First of all, my apologies for not sending a wrap-up email about the RVHR 2026 Spring Soccer season earlier. I have to tell you for an old man that evening went way past my bedtime and after several attempts to get up and going the following morning, I was unsuccessful and started my day late and had other commitments to make.
What a great night of soccer it was! Five of the seven game played were decided by 1 goal – that is exciting soccer!! My thanks to everyone that was part of the season….. and special thanks to the coaches for taking time to work with the young players…….
We started the evening with our consolation games. In the 6-8 age group the chase for the bronze medal brought together the Eagles and the Titans. These two teams improved greatly from the Fall 2025 season and now were part of Championship Night! The Titans kept in close in the first half, but the Eagles powered their way to a 5-0 victory and a bronze medal by the time the game came to an end.
The 912 Flames, who lost a penalty shoot-out in the Consolation game in the Fall of 2025 were not to be denied a win against a highly improved Stars912 team. The Flames captured a bronze medal by defeating the Stars in a highly competitive game 2-1.
The 13+ Consolation brought together 2 teams that have normally seen each over the past several seasons in the Championship Game. The Stars13+ and the Eagles13+ never disappoint in delivering exciting soccer when they play each other! This game was no exception with the Stars pulling out a 1-0 victory over the Eagles!
Moving on to the Championship game, the Warriors68 and the Rams68 bring their rematch from the Consolation game in the Fall of 2025 to the Championship game this season. The Warriors68 end it the same way with a hard fought 1-0 victory and the gold! This is the third season for the Warriors without a loss! The Rams68 settle for the silver.
In the 912 Championship game, the Rams were returning for another appearance. This time their competitor were the Eagles, who made it to the Championship game by way of a play-off game earlier that week. The Rams avenged their loss in the Fall of 2025 with a 4-0 win over the Eagles to capture the gold. The Eagles had a great season and will come away with the silver.
The stage was set for the 13+ Championship game with the Thunder making their debut appearance as the new addition to RVHR. The Titans team has seen incredible progress over the last several seasons progressing up the rankings to finally being in the Big Game! The Titans took a 1-0 lead and held on for most of the game, until a penalty shot was awarded to the Thunder. The Thunder tied it up with a strong penalty shot, and regulation ended with a 1-1 tie. A sudden death 5 minute extension was played with no one scoring. The game went into the penalty shoot-out phase of the game as dusk approached. The first group of 5 players from each side did their best to put the ball past the opposing goalie, but ended in a 3-3 shoot out tie. From this point each team brought out one player at a time for a sudden death penalty shoot out. Both teams made their first shot in sudden death, and then both missed their second shot. The Thunder edged out the Titans on the third shot in sudden death to claim victory and the gold! A well played game on both sides. I realize how emotional this game was for the players and coaches and I want to thank both teams for the way they conducted themselves with the victory for the one and the loss for the other. They were very honoring in the way they respected and treated each other after the game knowing that they both played an exceptional game. Thank you!
As the sun had already set, and the moonlight and a few cars were lighting the field, the coaches were biting at the bit to get out on to the field to play the 13+MVP team. The MVP13+ team could be heard snickering that the “old folks ” didn’t have a chance playing in the dark with the young players. The 13+ MVP team just never gives up trying to get an advantage over the more powerful, awesome unstoppable Coaches team. Well this time they succeeded –not only did they prolong their 13+ Championship game with a penalty shoot out, but they made sure it went into a sudden death shoot out, thus delaying the Coaches game even more where the coaches had no chance playing in complete darkness. The game technically ended in a 1-0 win for the MVP13+ team – but really how good can they feel with such an empty win in the darkness. Fall is just around the corner and there is no hiding under the lights of Rivers Edge!