Well, our U10 Bishop Broncos had a lot of fun, but we did have a tough weekend at the Davis World Cup. While we were never really hammered by any team (all of our games were within one or two goals), we didn’t win a game. We lost our opener 2-1, tied our next 3-3, lost our third 2-1, and our elimination round was against one of the best teams we had seen, the Stockton U10 boys, where we lost 6-3. The U12 boys had better luck, losing three in a row, but getting past their elimination round by beating a 1st seeded team by 1-0. They lost to Millbrae (who they beat earlier!) in a heartbreaker by 2-1.
But, Joey had a great experience, playing against club teams that practice year-round. He had some truly spectacular saves while playing keeper, too. In our tie, Joey saved us from a sure loss by making some amazing leaps to save a goal. He was like Superman – flying sideways, arms outstretched, and stopped two sure goals with his acrobatic saves. I was so excited watching the plays, that I forgot to take pictures!

All of our boys improved through the club soccer season, and while I know they wanted to do better at Davis, it was still a lot of fun. The boys really played as a team, and as a parent, I’m just glad we had such wonderful boys, and great families on our club team. They boys had a great time playing in the pool at the hotel, and just goofing off and being ten year old boys…Â I hope he’ll have as much fun during the AYSO season in the fall.

Click here to check out the pictures I did manage to take over the weekend.

Joe Griego

Well, it was Joey’s best soccer weekend so far.  The Bishop Broncos U10 boys won their last two games in the Toiyabe Club Soccer League.  We played the Patriots, and beat them 2-1.  It was a very exciting game – coach Greg Alexander was out of town, and so wasn’t there for the first three quarters.  Jeff Pratt and I both coached, and man, the boys really came through.  Every single one of them made excellent plays throughout the game.  Joey played keeper for two quarters (no goals scored on him!), and defense for one.  He made some excellent plays, stopping every attack by the strong Patriots offense.  The Patriots are the team that beat us 3-0 in the semi-finals in the Comstock tournament, and beat us again 5-4 in our first meeting earlier this year.  But we really outplayed them this game.  For the first three quarters, the ball was almost always in front of the Patriots net.  Our offense, highlighted by Elijah Alexander, Chris Molina, and Alex Gonzales was really keeping the pressure on.

Anyway, we’ve now beaten every team in the Toiyabe league at least once.  The boys are really peaking, and just in time for their biggest tournament yet – the Davis World Cup.  It’s a three-day tournament in Davis, California, and if they play as well as they did last weekend, they’re going to do well, I think.

But alas, I was so busy coaching and cheering that I didn’t get any pictures of the Patriots game, and only a few of the game against the Tigers.  I’ll be sure and snap a lot for the Davis World Cup this weekend.

Joe Griego

We had our best weekend yet in Toiyabe League club soccer. We won both games this past Saturday. The first game was the sweetest – we beat the South Lake Tahoe Timberwolves. They beat us earlier in the season 6-2, and were undefeated coming into Saturday’s game. But we bested them 5-2. They are a very physical team, and really seem to like pushing and shoving over good ball handling technique, so it was a sweet victory for our boys. Everyone seemed to step up their game – Nathaniel Pratt really took things up a notch with great ball handling and passing. Joey made a couple of great saves as defender and as keeper. Connor Oney was amazing in goal, and had phenomenal punts to clear the ball. Our defense was rock solid with Joe Domke and Alejandro Sanchez clearing everything. Elijah Alexander and Christopher Molina scored two goals apiece, and we got a freebie when one of the Timberwolves scored a goal for our team by trying to trap a corner kick, and it bounced into their own goal. Alexis Barajas, Alex Gonzales, Colton Mikulicich, Owen Richman and Jarod Dossey were all passing well, and their solid ball handling led to our offensive advantage the whole game.

The second game was against the third-place Carson City Blue Demons. They beat us 1-3 in the first game of the season, so it was nice to get the better of them this weekend. We beat the Carson City Blue Demons by 5-2 in the second game last Saturday. Chris Molina was the standout, with three goals! Elijah Alexander scored one, as did Colton Mikulicich, who scored on a perfect assist pass from Elijah Alexander. So, we’ve beaten the second and third place teams in the Toiyabe league so far! Next weekend, we face the Carson City Patriots, who are currently in first place (even though they lost a couple, they lead in points standings). Next weekend is our last league game before the statewide Davis World Cup tournament in Davis on Memorial Day weekend, so I hope we’ll be able to go out with a couple of good games.

Click on the photo to go to last Saturday’s gallery of photos.

Joe Griego

Well, it was a mixed weekend in the Toiyabe league club soccer. Our U10 boys lost out first game in another heartbreaker, 5-4. We were up 4-0 by halftime, but the Patriots came back strong, and we had a weak 3rd quarter. We held fast in the last quarter, with no goals scored, but came up just short. But, this is the team that beat us 3-0 in the quarterfinals at the Comstock Shootout, so we played a lot better against them, and the team is definitely improving. Our second game was a bit of a blowout, 8-2. The fun part was that Joey score two goals – the first of the season for him. He’s been playing keeper and defender lately, so that’s been limiting his scoring chances, I think. Anyway, he got a chance last Saturday, and made the best of them, scoring two excellent goals.

The U12 boys did great, winning both of their league games. They had to actually stop scoring, since you lose points in this league if you score too many goals in a blowout. So, another fun soccer weekend. Just a few more to go, including the upcoming Davis World Cup. That’s a HUGE tournament that’s going to be held in Davis, CA over the Memorial Day weekend. Should be loads of fun, and very challenging for the boys. Click on the photo to head over to the gallery.
Joe Griego

Wow. I can hardly believe it. Joey celebrated his 10th birthday last weekend. We had eleven boys at the house for a sleepover. Well, at least it was *called* a sleepover, because precious little sleeping actually took place… Anyway, the gallery of pics is available now. Just click on the photo to head to the gallery.

Joe Griego