This past Saturday November 11th, energy filled the air as giggles of nervousness filled the air with the JL Long 6th grade soccer team. One player said he could not sleep thinking about the game, others said they felt stressed.

Both Coach Perez and Coach Aves warmed them up for their first game against the first opponent, Impact from the Richardson YMCA. The game was played solidly as the score went 1-1, then 2-2 and remained that way until the near-final minutes of the game, when a penalty was called against an Impact player and Victoria Perez scored the winning goal for the game as the Bucs defense held off any more scores. So, then came the nearly 4-hour wait to see who would advance in the brackets to play the Bucs for the Championship Game. The Bucs avoided having to play any other games as they were the only undefeated team in the division going 8-0 for the season! 

Then came the announcement that the Bucs would play the Dealy Dragons. The whistle blew and the game was on! The first score came from the fiery Dragons and set the initial score at 1-0, the Bucs then tied 1-1, then went 2-2, the Bucs made multiple shots on goal that either just went a few inches high or bounced off the goal post. The Dragon defense was breathing fire...but the score tied again at 3-3...the Bucs attempted to rally in the last minutes of the game, but some injuries ensued and the Bucs were unable to defeat the fiery beasts as the Dragons won solidly 4-3. 

Some tears were shed on the field, but everyone played their hearts out and it was definitely a terrific game to watch!  There were many firsts this 12th season for the JL Long Bucs 6th grade soccer team: 1st time to go undefeated the entire season, 1st time to scrimmage the actual JL Long 7-8th grade teams and 1st time to get to the YMCA Divisional championship game. This was truly a dream season for the JL Long Bucs 6th grade Soccer team.