Des Moines Day 1

7:00 AM v. NWO

The Cats came out flat against one of Chicago's top club teams and found themselves down 5-0 after the first quarter. We showed life in the second quarter, matching NWO's two goals with two of our own. The rest of the way, the Cats outplayed NWO to the tune of 7-4, putting the final score at 11-9. Highlights include Coach Penilla got scored on from half court and John Heafner's 4 goals, earning Heafner player of the game.



10:45AM v. Armada

After a short break for some bagels and bananas, the Cats cam out slow again knotting only one goal in the first quarter against Armada, the second of three Chicago clubs teams we faced. The defense was fantastic as we allowed only two goals, both in the second quarter. Dan Goeddel and Matt Stiponovich led the way with 3 goals a piece, with Dan being names player of the game.



4:00PM v. Badgers

The Cats enjoyed a nice break between the second and third game and enjoyed the traditional Subway lunch and a nice long nap. Keeping with the theme of the day, the Cats struggled to find goals against the overmatched, who obviously were from Wisconsin. As University of Wisconsin student and assistant coach Kerry Read said, these guys don't play with us, they are mostly old dudes. Going into the third quarter tied 2-2, we finally started counter-attacking, notching 5 goals in the quarter. The Badgers plugged away for 5 goals, two of which came late in the 4th after super-goalie John Penilla came into the field. Poor Jack Meara allowed two goals against and made zero saves in his short stint in goal, but they weren't his fault as the Cats stopped playing hard in the 4th quarter. Matt Stiponovich earned player of the game honors by leading the team with two goals.



6:15PM v. Apostles

The 3rd Chicago club the Cats faced was the legendary Apostles team. Going in, the Cats were confident that the older Apostles would be tired and not willing to counter-attack. Amazingly, the significantly younger Jungle Cats were the ones unwilling to counter. The 16-6 loss was marked mostly by an avalanche of 2-on-1, 3-on-2 and 4-on-3 offensive possessions for the wily old veterans. Player of the game honors went to goaltender and coach John Penilla for taking a shot from 5M off of his head.

Looking back, we beat the teams we SHOULD have beaten, but couldn't find the mental toughness to beat the teams we COULD have beaten. It was a good day and we are looking forward to coming out hard against SLAP on Sunday for the 5th place game.