August 16, 2009 - Downingtown, PA

The Kixx played their first full tournament this weekend, playing three and falling just short of the championship match due to a peculiar set of tournament rules, but a great time was had by all! (Apologies in advance if the author's "play-by-play" recollection is hazy!)

The team arrived at Downingtown Middle School early on Saturday morning, along with "loaner" player Logan Cattie, needed due to a short bench. Missing from action were Kixx players Max Gress, Matthew Tutterice, Daniel Good, and Michael Bulger. From the start, it was shaping up to be a hot and humid day, with the temperature already in the 80s as they arrived at the field. The field wasn't much help either, without a speck of shade anywhere near the field. Dressed in their bright blues, the Kixx took the field against their first opponent, the West Chester Eagles. From the start, the kids looked tentative, perhaps due to the big changes in our lineup. West Chester brought a sharp team to play, and they pressed consistently. Defenders Daniel Andris and Michael Caggiano were under constant pressure, along with keeper Mike Battisti, but nevertheless the Eagles ran up a quick 3-0 lead. The Kixx battled back, with Daulton Musselman scoring once to cut the lead to 3-1, but the Eagles scored again to make it 4-1 at halftime.

The "real" Kixx showed up in the second half, playing much more aggressively, especially in the middle of the field. Musselman tallied again, followed by a strike by Brian Miller, and suddenly a comeback seemed like a possibility. But with time running short, the Eagles scored again to take a two goal lead, and the first match ended in a 5-3 loss.

The afternoon saw us playing in 94-degree heat on the farthest end of the field, a long hike from the parking lot. The kids' spirits were up despite their earlier loss, and they took it to the TEYSA (Tredyffrin) Ginga from the kickoff. There was nothing the Ginga could do, as the Kixx poured in goal after goal, with Tristan Hummel and Charlie Beale tallying in a game full of solid ball control and repeated scoring chances. The second half included more of the same, with starting keeper Mike Battisti tallying four goals while Joey D'Angelo covered the net for the Kixx. The final result was a 14-1 thrashing of TEYSA, a team we will face in the upcoming fall league as well.

The Kixx entered the second day of the tournament in second place, behind a Rose Tree team that won both of its Day 1 games. The tournament championship was to be held later on Sunday between the winners of two 4-team brackets, so only one team from our group would advance. However, due to a complicating scoring system for the tournament, we weren't quite certain what would need to happen for the boys to make the championship. At any rate, it was clear we needed to win to have a chance, and the boys promised to give it their best against the team that beat West Chester 4-1 yesterday afternoon.

What can we say about the afternoon game? Simply that the Kixx put it all together in what was far and away their best performance of their brief existence. The Kixx jumped on the Wild early, with Daulton Musselman scoring early. The Wild quickly tallied back, but the Kixx came back on two quick goals, one on a penalty kick by Logan Cattie, earned by some tough work by Charlie Beale in the left corner. Throughout the game, the Kixx were dominant in all phases. Tristan Hummel was persistent and had a number of great breaks. Charlie Beale was running at 100% all the time. Alex Mullins had a number of good plays, including a great cross from the right corner. Logan was a force in the middle of the field, and Rose Tree had no answer for Daulton, who seemed to be on the ball every time it came up the field. Every time Rose Tree made a mistake, they paid for it. On the other end of the field, the defensive trio of Andris, Caggiano, and Battisti kept the lead by stopping nearly everything that came their way.

At the end, the Kixx shut down Rose Tree entirely, rolling to a 7-3 victory. In a disappointing turn of events, the peculiar tournament scoring rules resulted in Rose Tree finishing with one more standing point than Lionville, and the kids were very disappointed to have just missed the tournament championship. But all in all, it was a fantastic set of games that really showed Lionville starting to come together as a team, and this without several of our strongest players!

The Methacton Galaxy team that we scrimmaged against a few weeks ago ended up winning the Championship match, defeating Rose Tree 3-0.