Headlines
Subscribe to our NewsletterFuego Catch Fire in the Virginian
The FUEGO stepped onto the hot turf at Patriot Park Saturday afternoon against the SYC Xplosion just hoping to make a good showing and be competitive against a bracket full of strong WAGS teams. They walked off on Monday afternoon as finalists, having come within a heartbeat of the championship. In between, they knocked off the Xplosion, and tied, then beat, the powerful CYA Rumble, and announced themselves as one of the emerging soccer powers in the area.
Using a combination of strong defense and timely runs, the Fuego fended off the Xplosion for most of the first half, until they began to find their rhythm, at which point the momentum shifted. The Fuego started to dominate play, putting pressure on the SYC goalie and getting several scoring chances. With about five minutes to go in the half, Kristen collected a ball just inside the Xplosion half of the field, outraced the defense, and popped the ball into the next to give the Fuego the 1-0 lead.
The Fuego made the score stand for the next 40 minutes as the defense, let by Frankenball winner Kennia, shut down the Xplosion attack. When the whistle sounded, the Fuego had their first victory of the tournament.
The Fuego also played against, and fell to, a tough La Plata team that caught them in a "trap" game Sunday, right after a big emotional victory. But the loss didn't matter as the Fuego managed to reach the semi-finals due to their strong play in the other games.
However, the highlight of the weekend were the two games against the rival Rumble. Both the Fuego and the Rumble had a lot of common ground. Many Fuegans had former team mates on the Rumble, or had played for the Rumble at one time in the past. Neither game, at least from the Rumble's perspective, was expected to be very competitive, as the Rumble were the early tournament favorite to make the finals, and possibly take home the championship.
The Fuego had other ideas.
The first game kicked off Saturday night a little before 9:00. As expected , the Rumble took charge early and sent a number of shots towards goal, but the defense did a terrific job keeping most of the shots outside, and Kaitlin effectively collected everything that came her way.
As the half wore on, and the Fuego continued to turn away the Rumble attack, momentum again began to shift as the Fuego grew more confident. The Fuego began to get scoring chances of their own, with a couple of shots coming very close, but none hitting home.
Then as the half neared, Jazz got loose in front of the Rumble goal and fired point-blank. The goalie made the initial stop, but the ball rebounded out to Dasha, who hammered it home for the apparent lead. However, between Jazz's shot and Dahsa's, a time span of perhaps a second and a half, the referee blew the whistle to end the half, nullifying the goal and preserving the tie.
Energized by their good fortune, the Rumble came out fast in the second half, and quickly built a 2-0 lead. But the Fuego refused to quit and began to pressure the Rumble defense. As the Rumble collapsed around their goal, the Fuego found room to move. A quick give and go put the ball on Frankenball winner Katie's foot just outside the penalty area. She lofted the ball perfectly over the leaping goalie and into the net to cut the score to 2-1.
Moments later, Jazz was fouled just outside the penalty area, and Aby's free kick sailed just wide of the goal. But within minutes, another foul put Julia in position to knot the score. Julia wasted no time and fired a perfect strike into the upper corner of the net. With five minutes remaining, the Fuego had fought all the way back. It was now anybody's game. And it stayed that way as the game see-sawed back and forth for the rest of the half. When the final whistle blew, the Fuego had scored a most improbable 2-2 tie with the Rumble.
But it wasn't over yet.
Because of the win and tie, the Fuego earned a spot in the semi-finals, where they again faced the Rumble. Determined to teach the Fuego a lesson, the Rumble came out hard, but the defense, and Frankenball winner Kaitlin in goal, proved more than a match, knocking down shot after shot by the Rumble with ease and confidence. As a result, the game went to the half tied at zero. But the Fuego sensed that something unique was happening. They were playing right with the Rumble, and neither team had dominated, and the game was theirs for the taking.
The second half continued much as the first did, with neither team dominating. However, as the half wore on, the Fuego started to get more scoring chances. A shot from Jazz off a partial break-away went wide, Ellie put one over the net, and Caroline shot one low that the Rumble goalie managed to collect.
Then with about six minutes to go, Jazz got loose on a clean breakaway off of a terrific pass from Sara, zeroed in on the goalie, and poked the ball past her and into the net.
The Fuego had the lead.
The Rumble responded with furious attack that the Fuego players, all of them dropping into defense, managed to fend off. As time wore down, the Fuego began to take advantage of Rumble mistakes and Dasha nearly netted another goal. The Rumble made one more desperate attempt to score, but the Fuego held, and when the final whistle blew, the team exploded into a wild celebration, mobbing Kaitlin and each other.
The Fuego had beaten the Rumble.
The victory put the Fuego in the finals for the first time in team history. In the finals the Fuego faced the long-time WAGS powerhouse NVSC Jr. Majestic Blue. Excited but exhausted from four emotionally intense games in the 90+ degree heat, the Fuego nevertheless played hard and fought until the very end, falling 2-0 to the Majestic, despite some terrific play from everyone, notably Frankenball winner Caroline.
Throughout the tournament, the defense was outstanding. Led by Pauline and Kennia in the middle, Sarah, Emily, Rhi, and guests Sara and Carly on the outside, it kept the Fuego in every game, allowing the mids - Nina, Dasha, Amanda, Sabrine, Julia, Ellie, Katie, Aby, and Caroline to move the ball up to speedy forwards Jazz, Kaitlin and Kristen. In addition, the goal tending of Rhi, Kaitlin and guest Biranna was nearly perfect.
It was an amazing weekend of soccer, highlighted by the two enormous games against the Rumble. The Fuego have to be very proud of their finalist medals. They played hard and they played together, and they demonstrated that they can play with anyone.
Well done Fuego!
To see the final results, click on the Virginian banner above.
