This is my first blog post, so be kind. 

The San Jose Rockets Power Wheelchair Soccer team had their first games of the season last weekend against the two Berkeley teams, the Bombers and the Crushers. To see pictures of the game check out our Website, www.sanjoserockets.com . The Rockets won the first game 9-0 with goals scored by Matthew Arensdorf, Allen Arquiza, Talia Geliebter, and Calum Cain. Calum had a particularly sweet penalty shot that just grazed the inside post of the goal, just out of the reach of the Bombers goalie. Don Ryker and Ryan Connolly tag teamed the goal tending duties to shut out the Bombers, but when Don was not playing goalie he earned himself an assist when playing forward in the first half of the game. Joey Sorenson played his first game in three years and quickly came up to speed and demonstrated his skills in the second half of the game. Sohum Shah showed off his fancy new ride, along with a newly found aggressive style of play. Sohum could often be found on the court mixing it up with the opposing team and breaking up their attacks. His new Power Soccer wheelchair sports those multi-colored blinking LED trailing caster wheels, which were a crowd favorite. Ryan Connolly was also instrumental in breaking up several attacks from the Bombers, and his aggressive style of play garnered him a couple of warnings from the head referee. Who couldn't be happy with a win in the first game of the season? The Rockets were extremely happy with their performance.   

As a coach, I warned the team against becoming overly confident, as the next game would be against a team with much greater skills. As it turned out, it was a very close game between the San Jose Rockets and the BORP Crushers, which ended in a 2-2 tie. Goals were scored by Matthew Arensdorf and Talia Geliebter of the San Jose Rockets, as well as Ian Kinmont and Brian Larson of the BORP Crushers. The Rockets were down 2-0 at the half, but excellent goal tending by Ryan Connolly and Don Ryker kept the Rockets in the game until their teammates could come through with the goals to tie up the game. The last goal to tie the game came with less than a minute left in the game. The BORP Crushers had a very tough defense and it seemed as if we spend an inordinate amount of time defending against their attacks on the San Jose Rockets goal area. Calum Cain, Joey Sorenson, Allen Arquiza, and Sohum Shaw all played solidly on both offense and defense, which is what kept the San Jose Rockets in the game. 

All in all it was a great first weekend of Power Soccer games and the San Jose Rockets came away with 1 Win and 1 Tie. 

Until next time.... keep on kicking!