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Well, it’s hard to believe, but our second season has come and gone. Again, this article is sooooo late in coming, and for that, I apologize.
In case you haven’t figured it out yet, I am a charter member of the procrastinator’s club, which is a club that I have been talking for some time about forming, but just haven’t gotten around to it yet. Enough excuses, lets get down to business. Regional playoffs:
Having clinched a spot in the playoffs over the July 10-12 weekend, we had the next weekend to sit, relax, and wait for the results from the rest of the league to find out where our playoff game(s) were to be held. We were ever so excited to find out that our travels would take us to Atlanta, which was totally within driving distance, thereby making our arrangement-making (I think I just made that word up) so much easier. The bad news was that our wonderful coach, George Fotopoulos, would not be making the trip with us due to a family commitment, which would be taking him to Greece during that time. He was able to arrange for one of our assistant coaches, Eric Sims, to fill in so we were really lucky there. Another loss for the playoffs was our recently added player, Stacy Bishop , who was re-signed for a short-term contract with the WPS Boston Breakers, thereby disallowing her from playing for the Hellenic. Rachel Fell had already headed home to England, so we were short a center midfielder, but she was able to get an affordable ticket back to rejoin her team…much to our relief. One of our center backs, Philisha Lewis , had also moved on to her next destination for job interviews, so she also had to fly back in for the weekend. Now, the team was all set, and 460 miles and about 63 bathroom stops later, we arrived in Atlanta. (You try traveling with 15 girls who are hydrating for a game…one in particular….you know who you are!) Our first game was against the Washington Freedom at 5PM Friday, July 21, in 90+ degree weather, which seemed to practically double on the Silverbacks turf field. Thank goodness for all that hydration! Well, the Hellenic came out strong, but failed to finish numerous scoring chances…and we all know that is never good. Washington scored first in the 42nd minute and the teams headed for the coolness of the locker rooms at halftime with Washington leading 1-0. The second half started a bit slower than the first, with all the players looking somewhat worse for wear after already playing 45 in the grueling heat, but 13 minutes into the half, Shameka Gordon scored the equalizer on an assist by Sonia Curvelo . We thought that surely we were going to build on that momentum, but about 9 minutes later, Washington went ahead with their 2nd goal, and try as we might, we could not tie it up again. We out-shot, but didn’t out-score, and so ended our season in the Eastern Conference semi-finals. But, hey guys, we made it to the Eastern Conference semi-finals! Yippee! Congratulations to all the players, coaches, volunteers, and fans, we made the playoffs in our 2nd year, and that is something to be proud of. Look out next year, we will be back! Post Season Awards
With such a great season, you know there will be some accolades to follow, and here they are: Philisha Lewis was named to the All-Eastern Conference team. Philisha played her college ball in Bethel College in Tennessee, and she played every minute of every game alongside our other center back, Ashley Eason . Remember, there are 7 teams in the Eastern Conference, and only 4 defenders for all 7 teams picked, so this is a big deal! Congratulations, Philisha for being recognized for this honor. Sarah Chapman was a finalist for the W-League U-19 player of the year, along with two other players selected out of all the 37 W-League teams. She didn’t win the overall title, but we couldn’t be more proud. (By the way, no offense to the winner, but we think Sarah should have won.) Sarah is a sophomore at the University of Florida this year, and hails from Maryland. Again, we congratulate Sarah for this recognition. I don’t know if you realize it or not, but this is a really big deal, little Russian. George Fotopoulos:
Last, but not least, our coach George was a finalist for the W-League coach of the year…one of four that made it this far. (4 out of 37, remember) Once again, we take exception with the selection committee (in the kindest possible way) because he was not the eventual winner. George, all the Hellenic players believe that you are, in fact, the coach of the year. Side note: congrats to the winners, sorry for not naming you here, but woops…out of space. Ok, the season is over, but our work continues. We are forming a Hellenic service organization and hoping that some of our high school fans will want to join and help us provide some clinics for the area’s underprivileged. Anyone who is interested in participating or organizing, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE contact me, and I will be your BFF. Take care, be safe, and talk to you soon.
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