On a cold evening of Fall, the hosts from Caro were ready to deliver a fight to the visiting team from USA after a draw at their home location a few weeks ago. The hosts definitely had a game plan to restrain the USA offensive squad and win the midfield real estate. That strategy worked for almost 15 minutes while the Caro Tigers had 3 chances to show up on the scoreboard but without any results. Then, a miscommunication between a Caro defender and his goalie gave a gift to the opponents who retrieved the lose ball and put it in the net to take the lead 1-0. This mishap was very devastating for the hosting team players as they worked so hard during the first 15 minutes to end up giving away an easy goal to the visitors. The hosts tried to contain their defeated emotions but it was a matter of time before the opponents took control of the game and forced the Tigers to make more mistakes and conceded another 3 goals one after the other due to lack of marking. The spiritual atmosphere on the Caro side was down and the team was not able to regroup and fight back to gain control. The Tigers had to wait until the half time to listen to the tough speech the coach had towards the whole team. Basically, the message was to stop allowing the opponents to take control of the game and play as hard as they were during the first half and come back to the basics and start playing as a team. The message was obviously well received and taken since the Caro Tigers played a much stronger second half without allowing a single goal to limit the damage to 4 goals that were scored during the first half. Even the coach of the visiting team was wondering where the Caro team was during the first half and was pleased to watch a much better second half performance from the visitors. Obviously we can always find excuses like some players were still sick but the same players stepped it up during the second half to elevate their games. Lessons learned are that the Caro Tigers should not wait until the second half to deliver the performance that the coach was expecting in the first half. Having said that, some great passing and play building combinations were showcased by the hosts and the coach appreciated those important moments since during the development of the Caro soccer program, that's what everybody will take home and be proud of. The game MVP award was presented to Captain and Senior Jared Sattelberg who, despite his sickness, was able to give 110% effort and managed to steal the ball in many occasions from the USA forward players and contributed as a stopper to contain the opponents and help the midfield squad during the second half. Next game is at home again in Caro on Wednesday October 3rd at 7 pm hosting the team from Laker High School.