Final Game
soccer
First Loss
Palm Sunday 2026
Soccer
Sports Saturday
It was a little like old times today: the Girl had a volleyball tournament; the Boy had a soccer game. L is playing on something like a rec team at UF. They travel to various universities and play other rec teams, and this weekend they're in Clemson, just down the highway from us.
The Boy had his first spring-season soccer game today. We had some worries that he wouldn't be on the same team as the previous three or four seasons, but with some polite asking and a little string-pulling, we managed to get him back on that team. It's a good coach with a good group of boys, and they should have a strong showing this season.
And so, as we so often did in the past, we had split duty today: K went to cheer on L while E and I stayed behind for soccer and youth orchestra make-up practice.
The Boy's team dominated in the early minutes, quickly going up 2-0. After that initial surge, though, their dominance waned a bit, and they even allowed a goal. "We got too comfortable after that," he explained as we were leaving after the first half to head to rehearsal. When I picked him up three hours later after rehearsal ("Oh, I forgot how awful those long rehearsals are," he moaned as he got in the car), he told me that he'd gotten a text about the game: 5-2. An overall dominant performance.
The Girl's team also had a dominant performance, not losing a single game and losing only one set. K said the Girl played as well as she's played in a long time, with some really strong kills and overall aggressive play. They walked away with the tournament victory and big smiles.
Afterward, just like old times, the Boy and I went out for Mexican at our favorite restaurant. "We've tried other places," I told the owner, "but we just keep coming back here."
Return to 5 v 5
After a short break for the holidays, the boys are back at it, playing five versus five soccer on a quarter-sized field. It's such a different version of the game: with a smaller field, it's much faster, and since there's no off-sides, it changes the overall dynamic a bit. Plus, everyone plays offense and defense.
They played an academy team, which means a team that practices more frequently and travels for tournaments. The soccer version of travel volleyball. During the regular season, playing a travel team during our Saturday matches is a rarity, and if they do play, the academy/travel team usually has to play up an age group.
It's not that way during the less formal five-versus-five season. They boys got taken apart by an academy team just before the Christmas break, and I worried it would happen today. It started that way: within a few short moments, we were down 0-2. It went 1-2 before the academy team scored again.
By the half, though, our boys had tied it at three apiece. Two of the boys had written a silly motivational speech, which they delivered to the team during halftime, and it must have worked.
Soon, the boys were up 4-3. Then it was 4-4. "We might end up tying this, or better!" I thought. It was the latter: our boys soon scored two unanswered goals, adding a third before the end of the match to win 7-4.
Second Game of the Weekend
Winter 5v5 Game 1
The Boy's first five-versus-five soccer game was tonight. It's a wild variation: no off-sides, no throw-ins on a field a quarter of the size of a regular field. It was a good start for the short season: our boys won 9-3, with the Boy scoring two goals, including a ripper from almost the midfield.
Champions
The boys pulled it off: a perfect season, without a single loss. They outscored their opponents 37-6 culminating in a sweep at the season-ending tournament.
Saturday Soccer
