Thanks to a big push from another mom on the twins’s club team, we were able to put together an amalgamated team of players to compete in the USA Target Cup in Blaine Minnesota.
We have never been to this tournament and I must say, it was one of the funner ones we’ve been to. Even the extreme heat didn’t dampen our spirits during the tournament. Before every game Jack and I filled a cooler full of gatorade and waters in slushy cold ice water along with mini towels the boys could put on their head to cool down during breaks.
They had a great opening ceremony which really made you realize how big the tournament really way. I think they had teams from over 25 states and over 20 different countries.
There were a few other Chicago teams there. The twins were able to see some of the guys who used to play on the same team of them who have changed clubs since then.
The first game we played was against Minnesota Rush on Tuesday, July 14th. We won this game 3-2.
Wednesday July 15th we played Edina SC, another Minnesota team and beat them 2-0.
Thursday July 16th we were scheduled to play St. Paul Blackhawks, but due to the wildfires burning in northern Minnesota and Canada, all games were cancelled and everyone was given a 0-0 score. Between the extreme heat and wildfires, I wondering if soon we would be seeing swarms of locust?
But no locust appeared. Instead we headed to the Mall of America.
The air quality cleared enough for us to play our first playoff game on Friday July 17th against Manitou FC – another (you guessed it!) Minnesota based team. There may have been many different states and countries there but we didn’t play any!
This game ended in a tie 0-0. Since this was a playoff game, we went into a PK shootout. Our incredible goalie saved TWO goals, leading us to a victory of PK: 4-3.
After this win, we headed over to Surly Brewing to celebrate.
Saturday July 18th we played our second playoff game, this time against Bloomington United. Yes, it’s another Minneapolis based team. The boys played a great game but unfortunately they had an unstoppable player on their team, Zeek, who dominated the field. In the end we lost 2-6 and were eliminated from the tournament one game before the final. Bloomington ultimately won the bracket.
It was still a great week and I was surprised and please to see how well this team that never played together before managed to come together to win so many games.
Pin It