Joey’s U12 boys team from Bishop competed in the 9v9 division of the Comstock Shootout soccer tournament this weekend, where they lost in the semi-final match against the Davis Demons. They began their tournament with a tough loss against the Davis Voodoo, 4-3. Bishop had many chances, but their defense was a bit leaky, and conceded far too many opportunities for a good team like Davis.
Our next round was a must-win against the PHMSA Adrenaline (from Pleasant Hill/Martinez in the San Francisco bay area). The Adrenaline had already beaten the team Bishop had just lost to (the Davis Voodoo) by 3-1, so Bishop had their work cut out. But, the Bishop boys really stepped up the pressure, and scored on every opportunity. I must say, the PHMSA coaches were a bit smug to the Bishop coaches before the game, perhaps thinking Bishop would be a walkover since they had beaten the Davis Demons, and they knew we lost to Davis earlier in the day. But Bishop’s defense cleared very well, and Elijah Alexander and Jose Mendez were standouts in the midfield, winning just about every ball. Joey Griego and Chris Molina both scored easily, with amazing footwork and through balls from the midfield. The final score was 6-1, in favor of Bishop. So, Bishop advanced to the semi-final match on points, having beaten PHMSA Adrenaline by more goals than the Adrenaline had beaten the Davis Voodoo.
The semi-final match was at 1:30 on Sunday against another Davis team (the Davis Demons), and Bishop played quite well. Joey scored early, and by halftime, Bishop was winning the match 3-0. That’s when the Bishop defense began to falter. Our midfield play collapsed, and the Demons capitalized on our mistakes. In fact, they brought the score even early in the 4th quarter of play. Down 4-3 late in the match, Chris Molina brought Bishop back from the brink by scoring in the final minute of the match to equalize, 4-4.
The game was then decided on penalty kicks. Our keeper, Daniel Martinez, kicked first, and scored. Then came Elijah Alexander, who scored, then Nathaniel Pratt, who missed, Chris Molina, who missed, and then it was Joey’s turn. Daniel had saved one of the kicks from Davis, so Joey had to score in order to keep Bishop in the round. He kicked, and made it! But, he didn’t wait for the referee to whistle first, so he had to take it again. He kicked it *again* and missed, but hadn’t waited for the whistle again, so it was called back. On the third try, he waited for the whistle, but missed his shot, and Davis Demons advanced to the final, against another Davis team (the Davis Rebels).
However, it was a great tournament for our boys. They played very well, and had to overcome some adversity, and showed real character to make it to the semi-final match after the tough loss in the first round. Joey scored a ton of goals (I lost count – 5 or 6?), and got compliments from the parents of every team we faced. It was a little embarrassing, as many parents had comments like, “Wow, who is *that* kid? He’s amazing!” He’s been working on his foot skill to get past defenders, and it showed. He didn’t face a single defender that he couldn’t get past easily.
I took a lot of sequence pictures, so click on the photos to view the full gallery of pics from the tournament. Unfortunately, I had to leave to refereee another semi-final, so I actually missed the tying final goal, and the subsequent penalty kick shootout, so there are no pictures of that.
Joe Griego