Chicago Wind Girls U11 Nationals

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All Pictures Chicago Wind Girls U11 Nationals Winter 2006 Indoor Season
Clicking on the picture at left will display the full season's pictures. Selecting one game from below will display that game's pictures only.

Jan 15, '06 Wind 4 - Arlington Aces 3
The Wind opened up the indoor season with a 4-3 win over the Arlington Aces White, a U-12 team that finished with a 9-1 record in a "C" division in the Fall. Sia put the Wind up 1-0 with a goal, and Rachel gave the Wind a two goal lead (assist Marley). Arlington cut the lead in half before halftime. In the second half the Wind took a 4-1 lead on goals by Claire (Nicki assist) and Rachel (Sia assist). Arlington score two more goals to cut the lead to 4-3 with about seven minutes left to play. Montana was a rock on defense and introduced a new move to her arsenal in which she would be facing her own goal on a bouncing ball and put it over her head at her opponents head back the other way out of harms way. Noteworthy efforts were also turned in by Olivia and Cara.

Jan 21, '06 Wind 3 - Park Ridge (U-12) 0
The Wind controlled the action throughout. The give-and-go passing drills that Tony worked on with the girls began to show up in the game. Despite having a big advantage in possession and scoring chances, the Wind was unable to put the ball in the net in a scoreless first half. The Wind took a 1-0 lead in the second half when Stephanie scored on a breakaway, shooting the ball a fraction of a second before the charging goalie could get to her (assist Rachel). Sia scored a spectacular goal to put the Wind up 2-0 when she volleyed a well-placed Claire cross out of the air and into the net. The Wind went up 3-0 when Nicki stole the ball from Park Ridge and sent the ball to Jessica who scored the goal. Katherine made five saves in the fist half. Amanda had seven saves in the second half, including a sensational stop of a shot from point blank range. Noteworthy efforts were turned in by Montana (who played her usual stong defensive game before getting a little playing time on offense late in the game), Marley (who had a great shot on goal that somehow did not find its way to the back of the net), Olivia and Cara.

Jan 29, '06 Sockers 5 - Wind 1
The Wind lost to the Sockers 5-1 in a very physical game in which both teams had good ball movement. The Sockers went up 1-0 before Rachel tied the game with a high shot that barely spun through the outstretched fingertips of the Sockers' goalie. At halftime the score was Sockers 4, Wind 1 that was actually more competitive than the score indicates. The Wind actually held its own in terms of time of possession in the opponent's end of the field, but the Sockers did a better job of finishing and taking advantage of the nuances of the indoor game (using the boards, anticipating rebounds off the wall on errants shots, playing a forward in a position that would be offsides outdoors, etc.). The other area the Sockers had a decided advantage was their ability to make runs without the ball and receive passes that anticipated those runs. Despite only getting outscored 1-0 in the second half, the Wind was actually outplayed much more in the second half than the first. Katherine made 15 saves. Marley had one of her better games of the season.

Feb 4, 2006 Chicago Wind 4 - Northbrook Spartans (U-12) 0
The Wind took a 1-0 lead on a hard shot by Claire that deflected into the goal off of a Northbrook defender. The Wind went up 2-0 in the first half on one of the team's best combination plays of the season when Rachel passed to Claire who passed to Sia who scored the goal. In the second half the Wind went up 3-0 when Montana carried the ball and then distributed it to Jessica, who pounded it into the net. With mere seconds left in the game, Montana scored on a direct kick to make it 4-0. Amanda was phenomenal in goal, making 18 saves. It was her best game in goal of the season as she made a number of diving stops that were tremendous in terms of technique, timing and effort. Although the Wind scored an equal number of goals in each half, the team played much better in the second half. In the first half, with Northbrook packing its players in on defense, the Wind struggled with its give-and-go passing. At halftime Tony told the girls this type of passing was all he wanted them to do, and they improved in this aspect of their game in the second half. Cara played one of her better games of the year on defense. Nicki had numerous shots in the second half and was effective distributing the ball, a role Tony emphasizes with his forwards during the indoor season. Stephanie and Marley did a good job of controlling the middle of the field. The highlight of the game for Olivia was a massive, field goal style shot that soared well over the opposing goal. As usual, Katherine led the team in headers.

