Bobby Rhine Tournament

Day 1 results were pretty much as expected.  Ayses, Liverpool ECNL, FCD Academy, Stricker & Sawyer won.  In the battle of the day Castro beat Odyssey 1-0 in the final minutes.  I watched the 1st half.  Most of it was played on Odyssey's end...their defense was worked hard by Castro.  Kudos to the ODY keeper who made some great saves in the half on pin point shots from the 6...impressive.  Good luck to both teams today as I suspect they should have a little easier time on day 2.
Of course the big game today is round 2 of FCDA vs Sawyer.  With 30 min halves I expect Sawyer to keep up the pressure the whole game.  FCDA is well coached with good players so I'm sure they've made some adjustment from last week.  Good luck to both.  Stricker, Ayses & LP ECNL should win but you never know.  Any thought on the Liverpool ECNL team?  I think of them as an Academy team or the best players LP has to offer.  They beat the Garland Tigre's 2-0 so that seems solid.  Also did anyone get a look at last years champion Paso Del Norte?  They could be the surprise of the tournament.  Odd saying that since they are the defending champs...it's our NTX arrogance...lol.  Good luck to all today.

Sawyer won 1-0. Should have been 3-0.

Castro aka Solar 02 DA lost to FCD Red D2???
WTH happen? What is going on over there?

Looks like it's gonna be a predominately Solar Party for the elimination round. Should be interesting.

Castro had a hard time again against a D2 team for their final game but came up 4-3. Congrats to Sawyer for a great showing beating FCD Academy, unfortunately they now have to have National Champs Solar Strickler. Looks like a final of Castro vs Strickler

I’ve learned over the last couple of months not to count any team out, especially a team like Sawyer. They will fly around and knock you down pick you back up and do it again. Wouldn’t be surprised if Sawyer makes the finals, especially the way they have been playing lately. Everything seems to be clicking right now.

Castro was outplayed by Dallas Kicks. The ref called every flop for castro. Players diving all over the field. Don't sleep on this Dallas Kicks team. They are for real.

For Dallas Kicks to loose only by one to Oddessey and Solar Castro aka U16 DA that is a good showing. They were competitive in both games. They should make a run for the top spots in D2 to move up to D1 this year. They are a 1-3 players away to be a good D1 team. Best of luck to them in the Spring. Love to hear from
Castro and Oddessey parents on their take of the game

Congrats to Solar as a club...3 out of 4 teams in the semifinals are Solar.
Solar Sawyer vs Solar Stricker. Sawyer coming off their big win over FCD Academy will be hyped. 40 min halves in this round. Can they pressure for 80 mins, deal with Stricker's offense & find a while in the defense? Can Stricker's offense handle the constant pressure & score a few goals, can the defense deal with Sawyers speed up top? I think it will come down to fitness & health because both teams like to run & at this point no ones health is 100%.
Solar Castro vs Ayses. Has Castro recovered from losing to a very good D2 team? Can Ayses find a hole in the Castro defense? We'll see.

Stricker and Sawyer tied at 1 end of regulation and overtime.
Stricker won on penalty kicks.

What a game. Congrats to all.

Wow what a game. Sawyers plan was obviously to beat up Stricker's team. Several yellow card & a red card on both sides...should have been many more yellows from my point of view. Very physical game for 2 teams in the same club...smh. PK's in the end was probably the best you could hope for with the officiating. Moving on...Solar Stricker vs Solar Castro for the championship. Should be a clean "soccer" game. Good luck to both...prayers for no injuries. Prediction: Stricker 1-0...if they have anyone left healthy after the Sawyer heavy weight fight.

Why is Stricker in this tournament?

To my understanding they have already qualified for the Dallas Cup. Anyone know?

If thats true it's a shame Stricker would enter considering you have two very good Solar teams that have not.

booe817 wrote:Why is Stricker in this tournament?

To my understanding they have already qualified for the Dallas Cup. Anyone know?

If thats true it's a shame Stricker  would enter considering you have two very good Solar teams that have not.

They were not qualified. Fcdp first in CL. And won a qualifier. Nothing rolls down. So 2nd in CL gets you nothing guaranteed.

They are qualified now

BOBBY RHINE TOURNAMENT My point of view Stricker was lucky to play sawyer on the semifinal final, 1-1 regular and extra time game, the Final was stricker vs Castro 3-0 ????
and FCD Academy was also lucky not to play sawyer on the final at Dallas Texans fall tournament
FCD academy 2- Sawyer 0 on Semifinal
Final FCD academy 4 vs Energy Oklahoma 1??????
And sawyer team defeat FCD academy 1-0 on Bobby Rhine tournament so for me sawyer team is ready to compete with all the top teams in the nation believe it or not

Mundosoccer wrote:BOBBY RHINE TOURNAMENT My point of view Stricker was lucky to play sawyer on the semifinal final, 1-1 regular and extra time game, the Final was stricker vs Castro 3-0 ????
and FCD Academy was also lucky not to play sawyer on the final at Dallas Texans fall tournament
FCD academy 2- Sawyer 0 on Semifinal
Final FCD academy 4 vs Energy Oklahoma 1??????
And sawyer team defeat FCD academy 1-0 on Bobby Rhine tournament so for me sawyer team is ready to compete with all the top teams in the nation believe it or not

