By:  Micah

Today our wake up call was set for 7:45 am but because of the overdosing on water i woke up at about 7:30 to goto the bathroom. At 8:00 most of us walked down to the Pritchards room to grab a muffin, a bagel, a granola bar, a banana and maybe some juice or gatorade. After breakfast we had about an hour and a half to just hang out before we headed down to the lobby to meet at 10:15. We finally left the hotel at 10:30 to goto the fields and arrived at 10:45. Unfortunately, we had to wait until 11:15 until we could finally get onto the field and kick the ball around and finish up our warm up, but until then we just did some static stretching off to the side of the field. The game started right on time at 11:30 and it seemed like we were a bit under the game. However, sooner then later the momentum began to switch into our favor. Ciaran had a shot from about 40 yards out and we had a few chances from around the top of the box. Finally, United broke down their defense in the 19th minute on a long ball from central midfielder Ciaran O'Brien that was headed home by forward Beau Macaluso. Immediately after this all of our players celebrated and ran to the benches to grab a refreshing drink of water and to get out of the extreme heat and humidity. The ref actually called a mandatory water break at the 20 minute mark in both half's because it was so hot. Our second goal came just minutes after our first and was headed home with ease by central midfielder Nik Besago. Fc United made their substitutions around the 20 minute mark and they finished out the half strong by denying any of Chicago Magics dangerous attacks. At half the two teams retired into an air conditioned room to again escape the heat and the same squad that started went back on to start the second half. United again appeared to be on top of the game for the first 20 minutes of the second half until the Magic put a header home in the 61st minute. They came out flying off the kick and the momentum was on their side. They scored their second goal ten minutes later in the 71st minute. However, United defense failed to break again and the boys from Washington finished out the game to tie and win the group for a bid to the USYSA National Championship finals. After the game the boys went back to the hotel and went straight into the pool to get a pool stretching and aerobic session. After the 20 minute session was over the we returned to our rooms to rest and shower and get ready for lunch. At 3:30 we left for Subway for lunch. Subway disappointed several of us as they had run out of bread. After lunch alot of us played cards in the lobby and a few returned to the rooms to rest. Assistant Coach and Club Director Bryan Yorke gave leg massages to the players to get lactic acid out of the their legs. At 6:30 we plan to goto dinner at the Outback for a dinner that is entirely paid for by Washington state. We plan to return and goto sleep for an early 8:00 am rise on Saturday morning. Until then, this is Micah Wenzel of F.C. United '87 signing out for the team.

By:  Josh and Chase

Yesterday we played houstan texans and came back from being down a goal ciraan had a GREAT!! free kick about 25yrd out he bent it around the wall and far post upper V it was hot sauce and um yeah after the game we chilaxed it was a pretty good day because all we need to do is get a tie to go on to the finals and i believe we can do that. After the game we went to this restaraunt and ate like a buncha johnsons because we knew that we didnt have a game today. We ate the foods wit the most protein, not to mention those extremely tastey myoplex shakes we down after each game. This helps us take curr of our body's like pimps. Today we will be going to play some soccer tennis to keep our skills in touch. I would just like to add that Beau (forward) missed a point blank header wide of the post in the first half of the game like a big johnson. This would have put us ahead for the greater part of the first half and it wouldnt have made us need to work so hard for the rest of the game because we could have sat on our lead like G's . But beau is a good kid and i can feel that he is going to have a great game in the near future in this tournament. Yesterday was the hottest day of all and the humidity was bumpin too cause it was hotter than a devils toe nail in this ish. tommorrows game is at 11 30 and its bout to be blazin times 10 up in hurr. We just have to stay hydrated and take curr of our body's and we will do our best to bring home the trophy.

By Ciaran O. and Micah W.

