Stretching the Field for U11 Hot Shots by Carl Chojnacki
It was a perfect morning for hurling as the U-11 teams lined up for a mid-season match-up. The smaller pitch in June could not contain these hurlers, so the pitch was lengthened to accommodate the advancing skills of the Comfort Keepers Ravens and Swick Tech Terrors. Even the longer pitch proved no match for these scoring machines. Several hurlers, including Jack “Pickles” Hardt and Calvin “Hobbes” McKee from the Terrors and Rowan “Wolverine” Karrer and Brodie “Frogger” Conklyn from the Ravens, were able to drive the sliotar across the green of the stretched pitch.
The first quarter began with Pickles making an amazing catch, only to be thwarted by the block of Killian “Red” Mosur. Pickles would return the favor later in the quarter with an excellent block on Gabe “Angel” Meller, who was driving hard from the mid position. The quarter was taken by the Terrors as Hobbes continued to be a scoring terror, taking several points and a goal with perfect form. The score after one quarter was Swick Tech 1-2 (5) and Comfort Keepers 0-0 (0).
The second quarter started with Tiernan “Toothless” Moloney at mid for the Ravens. With the Band-Aids of Invincibility in place to his knees, he bravely took several sticks to leg while tenaciously fighting for every sliotar. Even when he went down several times, he bounced back without fear.
The midfield battle continued as Angel caught a laser of a shot. His drive would be thwarted by the vaunted Terror defense. Natalie “7” Picard ensured that her forwards would gain possession with her block. That possession allowed Reagan “Prez” Chase to use his precision passing and cuts. Prez sent a sideline cut to Jacob “Happy Feet” Schmidt during one possession. Happy Feet would eventually send two missiles into the goal, extending the Swick Tech lead.