Last year, the Cloquet U-16 girl's soccer team took the championship of the medal flight of the Schwan's USA Cup in Blaine. This year, as a U-17 team, they played in the trophy flight and played some of the best players in the country and Canada. They went 0-4 despite playing very good soccer.
"We played a team from Alberta, Canada, and they came pulling up in large Greyhound-type bus," said Cloquet coach Steve Johnson. "They began filing out in matching warm-ups and equipment bags and at that point I thought to myself, 'They just don't send any [girls] on a trip like this.'"
Over 1,000 girls participated in the Schwan's Cup.
"When Alberta got out and lined up their equipment bags and began their warmups, it was like an orchestrated World Cup professional team," mentioned Johnson. "And it was all under the watchful eye of a coach who looked like he stepped out of a soccer magazine."
Tuesday Cloquet faced NW Kickers and tied 0-0. Wednesday's action saw Cloquet lose to the PSA Bulldogs 3-0.
ADVERTISEMENT
Cloquet held their own throughout the game against Alberta on Friday, until the last 30 seconds when they gave up a goal and lost 1-0.
"That was kind of how it went this year," recalled Johnson. "All the games were close, hard-fought battles against some very good soccer teams."
Friday, Cloquet faced Keliix-Intra MN and lost 4-1, eliminating them from the tournament.
Even though Cloquet went 0-4 overall, it was a good learning experience for the team.
"It was about teaching young girls more about life than soccer skills this year," Johnson commented. "The girls are finding out that life is more about finding ways to move on and improve after a loss."
Playing with a very young team all summer, the Cloquet squad for the first time finished with an overall losing record on the season.
"What I hoped they learned from this season is that their soccer skills won't be the greatest asset," explained Johnson. "It is the personal growth skills that they can take with them for life. Athletics can be a great learning experience."
