So we had our first game at our stadium, called Sahlen's Stadium, over the weekend. Even though it wasn't the "real" thing, it was still that same feeling to get out there and just get a sense of what it's going be like May 1.
The field itself is awesome, perfect width, nice turf and just the fact that we're not playing on a football field or a field with track around it is top-notch.
Sahlen's Stadium holds about 14,000 people, which is one big stadium to fill. However, our fans will be able to watch the game close up. That to me brings a different level to us players, and to the crowd, too.
Back to the game: we played a boys U-18 team, called the "Cobra." Some of you may not be familiar with 18-year-old boys ... that's because they don't exist! I looked for the boys, but there weren't any. Men -- that's who we played.
Our first 15-20 minutes was kind of a shocker to us, because playing boys is all about being able to think before you get the ball and also know what to do before it happens. We finally figured it out and started to play the soccer that the Flash wants to represent: a lot of movement around the ball and just keeping it simple with one and two touches. We struck with a goal by our midfielder Becky Edwards.
They weren't kidding with the whole Cobra thing though -- they bit back fast with a through ball that resulted in a goal. We admit that they're faster and stronger than we are, but we still wanted to get the shutout.
Unfortunately the turf ended up having a little bite as well. I went down for a slide tackle and owwwww! I got what you Americans call a raspberry. More like ground flesh. I'll definitely be getting some longer sliders for next game.
We ended with a 1-1 result. Of course we always want a win, but a little part of me is happy we didn't win. Now we can save our first for May 1!
Hope to see you there!
