October 10-11, 2009 - Dillsburg, PA

The Lionville Kixx brought their style of play to the enormous Dillsburg Dual Shootout this past weekend, and although they didn't get to try their hands (feet?) at an actual shootout, our boys in blue more than acquitted themselves, finishing 5th out of 16 U9 boys teams!

Players began trickling into the Hotel Carlisle on Friday evening, and of course the kids mostly gravitated to the pool. Curfew was strictly obeyed, but there was plenty of DS-playing and goofing off as well. On Saturday morning the team headed to Ponderosa Park, where all of the games were to be played. It was a nice field, nestled in the middle of a rural area, complete with playground and concession stand.

The tournament started with three 20-minute games that made up the "Qualification Round." The Kixx played first against a Quakertown team that they probably should have beaten, but they couldn't quite get started, and ended up with a 0-0 draw. From there, they went on to face a tough Redlands team whose sole female player (apparently nicknamed "Mad Dog") was the talk of the tournament. The Kixx couldn't keep up with them, and fell 3-0. The third mini game was against a Mechanicsburg team that had looked overmatched in some earlier games, and the Kixx took care of business, riding goals from Dalton Musselman and Mike Bolger to a 2-0 victory! The Kixx spent time between Qualification Round games by playing a riveting game of touch football on a nearby field. :)

The Qualification Round determined the split of teams into two divisions. The Kixx' strong finish placed us in the stronger division of 8 teams that would go on to play the rest of the tournament. The Kixx' first opponent later on Saturday afternoon was the 3rd-seeded Lower Dauphin team. But the Kixx played hard, and eked out a 2-1 victory to wrap up their Saturday play! The parents were all ecstatic that the victory meant our first Sunday game was scheduled for 10:30 instead of 8:50.

Saturday night, the Kixx celebrated both their performance and Matt Tutterice's birthday, with pizza and cake, and several hours of insanity in the hotel pool. Everyone had a blast, and stayed up late having a great time!

Sunday morning brought a match against the 2nd seeded HMMS Titans, and the Kixx were a little the worse for wear, with offensive stalwarts Dalton and Charlie both sidelined with illnesses. (Dalton on the bench, and Charlie back at home). The Titans were quite a handful, leaping out to a 4-0 halftime lead with disciplined play. The Kixx outplayed them with a solid second half, but managed just one goal when Mike Battisti broke between two defenders and knocked one home, and they fell, 4-1.

The final game of the day was against a second Mechanicsburg team, and it was a tough see-saw battle all game long. Goalie Max Gress was outstanding, keeping us in the game on numerous chances. But the Kixx just couldn't put one home. As Coach John was arranging the lineup in preparation for a potential shootout, the Dynamite knocked a fluke goal into the corner, to give them a lead with just a few minutes left. The Kixx pushed ahead with everything they had left, but just couldn't knock one home, and the boys in blue lost the hard-fought match 1-0.

It was a thoroughly enjoyable weekend for this writer, and hopefully for the kids too. We all wanted to walk out of there as the winners, but the kids played great soccer, had great teamwork, and had a blast playing football, swimming in the pool, and goofing off in the hotel. On top of that, the Eagles and Phils won on Sunday, so all was right with the world. :)