While there are a few “what if’s” that linger, the excitement and the emotion of a great weekend of District Cup soccer should not be diminished by not playing in the Challenge Cup final.  It doesn't take a trophy or another game to recognize the special group we have this year.

Smart passing, tough play, some tremendous goals, stellar defense and highlight-reel saves all added up to our best weekend of soccer of the season; and playing three excellent teams from the A Division, the Cyclone had to bring their best effort to be successful.

Opening Saturday morning against the Vacaville Thunderbird Spirit, the Cyclone started strong, peppering a few early shots and setting up several great opportunities with nice passes from the midfield to the seams. The Cyclone thought they scored in the first half on a bobbled ball by the goalie and had another opportunity for a PK on a handball that was called in the box, but both opportunities did not materialize and the teams went to the half tied at 0. In the second half, Vacaville stepped up their effort and their excellent goalie made a number of good saves and at the end of 70, the opening game of the tournament ended 0-0.

The afternoon match was another tough one against the Folsom Krush. Again, great goalkeeping and defense by both sides stifled most of the scoring opportunities each team had. Mid-way through the second, the Cyclone scored their “prettiest” goal of the year off a direct-kick set-piece that was perfectly executed for the first score of the game (that Friday night practice paid off). Good ol’ play #3! A little over-excited about the goal, the Cyclone let the guard down for a few minutes, and the Krush answered quickly, to tie the game at 1-1, the eventual final.

Coming into Sunday, the Cyclone needed to beat the El Dorado Blitz for an opportunity to play in the Challenge Cup final. The Blitz had earlier tied the Krush and beat Vacaville, putting them at the top of the bracket heading into the final games and a win away from advancing. The next 70 minutes were the best minutes of soccer of the year for the Cyclone – great effort, emotion, tough play, smart play and skillful soccer.

The Cyclone came out strong outshooting and out possessing the Blitz the first half, but once again, good defense and goalkeeping (and a ½ inch of the upper goal bar) kept both teams scoreless in the first half. Early in the second, the Blitz found the net first, on a shot fired off the goalie’s hands and off the back of Cyclone defender into the goal. At that point the Cyclone had about 25 minutes to score two goals – a tie would be as good as loss.

Rather than dropping their heads, the Cyclones toughened up, playing their most focused 20 minutes of the season. They tied the game a few minutes later with a controversial goal that was crossed, bounced off the goalie (did she have the ball or not?) and was knocked in for the equalizer. With seven minutes to go, the Cyclone scored the eventual game winner – again from a cross that bounced around the box and then was blasted to the high back of the net. The Cyclone defense tightened up the last few minutes of the game as it held off a strong final attack by the Blitz to hold onto the win.

The win over the Blitz vaulted the Cyclone to the top of the flight standings pending the outcome of the Folsom/Vacaville game. A Folsom win would tie the Cyclone for the division lead; a two goal win would give Folsom the tiebreaker needed to advance.

As much of the Cyclone team watched, the Krush came out on fire, but excellent goalkeeping by Vacaville kept the score 0-0 at half. In the second half, Folsom again went on the attack, this time against a new keeper, and was able to take advantage of the lineup change, scoring two  for the 2-0 win and an opportunity to play the Fair Oaks Eagles in the Cup final.

Despite the disappointment of not advancing, the Cyclone showed they can play with the top teams in District 6 and wrapped District play with a memorable, positive soccer experience that will help them to get even better as they prepare for Association Cup.