watash

GIRLS Lake Charles St. Louis.....3 Kelly............................1

Yes, thanks for pointing that out. It wasn't mentioned in the previous posts.

The teams which have registered are a good mix for a first year tournament including 5 out of town teams. Many of the games will be cross-classification/district that will not be repeated during the season. There may be a few last minute entries but the schedule will be finalized soon and I will post it. CURRENT TEAMS: Bay Area Christian Beaumont Kelly Bridge City Galveston O'Connell Hardin Jefferson Houston St. Pius Port Arthur Memorial Ozen Pope John Paul--Katy PNG Tomball Rosehill Christian Vidor West Brook

The Kelly Winter Classic tournament has fields reserved at the The Meadows on Thursday through Saturday, Jan. 8-10. I will find out the teams and post tomorrow. It is my understanding that the schools are mostly local teams.

Kelly....................... 3 1 4 Houston Christian...... 1 1 2 Kelly goals: Claire Dykeman(2) Lauren Zeto(2) Kelly assists: Zuri Prince, Dykeman Kelly saves: Carly Shelander(7) Kelly season record: 4-1 Kelly finishes second in first half of district play. The girls played their most complete game and defense was focused from start to finish.

FF and others, We went through this same issue(sort of) last year and I want to be perfectly clear. I don't make excuses. Hate them. Have attempted to teach my children that there should never be any. No excuse is better than a poor one and they are usually all poor. You either get a job done or you don't. It has always bothered me in youth sports to hear parents blame a result, almost always a loss, on a game official or any other less used reason. With that said, I attempt to give a brief factual observation on the Kelly girls' games. Any comment whether it is about field size, refereeing, weather conditions, opponent school size, talent or experience is strictly that, one person's game description. For instance, if I refer to the Kelly team as young, it is not an excuse but rather a fact. When I use the description, it is not as excuse as much as a optimistic comment on the future of the team. Who cares if Agnes is a huge school, has older more mature players or where its players play club soccer, they were so much better that night that any attempt to reason it other than to say it was a vastly superior team sounds lame. Yes, I expected a closer game with St. Agnes just as expected the Friendswood volleyball team would go further in the playoffs this year or Barbers Hill would have beaten your school in the baseball playoffs last year. Who would have known Texas A&M would be so bad in football this year? You never really know until you see the game. The one factor that does not change is how the players and team play. Play well enough and no other factor matters. The player controls how they play and ultimately, that is the largest most important variable of any contest.

Kelly.................2 2 4 Duschene..........0 0 0 Kelly goals: Caitlin Quinn(2) Claire Dykeman(2) Kelly assists: Beth Broussard and Zuri Prince Kelly season record: 2-1 It was a perfect night for soccer and the mosquitoes came out to join the spectators. Kelly's young team, starting 7 sophomores and a freshman, seems to be learning to possess the ball better. They controlled the ball the entire match. Madeline Horning had a superb game at sweeper. Next game will be Monday after the Thanksgiving holidays at St. Pius.

Kelly...........7 1 8 IWA............0 0 0 Kelly goals: Claire Dykeman(3), Zuri Prince(2), Yasmine Afshar, Adriana Oxford and Caitlin Quinn Kelly assists: Prince(2), Teilor Long, Afshar and Oxford Battle for second place in the district resumes on Thursday with a game against Dueschene. Last year these two teams tied for second and had an overtime playoff game. It will be interesting to see what happens this year.

FF Based on results of Barbe and St Louis scrimmages, I would have also thought the game would be more competitive. It was not. As the score indicates, it is logical to conclude there is a significant talent gap. The Kelly team, starting 7 sophomores and 2 freshman, has a lot of work to do but a bright future.

Kelly..........1 1 2 St Agnes....4 4 8 Kelly goals: Claire Dykeman and Lauren Zeto Kelly assists: Zuri Prince and Madeline Horning Complete domination in every aspect of the game by a superior team. Could have been worse. Not much else to say.

Kelly...............1 3 4 St Louis..........2 2 4 Kelly goals: Claire Dykeman, Caitlin Quinn, Yasmine Afshar and Lauren Zeto Kelly assists: Dykeman(2) Somehow avoided the rain which was surrounding and threatening the entire evening. Kelly scores first in the second minute. St Louis immediately responds. The game was tied at one until just before half when St. Louis scores to lead 2-1. St. Louis scored first in the second half on a PK. Kelly scored next to close the score to 3-2. St. Louis scored their final goal with 10 minutes left. Kelly then closed strong with 2 goals in the last 10 minutes to earn a tie. A good hard fought, even match for the Lady Dawgs who started 2 seniors, 7 sophomores and 2 freshmen. For their first game of the season, Kelly hosts defending District Champion St. Agnes at home on Thursday. Expect another tough match.

