophat 2-2, lost in PKs. Next up for Quest: the resumption of Athena A league play.