Saturday Recap: 7th/8th grade soccer beasts, while 5th/6th grade teams take step back

Quick Hit

The 7th/8th grade soccer team had a full squad and dominated their first actual game of the year, winning by a lopsided margin of 9-1. The 5th/6th grade soccer team didn't do as well as they fell to (0-2-1) on the year in a 5-0 shutout. The 5th/6th grade volleyball team had too many mistakes to overcome and lost in straight sets, falling to (1-1).

***Full recaps and highlights below!***

7th/8th grade storm out of the gates, win big

When the 7th and 8th grade boys get enough players on the field, they are going to be tough to beat.

Following their forfeit a week ago, all 11 players showed up today, ready to play, and the outcome was obvious right from the get go.

The trio of Eloy, Sebastian and Pablo led the offensive attack right from the opening whistle. They took the ball into the opponent's zone and an off-balanced Sebastian swerved in goal number one 20 seconds into the game, opening the floodgates to a 9-1 pounding of the other team.

Eloy, making his St. Mary's debut, scored a total of six goals, by far the most of any player ever to dawn a St. Mary's soccer jersey. On a beautiful play in the first quarter, he headed the ball forward, caught up to it, setting himself up for a breakaway which he eventually finished by burying it into the net.

Late in the game, he rifled a shot from a good 10 feet outside the top of the box, going top shelf as their goalie had no chance to stop it.

Pablo concluded the scoring with his second goal of the game with a shot from inside the box.

Not to be overlooked are the midfielders who did a great job of not letting the ball get past them, as they were a solid barrier that pushed the action towards the attack zone.

Hartman and Brandon K. both made some nice passes up to the forwards which set up many of the goals.

Their record now sits at (1-1). They play a doubleheader next Saturday. 

GAME NOTES: The previous record for most goals in a game by a St. Mary's player was by Tommy Lin, who is now an assistant coach for the 7th/8th grade team. He scored two goals in the season opener of his 8th grade year...This marked the first soccer win for St. Mary's since October of 2009, when the 8th grade team won 2-1 at Silver Terrace.  

Step backwards for 5th/6th grade soccer team

When the offense needed to score, they weren't able to. And when the defense needed a stop, they weren't able to. 

That summed up the game this afternoon for the 5th/6th grade soccer team as they were handed their worst defeat of the season 5-0.

It was 1-0 going into halftime, and a game that featured some scoring chances for the 5th/6th graders. They seemed to be one pass away and just a step off from breaking through on scoring chances in the first half.

But then their defense buckled in the second half, and they were unable to generate any type of good shot in the second half. 

After playing two real good games, including a draw last week, the game this afternoon was pivotal to see if they were able to take their game to the next level. But for whatever reason, their energy level and execution seemed off from the get go. 

From the forward to the goalie, everybody looked as sluggish as the overcast weather.

Garrick returned to action this week, but you could see he was not at 100%. He wasn't his normal self where he could fly towards balls with reckless abandonment. 

For one thing, the spacing on offense was brutal with all the forwards and midfielders bunched up on one side of the field. So once the ball went past the collective scrum, there was no red jersey there to pick up the ball, hence the many turnovers that went to the other team.

Their record for the season is now (0-2-1).

Slow start and faulty serves too much to overcome

For the second straight week, the 5th/6th grade girls started their game poorly, except this morning, there was no comeback.

After falling into an early 5-0 deficit, the girls made the first set a little interesting rallying to as close as 24-22, but eventually losing the first set 25-22. They lost the second set with the same identical score, and were handed their first loss of 2011.

Maybe the 9 a.m. start was too early, as some of the girls were hardly awake it seemed in the first set. Balls that came straight at them were not returned correctly, and the normally dependable girls on serving were not coming through.

The one girl who played one heck of a game was Ivy, who at one point almost single handedly served the girls to a miraculous comeback. 

Last week, Ivy didn't serve one ball over. Today, it seemed like that was all she did. As the girls trailed 24-18, Ivy rattled off four straight balls over the net before eventually missing on her last attempt.

The other team was physically overpowering, with some of the girls on the opposition serving overhand. 

The girls were neck and neck in the second set, but could never get closer than a point before eventually dropping the set by three points

In a contrast from last week, their experienced players, Edwena, Fiona and Victoria looked a bit off, as each of them made their share of faults on serves and had trouble getting to, and hitting balls over they are normally so good at doing.

It might have been just one of those mornings where nothing seemed to go right, and it just wasn't their day.

GAME NOTES: The girls dressed only six girls...For the second straight week, Mr. Yu did lines.