Feb 11, 2006 Wind 7 - Arlington Aces (U-12) Black 1
The Wind continued to improve its passing attack. In particular, the girls are starting to make runs to create additional passing lanes and are also starting to string together second and sometimes third passes. The girls also played more balls out of the air with their heads in this game than in any game so far this year. Montana had one paly in which she headed the ball twice in order to clear the ball. Katherine had a phenomenal header in which she kept a goal kick from going out of bounds with her head, and not only to she keep it in play but she headed it to a teammate for a breakway that did not result in a goal. The Wind led 4-0 at halftime on goals by Rachel (two goals), Jessica and Amanda. Montana had an assist on Amanda's goal. Nicki had an assist on Rachel's second goal. In the second half the Wind got goals from Stephanie, Nicki and Katherine. Sia had an assist on Stephanie's goal. Stephanie had the assist on Nicki's goal. Katherine had two saves in the first half. Amanda had two five saves in the second half.

Storm Game The girls joined together to watch the Chicago Storm indoor team play, followed by pizza at Giordano's. A great time was had by all.

Feb 25, 2006 Chicago Wind 5 - Team Evanston (U-12) 0
Everyone on the team contributed in this game. The Wind took a 3-0 first half lead behind two goals by Rachel and one goal by Sia (assists: Claire, Rachel and Katherine). Amanda shook of the effects of a collision to make seven saves. In the second half Rachel scored her third goal of the game on a great combination play that went Marley to Sia to Rachel. Jessica scored the final goal of the game (assist: Sia). Katherine picked up where Amanda left off to make nine saves and combine for the shutout in net. Cara had one of her best games of the season on defense. Stephanie did her usual strong job of controlling the middle of the field. Olivia was around the ball a lot. Montana started the game on defense and once the Wind built up a big lead, she got to play on offense and did so ferociously. Nicki, fractured foot, cheered her teammates on from the Wind bench. The Wind set a Socker City indoor record with two high powered cameras (Mark and Sam) perched up high taking photos.

Mar 4, 2006 Arlington Aces (U-12) 4 - WInd 2
The severely short-handed Wind lost Arlington. The Wind played without Rachel, Claire and Nicki. Plus, Montana was injured and was moved to goalie for this game. The Wind enjoyed the better of the action in the first half, scoring the only goal when Sia took a Stephanie pass and scored. Arlington tied the score quickly in the second half, but Amanda scored a goal (assist: Sia) with 14 minutes to go to retake the lead. With 10 minutes to go, the Wind hit a three minute stretch where everyone seemed to get tired at the same time, and with only two subs the roofed caved in as Arlington scored three quick goals to go up 4-2. The Wind then seemed to get a bit of a second wind and had several excellent scoring opportunities but couldn't get the ball in the net. Montana was phenomenal in goal, combining aggression to the ball with several diving and leaping saves. Montana had 22 saves in the game. Noteworthy efforts were turned in by Olivia, Cara and Jessica.

Mar 11, 2006 Chicago Wind 3 - Park Ridge (U-12) 0
The Wind beat the much, much, MUCH taller team from Park Ridge (U-12) 3-0. Rachel scored the only goal of the first half (assist: Cara--we think, none of the parents were sure). In the second half the Wind put together a terrific succession of passes culminating in a Marley to Rachel to Katherine combination in which Katherine scored. Sia scored the final goal of the game despite the fact that she had to overcome stomach problems on a couple of occasions during the game (assist: Stephanie). Katherine and Amanda combined for the shutout. Katherine made nine first-half saves. Amanda had 12 second-half saves. The most excitemement in goal came when Amanda came out of the net, out of the goal box and then tried to clear the ball, only to see her shoe go flying off her foot and the ball not clear the zone. The next few seconds were like something out of a Three Stooges movie with the Wind scrambling to get the ball out of their zone while also trying to get Amanda's shoe back to her. At one point Claire retrieved Amanda's shoe and was running toward Amanda to give it to her only to see Amanda pass the ball to her before she could get to the Amanda. Order was finally restored and the Wind survived without allowing a goal. The Wind enjoyed excellent ball movement throughout the game and probably would have won by a bigger margin were it not for several excellent saves by the Park Ridge goalie. Cara had what might have been her best game of the season, calmly and confidently playing balls under pressure with good touch, making passes under control and attacking the ball when appropriate and staying back and delaying the opposition when the situation called for it. Montana was strong on defense and got a little bit of playing time on offense in the latter part of the game, displaying excellent dribbling skills from both positions. Montana made one terrific pass where she was dribbling quickly up the middle of the field, met significant defensive pressure and passed the ball with the outside of her foot perfectly to Katherine who was streaking down the sideline. Jessica played well despite the fact that the opposing player who was often marking her was almost twice her size.

