Minutes before the match started, Jared Bennett of Team Four and Alex Craig of Team Six both informed each other of their plans.

“You’re going down,” Craig said.

“No, you’re going down, you’re going way down,” Bennett said, motioning to the ground.

They may only be 7 years old, but these two teams had plenty of reason to look forward to the match. After being teammates in previous years, Saturday marked the first time that friends faced off against one another at Youth Sports Inc. Fields.

While Craig stood strong in the goal during the first half for team six, Bennett roamed the backfield stalling any offensive push by Craig and company.

With Bennett defending the goal, Aaron Funk and Carter Ison took control offensively with crisp, affective passing and determination. The two combined offensively for six strong goals. Both Funk and Ison were able to break away from a crowd of defenders and burn their way down the field, blasting the ball to the back of the goal.

Team Six had its own offensive weapon in Morgan Mays. Mays used her speed to fly by defenders and repeatedly stole the ball from any possible threats to her team. Mays continually emerged from a group of defenders with her eyes on the goal, and defenders were left scrambling to keep up with her.

Larissa Gaumer, left, and Morgan Mays run for the ball during their game against Team 4 on Saturday at Youth Sports Inc.

Lurking near team four’s goal, Larissa Gaumer found herself in the right place at the right time. Time and time again the ball bounced out of a group of defenders right to Gaumer, who peppered team six with shots.

However, Bennett and company ended up being too much for Team Six to handle. Kaelum Hasler found himself on the receiving end of a beautiful pass from Ison. Hasler hustled down the open field and buried a shot for the game-winning goal. Team Six added a couple more insurance goals as it went on to win the match, 10-5.

“The kids did a real good job of kicking and passing,” said Andy Craig, coach of team four. “We’re really focusing on teaching these kids the fundamentals of the game and getting them some field awareness.”

While both teams played a clean, competitive game, Bennett walked away with the glory and bragging rights for Team Six.