MHC Dish From the Pitch 2013 MHC Dish From the Pitch 1 | Page 6

Bobblehead Explosion:
Little Hurlers Turn Out in Big Numbers
by Aislinn Leonard
Opening day began with a
boom as a record 22 U7s stormed the
pitch. With these kinds of numbers we
had to split the group into two
separate fields, little littles on one
field and the bigger littles on a slightly

stretched pitch. The younger group
worked on field position, ball
awareness, passing, not picking up
the ball with the hand, and making
new friends.
Over on the big pitch, the
kids worked on long ground hurls,

photo credit: Kerry Leonard

quick feet, and communication
between teammates. Coach Ivan and
Coach Todd couldn’t believe how
fast the game was moving and how
much the veterans had improved.
They even got a visit from
Operations Coordinator, Dave Olson.
He came by in the third quarter to
check on his littlest members and
was blown away by the enthusiasm
and skill level.
Exciting playmakers early in
the game were teammates Laurel Zei
and Melissa Heck sporting the Ritter
Law Office green jerseys. Together
they scored several goals each
assisting and scoring on different
plays. Bethany Fortier was a tiger
tearing up the pitch and defending
her zone all game long until with two
minutes left she remembered she’d
not applied sunscreen and took to
the shady corner of the field until
the whistle blew.
The MHC Baby Boom
continues to feed our youth league
with strong talent like Cooper
Larsen, son of MHC legends Matt
Larsen and Rachel Rohde. On his first
day in pink playing for Shoreview
Pediatrics, Cooper scored a goal and
had several sweet assists.
After taking a break last
season, Nolan Wozniak returned with
fire in his feet. The opposing team
could barely contain him. When
marking Cooper, there were some
very intense battles.
Meredith Hiese volunteered
to play keeper and wowed the crowd
with acrobatic stick and kick saves. It
was a great start to the season and a
fun day for all involved.