Today we had to wake up at 6 30 to check in for our game. We got to the fields and it was raining a bit so we stayed under the shelter for about a half hour waiting to check in. Finally we got to check in and headed to the trainin fields to warm up. It was still raining when we were warmin up and the rain was so warm it almost felt like a shower. After the earlier game on the B field ended we headed over and took the pitch. We had about 35 minutes to take care of any last second knicks or problems and sort things out before we gathered our player cards and headed out for the introduction. The refs told us to wave to our parents and we did then we began our pregame huddle. Finally we took the field and the game was off. We started off really strong and had alot of the play in the first 10 to 15 minutes. Our first goal came when the ball was played into forward Beau Macaluso who then dropped back to central midfielder Ciaran O'Brien who took a brilliant touch to beat a player and get a shot off which hit the lower right corner. However, soon after our success we took the rocky path for the middle third of the game. Half time came and went and we were still playing a bit sloppy. Finally with about 10 minutes left before the final whistle we figured it out and began to get most of the play. The second goal again involved Ciaran O'Brien. A foul was called about 30 yards out of Casa Mia's goal and Ciaran set it and hit a nice ball in which bounced out right at the feet of right back Micah Wenzel. Micah took a touch to beat a guy and hit a shot to the far post the the keeper was able to knock down at the feet of forward Corey Kelmel who slid to knock it into the back of the net. Just a minute later Corey again got another chance which came through forward Beau Macaluso who knicked it by a defender to send Corey in. To finish Corey did well and slotted it to the keepers right. We finished the game strong with out letting the Bay's have any more chances. We downed some protein shakes that were absolutely disgusting before we went to lunch at Uno's and finally went back to the hotel for a meeting. Now we're just preparing for tomorrows game by sipping down alot of water and stretching alot. We'll be back tomorrow to update you after our game against the Texans.

See you later from all the boys on F.C. United '87s

By Rey and B-Rad, wuddup cutty stronghand.

Today we woke up way too early and for a surprise we were on time for training. But later we found out the fields were closed at the complex. So Fran Chan decided to find a field to play on. We arrived at what looked like a field but really was a swamp infested with red fire ants. A couple of our teammates were bitten in the ankles and became frustrated. We did a little posession and headed back to the hotel.

When we arrived at the hotel, we had no time to waste. We had to take a shower and get ready for the luncheon....boy, there was a lot of females there. It ran for about 2 hours and we headed back to our rooms and stayed there till 3:30 to go have good matches of soccer tennis. Brad Reid and Beau Macaluso played very well. After ten games or so we went to get dressed for the Olive Garden. While the team was playing 13 inside the Restaurant Mark, Timmy, and Josh were outside catching lizards. Then we headed back to the hotel for our meeting and now we are writing this masterpiece for the lovely fans back home to read. From all of us here... peace out "cut"tees

By Derek, Corey, Mark and Danny

After a good night's rest, we awoke to have a quick breakfast, then immediately departed to practice. It was a very humid and hot day, a climate which we are not used to, as we worked on ball skills and had a little scrimmage, where Fran O'Brien was the man of the match, undisputedly. We came back to the hotel, took a nice shower to get all the sweat off, and then went out for lunch at Quiznos. We came back, played cards, and took all of Derek's money, which he wasn't too happy about. Others watched movies, while some slept. We had an early dinner at an Italian restaurant, then went to the outlet mall, where Corey bought some SICK shoes. We came back around 9 o'clock, gambled until our wallets were empty, then went to sleep. Oh yeah, we also saw John Kerry at our hotel and he asked for our autograph because we are so good. Shoebash. We also saw a wild cardinal flying around. HAROKEN!

By David

Yesterday we arrived in the late afternoon an hour ahead of schedule because of some good tail winds. After we got the vans rented we headed off to the hotel. I think the name of the hotel, Wyndham Palace, speaks for how nice this place is. After we got settled in we went down the road a little ways to find some dinner. It was a Friday night with tons of people. We ended up scattering around, meeting back up around 9:30 and then going to McDonalds for some McFluries. Everyone went to bed at different times and also woke up at different times the next day. Some of us had breakfast provided by Cheri, our manager, and some of them didn't have breakfast. Then we went to practice at the WideWorld of Sports complex. We saw our fields that we are going to be playing on and they are amazing, even better than I expected. Fran, our coach, wanted to make sure that we got adapted to this new climate. After practice we went back to the hotel and took showers. Some of us went to Quiznoes, and others decided to sleep the day away. Now we are waiting to go to dinner, and after dinner we are going to a movie.