Challenging Cup Final for Penn Fusion U13s

There is something about the Cup, whether it's the World Cup or the Medford Cup.

When every minute is important and every goal counts, the intensity picks up whether there is a stadium full of fans and a TV audience, or nothing more than a few dozen family and friends standing on the sideline.

"Relax," I told one of my players before my first State Cup final as a coach back in 1994.  "It's just another game."  "Another game?" she shrieked.  "It's the freakin' State Cup final."  (I'm happy to say we won that final.)

This past week my granddaughter, Allison, got to experience the "freakin' State Cup Final" when she played goal for her Penn Fusion U13 girls team in the Eastern Pennsylvania Challenge Cup against the Lionville team in Manheim, Pennsylvania.  For those unaware, in U.S. Youth Soccer, Eastern and Western Pennsylvania are separate "states" so winning an Eastern Pennsylvania cup is the same as winning a New Jersey cup.

One of the Cup traditions is the pre-game parade used in international matches when the teams march onto the field and line up in the center.  It was exciting for me as a coach to watch the girls I'd coached walk out there, and even more so to see my own son in the parade in 1995 and then 24 years later to see my granddaughter, wearing the orange keeper's shirt and the captain's armband, take the walk to center field.

The game itself was exiting and well-played, but the results didn't go our way.  Lionville, in blue, went on the board in the 12th minute with a well-placed shot to the lower left corner, then added another in the 49th (35 minute halves) on a crazy bounce.  Penn Fusion couldn't solve Lionville's pressing flat back four and tenacious defense and it ended 2-0.

Nothing to be ashamed of.  As I told Allison, 28 teams started the Challenge Cup and last Saturday only two remained and hers was one of them.   The girls played their hardest and no one could ask for more.