United gearing up for the fall season... 8/11/2009

The City of Madison honors United's two recent championships with Blue!

In July the Madison United Major team clinched the Wisconsin Adult Soccer Association Major Division Championship with a 3-2 win over the Milwaukee Kickers. This was their first Major division championship since 1990. Right on their heels however, is the United CoEd team who went down to Dubuque, Iowa the first weekend in August and captured the River Front Classic tournament. Team Co-Manager Shereen Vakili showed it off at the recent O30 game.

Here's a fun write-up... I'm in for next year!!!

The preview to this years annual Dubuque 'America's River Classic' Soccer Tournament was no different then last years in that it was filled with last minute cancellations, substitutions, and the gathering of jerseys 'qualified' to play. However by 9:45am on Saturday morning (having met at 9am), we were off to a weekend of well-cut grassy fields, cold refreshing beverages and a few beautiful goals. There were no dance-offs in Shullsburg this year but there were doughnuts in the parking lot, beers loaded into the cooler and wrong turns to Mount Horeb on the way ("if you can see the car dealership from the highway, then I'm pretty sure we took the wrong exit!").

None-the-less, we made it to Dubuque in time to put on our boots, run a few feet, and get out onto the pitch for the first game. It was as much of a surprise to any of us when we walked away from that game with a 3-0 win but the team was filled with vigor, ready for some lunch and excited to make a better showing at the tournament this time around. We stuffed our faces with pizza (thanks Tom!!!!!) and faced the afternoon game with renewed vitality. After falling behind in the first half, we remembered why we came to Dubuque and that drinking beer after a game feels so much more enjoyable if you win then if you loose... so 2 goals later we pulled out a 2-1 win.

A weekend in Dubuque would only be complete if we drank 'big girl drinks', sang karaoke, and saw some boobs…so indeed we did. The long islands this time around were a little smaller then last year but the song Roxanne was just as loud & just as dynamic, the dancing was just as energized and the boobs in East Dubuque were equally as easy to see but equally as sketchy!

After re-telling the tales of the evening over cold Chinese food, 'Dae's spread', and Amy and Kevin's snuggled blankets, we were informed that our 12 o'clock game would be the Championship game. We gathered our gear, checked out of the hotel and headed back to the fields to face our match ('What difference will a 0-6 game make if we play it twice right?') The level of officiating was as interesting as the level of play, but we ran our butts off, played with our hearts on our sleeves and came out victorious 3-2.

Nobody wanted the weekend to end as we drank the last of the cold beers from the "Mr. Soccer" cup but when we loaded into the cars to head back to Madison, there was a silent agreement among all that not only what happens in Dubuque, should sometimes stay in Dubuque! We will be back next summer time to defend our championship status!

Thanks Molly.

A huge "Congratulations to all the players and Managers!"

Talking of the United Over 30 team... For the third summer in a row they have gone UNDEFEATED in the summer league. Here's a couple of great photo's and some game reports from the recent Chicago Wings tournament in Baraboo...

As always, players flinch when Dave Adler lets on go from the top of the box!

The look on Thipp Kommavangs' face tells you how he likes to play this game... with INTENSITY!!!

Baraboo Wings tournament...

Saturday morning did not look like the best conditions for soccer as the United O32 caravan left Madison but arriving in Baraboo, the weather was totally different. In 30 minutes it was sunny and hot!! The games were delayed due to the weather in the morning but the facility was nice with 2 fields, one higher than the other and plenty of space to see the action. Madison United vs. Celtics: United went up early in the first 5 minutes with some nice passing and a nice finish from inside the box from Thipp Kommavang. Abdel Baji finished a deflected ball in the box that had hit the cross bar and in. Santiago Onuchucku got a breakaway with a defender and beat him and the keeper to slot it in the corner. Final Mad. U 3 vs Celtics 0.

Second game was United vs. Romania FC which was the most physical of the matches! Both teams played tough but it was Madison United with some good work and near misses that were looking to score and did when the ball was played in the box and Santiago went in to try to poke it in but the keeper extended well to save it and then the ball came out and Justin Ferguson rifled it in the left corner! Mad. U 1 vs Romania FC 0

The third United game was vs. Fortuna and this proved to be a tough game with Fortuna slipping in 2 shots for two goals that proved to seal the game. United tried to overcome by having some opportunities but it was not meant to be. Fortuna 2 vs United

The Final for the Over 32 was Fortuna vs Madison United. A rematch indeed. This game was tighter throughout with United having some very near misses and opportunities squandered by not shooting kept Fortuna in the game. Fortuna and United were tired by this point and with some missed opportunities in the 2nd half it was Fortuna that had a midlfielder shoot about 25 yards out and it deflected of the back of a Madison United player and went in towards the upper left corner which was out of reach from Brad Conways hands. United dominated the end of the game and could not score. Final Fortuna 1 vs Mad. U. 0.

Madison United Over32's did well for their 1st tournament together. A second place trophy is no small feat and hopefully more trophy's to come from this team. Other United teams also did well. I believe the United Open team lost in the final on penalty kicks. The United O40 found the going pretty tough in their bracket of the 22nd annual Wings Soccer Tournament. Their first game was played against Royal Wawal, a strong Polish team from Chicago. United lost 2-0 but played well. Adjusting to the "No offside" rule took some adjustment. The second game was against Wauconda, from Illinois. United won 2-1 with both goals coming from Mike Hoeser. In the final game, the United players all worked hard but went down 2-0 against the host club from Chicago.

All-in-all the players had a great time and plan on returning to this tournament next year.

And finally...

Here's a fun link to check out...

Ronaldo