With the end in sight, and some school history to be made for the girls soccer team, the last week of soccer season finally came and went. Julie and I rode up together to watch the team play in Lakewood. I left the boys with my parents so it was a total girls trip. We left Thursday afternoon and arrived at our hotel around 7:30 or so. The hotel we stayed at was in Sumner, about a 20-25 minute drive from Lakewood and was pretty nice and had a pool and hot tub so of course Kendle was in heaven. We arrived to cold, cold wet weather and it pretty much stayed that way the whole weekend. It seemed like we could never quite get warm.
With some time to kill on Friday before the game, we decided to get some lunch and do a little shopping. We ate at Panera Bread which was totally delicious then we did some shopping at Marshall's and Target and stocked up on some treats for the games (and scored some cute clothes). When we pulled into the stadium parking lot it started to pour down rain. Just great we thought - here we go. Heavy coats, umbrella's out, and then we waited in line a good ten minutes to get our tickets before we could head inside. Luckily the stadium seats had a cover so we could stay out of the rain a bit. Look at us all bundled up and trying to stay warm:
The girls faced some challenges during their first game with a wet field and some not very good officiating and we came away with a 2-0 loss to Seattle Prep. You know the officiating is bad when even the winning coach complains they had no business reffing the game. That should have been the championship match up, but good old computer bracket systems can be thanked for that. Anyways, everyone was kind of bummed but ready to come back out on Saturday and end on a good note. Friday night Julie, her girls, Kendle and I all jumped on the charter bus with the team and went out for some pizza. That was fun. It was a good opportunity to get to visit with the other coaches and get to know them better. Riley is sure lucky to have such great people helping him. It really makes all the difference. On the way back to the hotel we couldn't pass up stopping at Krispy Kreme and loading up on some donuts. I think by that point everyone was stuffed to the gills, totally exhausted, and ready for a good nights sleep. Well, everyone that is except for Kendle. I took her swimming before we went to dinner and she was still raring to go and get some more swim time in before bed. Riley took her down for the last half hour before it closed. Needless to say, she slept like a rock.
Saturday morning the team had to leave bright and early to get to the field for their 10:00 game. Luckily the weather although bitter cold, at least cooperated enough to stay dry for their game. The sun even began to peek out a bit towards the end. The game against Prairie was pretty slow for the most part. We were definitely a way better team and it was kind of slow paced until the end. One of our little freshman stud's scored the only goal of the game so that was pretty cool. I wasn't even stressed out at all during the game because you could just tell that we were going to win. After the game was finished the girls all came out and took a big bow in front of their fans which was cute and then they presented Riley with their trophy and game ball. I had a hard time getting some good pictures with all of the chaos and people in the way but here are a few:
It is a really bittersweet feeling to see it all come to a close. Even though it has been a sacrifice to have Riley away so much, I'm glad he has been spending that time doing something positive and rewarding that has made a difference. To hear all of the positive feedback from the players, the parents, and the school has been really great. To take your team to state and earn third place your first year coaching is no small feat. The athletic director wants him to come back next year, but because of circumstances out of our control we don't know if that can happen or not. Either way, I'm glad they all had a fun and memorable season.
And can I just give one big huge YAY!!!!! We're DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
*And a big thanks to Julie for being such a fun side-kick for these games. She has put up with many long hours of Johnny being gone helping coach as well and it is not easy when you have little ones at home. It makes it so much more bearable to have someone great like her around and made the weekend a heck of a lot more fun!
