Game 8- 6/7/07

Game 8 - Plymouth Lasers - 2  Plymouth Team Three -  0

Recap: We employed the "rope a dope" strategy and beat our cross town rivals 2-0!!  We had goals from Kristopher and Brian while playing a defensive block and punt strategy for 95% of the game. 

A lot of people have asked what “rope a dope” is.  Here is the definition on Wikipedia:

Rope-a-dope is a boxing fighting style used most famously by Muhammad Ali (who coined the term) in the Rumble in the Jungle against George Foreman. The idea is for the boxer to lie on the ropes of a boxing ring, conserve energy and allow the opponent to strike him repeatedly in hopes of making him tire and open up weaknesses to exploit for an eventual counter-attack.

Rope-a-dope is also commonly used to describe strategies in areas other than boxing, where one party purposely puts itself in what appears to be a losing position, and then becomes the eventual victor.

Joe was our hero staying back and protecting the goal.  Clearing the ball many times and keeping our opponents tired and frustrated, Joe shifted to attack mode and helped our team score both goals.   Evan played a very impressive offense, shooting the ball on goal and passing well.  He also played offense very defensively, stealing the ball from the other team's offense and passing it well.   Kristopher stayed back on defense but once the new play was called in for Joe and Kristopher to attack, Kristopher did not hesitate to score!  He broke the 0-0 tie which had held for nearly the entire first half.  Michael was also assigned to defense for the last game of the season.  What a great asset he was!  Michael blocked many shots and cleared the ball well.  In the second half, protecting a 1-0 lead, Michael somehow miraculously leapt into the goal and stopped a sure goal by sweeping the ball out at the last second when it was less than an inch from the line.  Kyle was very good on offense again.  He kept the left wing clear of attackers and focused on stopping many attacks.

Mark shut out Plymouth 3 in the first half.  He made it look so easy.  He stopped every shot with ease and cleared the ball way past midfield each time.  In the second half, Mark played defense and midfield.  He took several shots on goal from midfield, nearly scoring.  He blocked many shots and cleared the zone every time.  Xavier was great in the first half on defense.  He cleared the ball and threw his body in front of shots and making great stops.  In the second half, Xavier was flawless as goalie, shutting out the offense and sending the ball to the other team's backfield again and again.  Brian played on offense very well throughout the game.  He was determined to contribute to an offensive attack strategy in spite of the fact that he was often alone up field.  He finally got a pass from Alex and ran to the goal, faking left, shooting right and drilling the ball in the back of the net!  The entire sidelines erupted in cheers from Brian. Craig played very well on offense, keeping the center free of attackers and clearing the ball very well.  Nicholas came very close to scoring and also had an assist today.  He controlled the ball well and kept our offense attack going all game.  Austin helped our defense a lot with several stops and saves.  He cleared the ball well, making several booming kicks, keeping the ball out of harms' way.  Dan was a rock on defense.  He stopped every ball that came our way and sent the ball out of our defensive zone like a cannon!  Chris played offense today, but often came back to help the defense.  In the second half, Chris was fantastic in keeping the ball away from their #9, who scored three goals on us the last time we played.  Paul fought very hard for the ball at midfield and stopped many attacks.  He was like a brick wall covering the middle of the field.  Alex was super aggressive in protecting our goal all game!  He was credited with an assist for Brian's goal.

Great Game Lasers!!  Fantastic way to end the season!!