So the last time they played, Bishop traveled to Frazier Mountain high school – it’s about a five hour drive.  Both the Bishop varsity girls and boys tied.  It was the first time Frazier Mountain varsity boys had not lost to Bishop in at least five years…

Well, they came to Bishop to play, and the girls lost a very close match, 0-1.  They played hard, but were plagued by injuries.  Yessenia Mora was out, and she is a big part of their offense.  Indica Morgenstein was out, and she is a very tough defender.  Brenda Gonzalez played, but was clearly still hampered by recent injuries.  While Bishop dominated midfield possession, they just couldn’t get much going in the attacking third of the field.  And unfortunately, they fell prey to a lucky bounce on a high free kick which bounced over freshman keeper Gabi Morales’ outstretched hands.

The boys game was much more one-sided.  The Bishop varsity boys completely dominated possession the entire match.  Frazier did have some very quick-footed forwards, but without any midfield buildup, they were relegated to chasing down hopeful long balls over the top.  The Bishop defenders were more than up to the task, and ended up shutting down the Frazier attack very well.  At halftime, the Broncos were tied, 0-0,  but finished the game very strong, winning it 5-1.  The lone goal for Frazier was a flukey scramble in front of the goal, with Bishop defenders not communicating well, and allowing a shot to roll in…

Joey played well.  He started the match for Bishop, and his pace really stretched the Frazier defense.  He got in several crosses, and caused some panic in the Frazier back four (actually six, at times!).  He also managed to get some more minutes at the end of the match, so hopefully he’ll continue to get some playing time.  It’s hard to get minutes in the varsity when you’re a freshman, so I hope he can stay healthy.  He’s still got back issues, so he needs to keep up his physical therapy…

Anyway, my camera malfunctioned after the girls varsity game, so I only have like four photos from the boys match.  Click on the photo to see the gallery for the varsity girls.  I’ll be switching back to an old Canon Rebel XT that I gave to Joey for any more match photos until my T2i gets repaired.

So we went down to Ridgecrest last weekend to celebrate Larry Josephson’s 75th birthday.  Erica and Niall put on a great party.  Lost of people from his church came, too, and Erica had two quizzes for the party guests – one for events that happened in 1937, and another quiz on how well the guests knew Larry.  I missed every single question on the 1937 quiz, but did get every question right on the Larry quiz…

Anyway, click on the photo to see the gallery of pics…

So Rosamond high is the most competitive match for Bishop High this year.  They played Thursday night, and it was a pretty exciting match.  Joey even got to start, and he provided an assist for Elijah Alexander for the first goal.

The Broncos were ahead the entire match, but unfortunately, a late goal in the final minute of the match saw them tie, 3-3.  So far, the Broncos are 1-0-2 in High Desert League play. They play Desert High from Edwards Air Force Base on Tuesday.

The Lady Broncos also played Rosamond, but had a much easier time of it.  They won 7-0.  Click on any of the photos to see the full gallery of pics.

Gracie has been playing for Round Valley school’s co-ed basketball team this winter, and she got the chance to get significant game time when they played another small school, Lee Vining Elementary.  The Round Valley Bobcats managed a win, but it was a very close game, and even went into overtime!  Click on the photo to get to the full gallery of pics.

Just thought I’d post a short clip on Joey’s play.  He’s number 16.  He makes a really nicely weighted pass to Chris Gonzales during last night’s game against California City.  As a freshman, it’s great that he gets to play on varsity at all, and I’m glad I got to catch a few good moments during his play.

The Bishop Broncos boys varsity played their first High Desert League match against California City High School on Tuesday, Jan 10th, 2012.  They dominated possession in the first half, and managed to keep a clean sheet to win the match 2-0.  The youtube video I’ve posted took place in the closing minutes of the match.  Tani Santana took the corner kick, which was headed in by senior Alberto Olvera.  You’ll notice that the Cal City defender also manages to handle the ball at the end, but it didn’t prevent the goal!  Go Broncos!

So Christmas extended for several days this year.  First, we had our wonderful Christmas eve service on Friday, and Gracie opened one of her gifts afterward.  I’m sure that’s one of the loooongest services ever for her..haha!

Then, we had Christmas morning.  My mom was able to drive up from Barstow to share our Christmas morning, so that was really nice.  She always brings up some homemade inarizushi (tofu-wrapped rice rolls, with shrimp filling), which are Karen’s favorite.  We had turkey for Christmas, and I tried a new stuffing, which was a turkey/sausage/apple recipe, and it turned out really well.

Then, we had Larry and his friend Dorothy come visit, along with Erica, Niall, and Liam, and Karen’s sister Maria.  We had honey-glazed ham, and I even made the glaze.  It turned out super-moist and very tasty.  Two cups of honey, a stick and a half of butter, and corn syrup.  So yummy, though.

Grandpa Larry shared a great Christmas story with the family, and I’ll link it later, after I’ve uploaded it to YouTube.  The kids then opened more presents, and we played a board game called Zero, which we hadn’t played before.  It was a really great family Christmas at home.

Hope all of yours were equally great.

So now that Joey is playing for the varsity squad at Bishop Union High School, I’ve created a new folder in the photo gallery for all of the matches.  You can access them in several ways.  You can click on the SquishPics link on the right, click on any photo on the front page, or just click HERE to see the pics.

Enjoy!

This post is quite late.  The Quartz Hill Shootout tournament took place on the weekend of May 21st-22nd, 2011.

The Bishop U14 boys faced strong competition in Lancaster, but managed another tournament championship, defeating Tri Comm 2-0, Valencia 1-0, Quartz Hill 4-0 and playing Canyon Country to a 0-0 draw.  They took first place with the most points in their group, having no losses.  Bishop U14 boys fielded a very strong defense, allowing no goals to be scored against them all weekend.  Bishop players had to dig deep to maintain their form after striker Joey Griego broke his collarbone late in the first game against Tri Comm.  But Bishop came back strong despite having only one substitute for the rest of the weekend, and their victory was well deserved.  Coach Greg Alexander said, “I’m so proud of our boys. They had to fight through several injuries.  They had numerous bruises, cuts, strains, and had to play through some very physical teams to win this championship.  The’ve done a great job, and I think we’ve prepared them well for high school soccer.  They have earned this championship with all of their hard work over the years.”

It was a pretty quiet, but nice Easter for us in the Griego household.  We went down to Ridgecest yesterday to spend some time with Karen’s family.  Had a really nice meal, although Karen and Gracie didn’t get to go horseback riding because it was too windy.

We went to the early service this morning, and it was very nice.  The weather was beautiful, and the  egg hunt and butterfly release was fun.  We just went to McDonald’s for a short lunch, then home to relax.  Grilled up some steaks, and we had a nice dinner.  Karen and Gracie went off to see the movie Rio this evening, and now I’m just relaxing on the couch…not a bad Easter Sunday.

Click on the photo for the gallery of pics from church, and later at home…