Mar 18, 2006 Chicago Wind 1 - Sockers 0
The Wind beat the previously unbeaten Sockers 1-0. The Sockers, ranked #10 in the state of Illinois for U-11 teams, had two great scoring chances in the opening minutes of the first half, but both shots went too high. After that the Wind settled down and the rest of the first half was evenly played, albeit scoreless. Rachel arrived from a family function at halftime, and gave the Wind added punch on offense in the second half. The Sockers appeared to have gone ahead 1-0 in the second half on a goal that was negated by a hand ball call. Disaster appeared to have struck when the Wind was given a two-minute penalty for too many players on the field when a substitute player left the bench before the their teammate got off the field. The Wind turned a negative into a positive when Sia scored a short-handed goal (assist: Stephanie). As time wound down, the Sockers pushed their defenders up the field in an attempt to tie the game and put a lot of pressure on the Wind defense, but there was no more scoring. Katherine had three saves and Amanda had seven saves in posting the shutout with help from defenders Montana, Olivia and Cara. Claire was very aggressive to the ball throughout the game from her midfield spot. Jessica and Marley also turned in noteworthy performances. This was truly a team effort as everyone contributed in a very hard fought and exciting game. This was the Wind's last indoor game.

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All Pictures	Chicago Wind Girls U11 Nationals Winter 2006 Indoor Season Clicking on the picture at left will display the full season's pictures. Selecting one game from below will display that game's pictures only.
Jan 15, '06	Wind 4 - Arlington Aces 3 The Wind opened up the indoor season with a 4-3 win over the Arlington Aces White, a U-12 team that finished with a 9-1 record in a "C" division in the Fall. Sia put the Wind up 1-0 with a goal, and Rachel gave the Wind a two goal lead (assist Marley). Arlington cut the lead in half before halftime. In the second half the Wind took a 4-1 lead on goals by Claire (Nicki assist) and Rachel (Sia assist). Arlington score two more goals to cut the lead to 4-3 with about seven minutes left to play. Montana was a rock on defense and introduced a new move to her arsenal in which she would be facing her own goal on a bouncing ball and put it over her head at her opponents head back the other way out of harms way. Noteworthy efforts were also turned in by Olivia and Cara.
Jan 21, '06	Wind 3 - Park Ridge (U-12) 0 The Wind controlled the action throughout. The give-and-go passing drills that Tony worked on with the girls began to show up in the game. Despite having a big advantage in possession and scoring chances, the Wind was unable to put the ball in the net in a scoreless first half. The Wind took a 1-0 lead in the second half when Stephanie scored on a breakaway, shooting the ball a fraction of a second before the charging goalie could get to her (assist Rachel). Sia scored a spectacular goal to put the Wind up 2-0 when she volleyed a well-placed Claire cross out of the air and into the net. The Wind went up 3-0 when Nicki stole the ball from Park Ridge and sent the ball to Jessica who scored the goal. Katherine made five saves in the fist half. Amanda had seven saves in the second half, including a sensational stop of a shot from point blank range. Noteworthy efforts were turned in by Montana (who played her usual stong defensive game before getting a little playing time on offense late in the game), Marley (who had a great shot on goal that somehow did not find its way to the back of the net), Olivia and Cara.
Jan 29, '06	Sockers 5 - Wind 1 The Wind lost to the Sockers 5-1 in a very physical game in which both teams had good ball movement. The Sockers went up 1-0 before Rachel tied the game with a high shot that barely spun through the outstretched fingertips of the Sockers' goalie. At halftime the score was Sockers 4, Wind 1 that was actually more competitive than the score indicates. The Wind actually held its own in terms of time of possession in the opponent's end of the field, but the Sockers did a better job of finishing and taking advantage of the nuances of the indoor game (using the boards, anticipating rebounds off the wall on errants shots, playing a forward in a position that would be offsides outdoors, etc.). The other area the Sockers had a decided advantage was their ability to make runs without the ball and receive passes that anticipated those runs. Despite only getting outscored 1-0 in the second half, the Wind was actually outplayed much more in the second half than the first. Katherine made 15 saves. Marley had one of her better games of the season.
