We Worked it Ladies!

So we are flying back to San Diego now and our bodies are all very very angry at us – which means it was a fantastic tournament! I am so proud of all of our gals that fought hard and played awesome. The California Quakes consisted of myself as captain, Shawna Hamon, Deborah Finucane, Jen Hannum, Katie Hicks, Julie Ott, Jeannine Stuzka, Kimberly Phipps, Laurie Chong, Wendy Vanos (from Boston), Stephanie Freeman (Goalie from OC) and Coaches Chris Tran and Tom Roberts (from Barrie, ON).

Game 1 – Quakes v. Stick Tease (Washington DC)

The California Quakes had some first game jitters to overcome – plus a lack of sleep. We got into town around 11PM and were starved for dinner so we met up with some other girls are this very strange 24 hour diner called “The Suburban Diner.” The manager was a funny greek guy that was so impressed with the fact that Chris was with 6 girls that he said he wanted to be Vietnamese for the night too. Anyway, by the time we got back to the hotel it was 1:30am and when we tried to turn in for the night we found that the room was facing the highway and the traffic noise was pretty bad. That and the room was getting very hot so all of us tossed and turned and did not get much sleep. By the time we made it to our first game, we were a tired, jet-lagged, and nervous bunch.

Stick Tease did not get a whole lot of good offense and shots against us but we allowed 2 flooky goals and ended up losing the game 0-2. The first goal was unlucky and went off my toe into the net and the second goal was just a scrum in front of the net that led to a rebound goal late in the 3rd period. This was probably our worst game of the tournament in terms of team chemistry. I think we were still feeling things out.

Game 2 – Quakes v. Special Sauce

After the first game, we decided to go get some lunch to refuel. We found this lovely little authentic Italian deli called “Leonardo’s Deli and Bakery.” Shawna and I decided to share a panini with artichokes, sundried tomatoes, Italian sausage, pancetta and prosciutto. It was fantastic! Yum. Plus we saw so many yummy baked goods that we swore that we would be back for more. Shawna said that if she scored she would go back to treat herself to a mini banana cream pie.

We overcame our first game jitters in this one. We were in the 3rd period and the score was tied 0-0. Julie and Katie were out with me when Julie challenged the ball along the boards. The girl took Julie down but then Julie swung around and knocked the girl down on the ground too! Another girl on the other team went into the corner to fight for the ball too and so did Katie and another girl. Katie managed to get a handle on the ball for a second and tapped the ball over to me (I had decided not to get involved in the scrum). I get the ball and find that I am totally wide open for a shot! So what do I do? What I always do… shoot it right into the goalie’s pads. However, I was prepared for this and I followed up my shot and got my own rebound on my backhand and roofed the shot. I start celebrating… but then I realize that my backhand hit the top left hand corner post! NOOOOOO! Lucky for me it hit the post then hits the goalie’s back and rolled into the net. SCORE! Katie and Julie ran over to give me a hug - greatest moment of the tournament for me. We ended up holding them back for the rest of the game to win it 1-0. The win was especially satisfying because I had overheard one of the girls prior to the game say that they were playing the team from CA so they couldn’t be that good since they’re from CA… Take that bitch!

More to come on games 3-5 in Philly + notable moments…

PS.. I had to include this picture of Ada because she looks so darn cute!