Sawyer has been playing very well lately but it appears this new found success may be due to a change in their style of play.  I watched the Sawyer vs FCD Academy game last week & the Sawyer vs Stricker game today.  Great games but Sawyer's team is playing more high school football out there than soccer.  I don't have any problem with the high pressure because that's exactly what Stricker does & did last season which helped them win a national championship.  The difference is Sawyer's doing it by beating up the other team, "initiate contact" I believe were the words used.  Hitting them from the front, sides & mostly from behind from what I saw today.  I was shocked to see this blatant disregard for how the game is supposed to be played & against a team in your own club...shameful!  I don't blame all the kids, just a few (the player who got the red card, I'll mention later).  I blame Sawyer himself for instructing his kids to play this way.  Now I'm all for physical soccer but taking players down from behind is dangerous.  Now to the right back who shoved down from behind, the smallest kid on the field then punching him, that was wrong.  Thank GOD the line judge had eyes & spine enough to inform the ref who didn't seem to see any of it or the other deliberate WWF takedowns by Sawyer's team.  The red card was rightfully deserved.  Let me also mention the left back (I believe) who I'm told spit on Stricker's right forward after fouling him.  The ref called the foul for Stricker but when the forward mentioned being spit on, the ref gave him a yellow card which was his 2nd so he was thrown out.  I'm guessing the ref misunderstood what Stricker's forward said so I'll give him the benefit of the doubt here.  Sawyer has a good team that plays hard until the end so the rockem sockem robots is unnecessary.  Hats off to them for scoring a great header goal early in the 2nd half while down a player.  By the way, the player scoring the header is a former Stricker player so good for him.  All eyes were on the PK shootout.  Sawyer made their 1st 2 PK's then their next 2 were blocked by arguably the best U16 keeper in the country.  Stricker made 4 & won the game.  Great battle!

After such a long, emotional fight I didn't think Stricker's team would have anything left.  I expected Castro's methodical passing to wear them down but Stricker's team showed the fitness & heart to grind it out.  Just like in the Ayses vs Castro game in the semifinals, most of the 1st half was spent with Castro controlling possession but unlike with the Ayses, they couldn't break through Stricker's defense which only gave up 2 goals the entire tournament.  With Castro's back line on the attack & pushed up to midfield, Stricker caught them 2x on quick counters resulting in 2 goals for a 2-0 halftime lead.  Then shortly after the 2nd half started, Stricker made them pay for another mistake to go up 3-0.  The teams traded shots for the next 30 minutes until the final whistle.  Congrats to Stricker for earning their DC spot.  19 goals for & 2 against, impressive.  Solar as a club looked strong this weekend.

Futbol#VIDA wrote:

Sawyer has been playing very well lately but it appears this new found success may be due to a change in their style of play.  I watched the Sawyer vs FCD Academy game last week & the Sawyer vs Stricker game today.  Great games but Sawyer's team is playing more high school football out there than soccer.  I don't have any problem with the high pressure because that's exactly what Stricker does & did last season which helped them win a national championship.  The difference is Sawyer's doing it by beating up the other team, "initiate contact" I believe were the words used.  Hitting them from the front, sides & mostly from behind from what I saw today.  I was shocked to see this blatant disregard for how the game is supposed to be played & against a team in your own club...shameful!  I don't blame all the kids, just a few (the player who got the red card, I'll mention later).  I blame Sawyer himself for instructing his kids to play this way.  Now I'm all for physical soccer but taking players down from behind is dangerous.  Now to the right back who shoved down from behind, the smallest kid on the field then punching him, that was wrong.  Thank GOD the line judge had eyes & spine enough to inform the ref who didn't seem to see any of it or the other deliberate WWF takedowns by Sawyer's team.  The red card was rightfully deserved.  Let me also mention the left back (I believe) who I'm told spit on Stricker's right forward after fouling him.  The ref called the foul for Stricker but when the forward mentioned being spit on, the ref gave him a yellow card which was his 2nd so he was thrown out.  I'm guessing the ref misunderstood what Stricker's forward said so I'll give him the benefit of the doubt here.  

These Solar teams are all individual entities.   Clearly doing whatever they feel for their team and to each other.    Right in front of the Solar DOC.     But does kind of underscore the hilarity of asking "why would Stricker want to take a DC spot away from another Solar team" like Sawyer?    Stricker's kid was out there on the field, I would think he would rather set the DC invite on fire in the parking lot rather than give it to Sawyer.  

The final was rather well behaved, certainly in comparison. Don't score, can't win.

Wow Mundo. Not sure how that would be determined on being the best goalie in the country. Guess we will have to take your word on it.

Congrats to Stricker on their win.

Didn't he win a golden glove this summer... I'd say he's earned the right to be called that...

booe817 wrote:Wow Mundo. Not sure how that would be determined on being the best goalie in the country. Guess we will have to take your word on it.

Congrats to Stricker on their win.

Yes it would seem hard to determine.  "Best U16 in the country" is a strong statement but 1 of the best I think is pretty accurate.  I'm biased...of course but if you measure it by hardware & accomplishments there's not anyone else:  National & Regional Golden Gloves, 3 State Cups...etc.  I guess the biggest would be if you talk to kids who've played with & against him.  I think most if not all would agree he's pretty good.

FWIW....Castro team was missing 2-3 key starting DA players for the whole weekend. Players were shifted to different positions to accommodate.

Oh got it. Well I guess Castro & Stricker were in the same boat...Castro was missing a few players & about 4 or 5 of Stricker's were injured (playing at well under 100%), a right back & a midfielder who couldn't play at all & 1 of their top forwards went to FCD Academy. At this point in the year though no one's 100% healthy & with all the demands these kids have, the scheduling conflicts are always hard to predict.

If Castro would shoot the ball versus Stricker they might have won. I love their style of play but shoot the ball already. I thought it was Spain for a minute. lol

As Woody Hayes said, three things can happen when you try a forward pass, and two of them are bad.  Same for shooting.   Lose possession, lose possession and counterattack, and then the third thing...a goal.   Best not to shoot.

Don't shoot you don't score. Hence the 3-0 shutout.