Feb 4, 2006	Chicago Wind 4 - Northbrook Spartans (U-12) 0 The Wind took a 1-0 lead on a hard shot by Claire that deflected into the goal off of a Northbrook defender. The Wind went up 2-0 in the first half on one of the team's best combination plays of the season when Rachel passed to Claire who passed to Sia who scored the goal. In the second half the Wind went up 3-0 when Montana carried the ball and then distributed it to Jessica, who pounded it into the net. With mere seconds left in the game, Montana scored on a direct kick to make it 4-0. Amanda was phenomenal in goal, making 18 saves. It was her best game in goal of the season as she made a number of diving stops that were tremendous in terms of technique, timing and effort. Although the Wind scored an equal number of goals in each half, the team played much better in the second half. In the first half, with Northbrook packing its players in on defense, the Wind struggled with its give-and-go passing. At halftime Tony told the girls this type of passing was all he wanted them to do, and they improved in this aspect of their game in the second half. Cara played one of her better games of the year on defense. Nicki had numerous shots in the second half and was effective distributing the ball, a role Tony emphasizes with his forwards during the indoor season. Stephanie and Marley did a good job of controlling the middle of the field. The highlight of the game for Olivia was a massive, field goal style shot that soared well over the opposing goal. As usual, Katherine led the team in headers.
Feb 11, 2006	Wind 7 - Arlington Aces (U-12) Black 1 The Wind continued to improve its passing attack. In particular, the girls are starting to make runs to create additional passing lanes and are also starting to string together second and sometimes third passes. The girls also played more balls out of the air with their heads in this game than in any game so far this year. Montana had one paly in which she headed the ball twice in order to clear the ball. Katherine had a phenomenal header in which she kept a goal kick from going out of bounds with her head, and not only to she keep it in play but she headed it to a teammate for a breakway that did not result in a goal. The Wind led 4-0 at halftime on goals by Rachel (two goals), Jessica and Amanda. Montana had an assist on Amanda's goal. Nicki had an assist on Rachel's second goal. In the second half the Wind got goals from Stephanie, Nicki and Katherine. Sia had an assist on Stephanie's goal. Stephanie had the assist on Nicki's goal. Katherine had two saves in the first half. Amanda had two five saves in the second half.
Storm Game	The girls joined together to watch the Chicago Storm indoor team play, followed by pizza at Giordano's. A great time was had by all.
Feb 25, 2006	Chicago Wind 5 - Team Evanston (U-12) 0 Everyone on the team contributed in this game. The Wind took a 3-0 first half lead behind two goals by Rachel and one goal by Sia (assists: Claire, Rachel and Katherine). Amanda shook of the effects of a collision to make seven saves. In the second half Rachel scored her third goal of the game on a great combination play that went Marley to Sia to Rachel. Jessica scored the final goal of the game (assist: Sia). Katherine picked up where Amanda left off to make nine saves and combine for the shutout in net. Cara had one of her best games of the season on defense. Stephanie did her usual strong job of controlling the middle of the field. Olivia was around the ball a lot. Montana started the game on defense and once the Wind built up a big lead, she got to play on offense and did so ferociously. Nicki, fractured foot, cheered her teammates on from the Wind bench. The Wind set a Socker City indoor record with two high powered cameras (Mark and Sam) perched up high taking photos.
