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Box Score

May. 17, 2012

HAWKS FORWARD SCORES ALL 5 GOALS IN 5-1 DEFEAT OF LUFC WILDCATS

Sunday, May 13 - Last Sunday, on a gloriously sunny afternoon, the Freebird Hawks faced off against the LUFC Wildcats.  The game was a rematch of Saturday's 2-1 Hawks victory, one in which Coach Duke wasn't too happy with how the Hawks played.  However, he was confident the team had knocked off enough rust to perform much better on Sunday.  The Hawks did just that, thoroughly dominating the Wildcats with crisp passing and lockdown defense.  They also unleashed the "O Show" on the unsuspecting squad from LUFC, as Olivia exploded for a season-high 5 goals in a 5-1 Hawks victory.

From the start, the Hawks showed much more energy and intensity than they had the day before.  Delaney got things going with a nice switch of the field, crossing the ball over to a wide-open Olivia.  She took the ball and finished with a lovely left-footed blast into the goal to make it 1-0 Hawks.

The Hawks continued to control the flow of the game, with good ball possession and steady defending by Alivia and Delaney.  In fact, LUFC's best weapon was the referee's whistle, as he called several free kicks when a Wildcat would blast the ball at close range off the arm of a Hawks player.  Even though their arms and hands were close to their bodies, the referee continued to call hand balls.  On the final one, LUFC managed to hit a direct kick into the goal to tie the score at 1-1.

Though not happy with the call, the Hawks pushed on.  The second unit for the Hawks brought great energy and did a great job of wearing down the Wildcats.  When the Hawks starters retook the field, they overwhelmed their opponent.

Maya took a cleared ball on the right side, and just as the ball was about to slide out of bounds, she whipped it across the field to a wide open Olivia.  The speedy forward once again finished brilliantly to make it 2-1 Hawks.  In the next few minutes, McKenzie, Maya, and Olivia put on a passing display that left the Wildcats dizzy.  The Hawks kept pressing offensively when McKenzie and Olivia worked a sweet give-and-go inside the Wildcat goal box.  Olivia blasted home the dish from McKenzie for a fantastic hat trick and a 3-1 lead at halftime.

In the second half, the Hawks continued to run roughshed over the Wildcats.  Maya made a great run up the right side and ripped a wonderful cross in front of the goal.  Of course, Olivia was there to knock it home, making the score 4-1.  Later in the game, the ball was bouncing around in traffic until McKenzie poked it through some legs to a fast-breaking Olivia.  "O" dribbled the ball to goal, fighting off a Wildcat defender, before cutting back inside and slipping it by the keeper to make the final 5-1.

Overall, Coach Duke was very happy with the play and effort of the Hawks.  It was like night and day for both Maya and Malia compared to how they played on Saturday - each made plays on Sunday and worked much harder on the field.  Mikayla, Lauren H, and Arlee were all steady as usual, continuing their good play from Saturday.  It was nice to see Dylan back in the lineup after her absence the day before, and she had a sweet flick header in the game (which was gratifying to see after the team had practiced those last week).  Delaney, who played another excellent game, also had a great header of a huge Wildcat punt.  Alivia was her usual spectacular self defensively, stepping up every time to take Wildcat punts out of the air or to stick a Wildcat forward.  Kirsten made a fantastic kick-save late in the game to thwart a rare Wildcat scoring chance, and her punts were strong all day.  McKenzie continued to play at a high level, providing great energy, an amazing header of a Hawks corner kick that flew just wide of the goal, and two beautiful assists. 

Every Hawk played well, but the star of the show this day was Olivia, whose ball skill and finishing ability were on full display.  It was obvious throughout the game that the Wildcat defense was shifting to Maya's side, in order to control the dangerous and speedy forward.  However, it was equally obvious that the Wildcats underestimated the dangerous and speedy forward on the other side, and Olivia made them pay dearly, unleashing the "O Show" upon them.  With an undefeated Qwest Ignition team awaiting them next weekend, the Hawks are hoping for a repeat broadcast of the "O Show" - same Hawk time, same Hawk channel...