Hornets, All Stars clear benches in finale

No scores are officially kept, so the Rookie girls Hornets and All-Stars Futsal teams got a chance Saturday at Holcom Park Center to show off what they had learned all season, play for fun instead of points and close out their season schedule.

Hornets head coach Mark Craig said the goal of the game and the season was to have fun.

“It’s all about having fun,” Craig said. “I enjoyed watching the girls get better and be with their friends.”

The Hornets showed off their improvements on the court. Alexis Derritt ran forward and tried to boot the ball into the All-Stars’ net. The Hornets eventually broke through the All-Stars’ solid defense for the first goal of the game.

The All-Stars also put their ball-handling and teamwork skills on display when they found an opening in the Hornet defenders for a goal. All-Stars goalie Alexis Jenkins vigorously defended the team’s goal and wouldn’t let the Hornets balls get past her. Jenkins said she was grateful for the chance to play different positions with the All-Stars, especially her favorite position as forward.

“My favorite part of soccer is getting to score goals,” Jenkins said.

The All-Stars got the chance to score goals after sneaking one past the Hornets’ goalie the team was able to continue on their offensive streak with a second goal to round out the second half of the game leading 2-1.

The Hornets and All-Stars battle for the ball on Saturday at Holcom Park Center.

Rylee Flint stepped into the goalie position for the Hornets and stopped the All-Stars offense from shooting any more balls in the net. Flint squelched an All-Stars goal, stopping the flying ball between her feet and shooting it back onto the playing court.

Craig said Hornets players had utilized some of the fundamentals they had been learning all year.

“We worked a lot on dribbling,” Craig said. “At this age it’s all about ball mastery and feeling comfortable with the game and the ball. I have seen the team’s confidence rise.”

The last few minutes of the game players from both teams threw most of their freshly learned skills out the window as their coaches took to the goalie positions. The coaches were not allowed to use their hands to catch the ball, so the players ran back and forth on the court working together to sneak goals past their coaches, who had the disadvantage for once.