Mar 4, 2006	Arlington Aces (U-12) 4 - WInd 2 The severely short-handed Wind lost Arlington. The Wind played without Rachel, Claire and Nicki. Plus, Montana was injured and was moved to goalie for this game. The Wind enjoyed the better of the action in the first half, scoring the only goal when Sia took a Stephanie pass and scored. Arlington tied the score quickly in the second half, but Amanda scored a goal (assist: Sia) with 14 minutes to go to retake the lead. With 10 minutes to go, the Wind hit a three minute stretch where everyone seemed to get tired at the same time, and with only two subs the roofed caved in as Arlington scored three quick goals to go up 4-2. The Wind then seemed to get a bit of a second wind and had several excellent scoring opportunities but couldn't get the ball in the net. Montana was phenomenal in goal, combining aggression to the ball with several diving and leaping saves. Montana had 22 saves in the game. Noteworthy efforts were turned in by Olivia, Cara and Jessica.
Mar 11, 2006	Chicago Wind 3 - Park Ridge (U-12) 0 The Wind beat the much, much, MUCH taller team from Park Ridge (U-12) 3-0. Rachel scored the only goal of the first half (assist: Cara--we think, none of the parents were sure). In the second half the Wind put together a terrific succession of passes culminating in a Marley to Rachel to Katherine combination in which Katherine scored. Sia scored the final goal of the game despite the fact that she had to overcome stomach problems on a couple of occasions during the game (assist: Stephanie). Katherine and Amanda combined for the shutout. Katherine made nine first-half saves. Amanda had 12 second-half saves. The most excitemement in goal came when Amanda came out of the net, out of the goal box and then tried to clear the ball, only to see her shoe go flying off her foot and the ball not clear the zone. The next few seconds were like something out of a Three Stooges movie with the Wind scrambling to get the ball out of their zone while also trying to get Amanda's shoe back to her. At one point Claire retrieved Amanda's shoe and was running toward Amanda to give it to her only to see Amanda pass the ball to her before she could get to the Amanda. Order was finally restored and the Wind survived without allowing a goal. The Wind enjoyed excellent ball movement throughout the game and probably would have won by a bigger margin were it not for several excellent saves by the Park Ridge goalie. Cara had what might have been her best game of the season, calmly and confidently playing balls under pressure with good touch, making passes under control and attacking the ball when appropriate and staying back and delaying the opposition when the situation called for it. Montana was strong on defense and got a little bit of playing time on offense in the latter part of the game, displaying excellent dribbling skills from both positions. Montana made one terrific pass where she was dribbling quickly up the middle of the field, met significant defensive pressure and passed the ball with the outside of her foot perfectly to Katherine who was streaking down the sideline. Jessica played well despite the fact that the opposing player who was often marking her was almost twice her size.
Mar 18, 2006	Chicago Wind 1 - Sockers 0 The Wind beat the previously unbeaten Sockers 1-0. The Sockers, ranked #10 in the state of Illinois for U-11 teams, had two great scoring chances in the opening minutes of the first half, but both shots went too high. After that the Wind settled down and the rest of the first half was evenly played, albeit scoreless. Rachel arrived from a family function at halftime, and gave the Wind added punch on offense in the second half. The Sockers appeared to have gone ahead 1-0 in the second half on a goal that was negated by a hand ball call. Disaster appeared to have struck when the Wind was given a two-minute penalty for too many players on the field when a substitute player left the bench before the their teammate got off the field. The Wind turned a negative into a positive when Sia scored a short-handed goal (assist: Stephanie). As time wound down, the Sockers pushed their defenders up the field in an attempt to tie the game and put a lot of pressure on the Wind defense, but there was no more scoring. Katherine had three saves and Amanda had seven saves in posting the shutout with help from defenders Montana, Olivia and Cara. Claire was very aggressive to the ball throughout the game from her midfield spot. Jessica and Marley also turned in noteworthy performances. This was truly a team effort as everyone contributed in a very hard fought and exciting game. This was the Wind's last indoor game.