The Lady Dawgs had their first competition of the season tonight on the Spindletop field at the Meadows. It was a nice night for soccer. The Lady Bucs lost 9 seniors from last year's team and have several girls missing for cross country and volleyball. Kelly started 5 returning starters and received significant contributions from returning lettermen and new team members. Kelly will face talented teams in their first two games next week: Tuesday at St. Louis in Lake Charles and defending District Champion St. Agnes at home on Thursday. Kelly............2 1 3 Barbe...........1 0 1 Kelly goals........Lauren Zeto, Yasmine Afshar and Claire Dykeman Kelly assists......Madeline Horning and Dykeman

Outstanding job by these ladies with a team that had virtually no depth.

Those are indeed impressive stats. Congratulations to the young man

Friendswood Fan any additional thoughts or analysis? The article makes it sound like Boyd was stronger for a larger portion of the game

there you go again FF talking about the size of the field again just kidding, we'll be watching your team, good luck. who is next?

TAPPS All-State Team 2007-2008 Divison I Second Team Madeline Horning(Fr) Defense Yasmine Afshar(Fr) Midfield Claire Dykeman(Fr) Forward TAPPS Division I State All Tournament Team Madeline Horning Claire Dykeman TAPPS 6A All District First Team Madeline Horning(Fr) Defense Yasmine Afshar(Fr) Midfield Claire Dykeman(Fr) Forward Honorable Mention Zuri Prince(Fr) Forward Teilor Long(Fr) Defense Stephanie Duesler(Sr) Defense Natalie Polizopoulos(Sr) Midfield Gabby Beaudry(Sr) Midfileld

SEMIFINALS Urusline..........2 -2 -4 Kelly .............0 -0 -0 No Kelly highlights Season record:20-6-1 They were who we thought they were. Larger, more experienced and deeper. One of the best teams in the state and state champs. The girls competed hard throughout the game so we were proud of them. Now, the young players on this team know where they need to be. A great season and a bright future for the program. Congratulations to Coach Brittney and the Lady Dawgs. Fort Worth Nolan........3 Plano John Paul..........0 CHAMPIONSHIP Ursuline..................1 Ft Worth Nolan........0

The TAPS state tournament is this weekend. Both the Kelly girls and boys teams will travel to Fort Worth for semifinal games on Friday. The Lady Dawgs play Ursuline Academy from Dallas. They certainly have a great challenge and opportunity before them. Ursuline is one of the top programs in the nation. Anybody who wants to be good needs to measure themselves against the best. This is Kelly's chance. Check out Ursuline's impressive stats: www.ursulinedallas.org/current/athletics/soccer.html

Nolan was impressive in all phases of the game> They could play with a lot of 5A teams which I have seen. Congratulations to the Lady Dawgs on a great year. Coach Collazo returns 9 of 12 varsity players for next year. He will have his first full off season to work with the program. Should be nothing but bright future.

Kelly.....................................1 -2 -3 SA Incarnate Word..................1 -0 -1 Kelly goals: Claire Dykeman(2) Yasmine Afshar Kelly assists: Zuri Prince, Dykeman Kelly record: 20-5-1 SAIC scores four minutes into the game. Kelly ties with a goal at 35 minutes, 1-1 at half. Kelly was strong in the second half into the face of a stiff wind. Ref called a touchy game with 12 fouls and yellow card against the Dawgs. Kelly advances to TAPS state tournament. The girls play Dallas Ursuline Academy next Friday at 1:00 in Fort Worth. Will be a very tough game against a perennial power. Congratulations Lady Dawgs

Saturday, 2/16 at 2:00 in San Antonio against SA Incarnate Word, the second place team from their district. Any remote chance anyone who reads this thread knows anything about them?

Matt is a great young man with exceptional talent. We have enjoyed watching him over the last few years. He has a bright future in soccer and beyond. Congratulations

I attempt to post game by game stats for the Kelly girls. Not sure how many folks read them but a few do. I was waiting until after the season including playoffs to post cumulative player stats. With the relative success the team has had this year, some of the individual statistics are fairly impressive. Soccer statistics, like those from many other team sports, tend to over emphasize scoring when it truly is a team game. Forwards don't consistently score unless good players are feeding them the ball. Other than saves, one-half of the game, defense, is usually statistically ignored.

Shot efficiency by Dash. Early, during their first two opportunities, Dash was allowed too much room in the box area. But defense settled down and only gave up one shot and one goal in the next 70 minutes of regulation and o/t.