Arizona Heat Blazes Path to Nationals via Western Regional

As the calendar switched to 2010, the Arizona Heat looked to build on a great 2009 by qualifying again for the National Tournament during the Western Regional in San Jose, Ca. Along with a new season, 2010 also brought several changes to the Heat squad, including two new members. Athletes Katie Dickey and Ginny Munson joined the squad this season after moving to Arizona to attend Arizona State University. Once they joined the team, many hoped that they would bring their winning ways with them from their former squad in Indiana.

And they didn't disappoint.

After months of practice and preparation, it was finally time to test out the 2010 model of the Arizona Heat. We traveled to San Jose with high spirits and even higher expectations, and couldn't wait to get on the court. Since we didn't have a game on Friday, we went to cheer on our division-two team and anticipate our first game Saturday morning.

As the sun finally made its appearance Saturday morning, we were eager to get things going. Once we all got guarded up, we made our way to the court to spin kick away any pre-game jitters. Our first opponent was Glendale and we wanted to get the tournament off on the right foot. It didn't take long to see the improvement of this year's squad as we came away with a decisive 6-1 win over Glendale. The team showed great chemistry and court awareness as we had a great opening game. Next up, BORP.

For the second game of pool play, the Heat faced the BORP Bay Earthquakes. BORP has consistently been one of the top two teams on the West Coast, so this was going to be a big test for the Heat. Arizona played valiantly, but we never found our rhythm on offense or defense as we lost to the Earthquakes, 3-0. With this loss, we had to play one more playoff game on Saturday, and we had to win it if we wanted any shot at winning the tournament.

Our final opponent on day one was Santa Barbara. Last year, these two teams played an exciting third-place game as Arizona came away with a thrilling 2-1 double overtime victory. But this year was a little different. We seemed to playing like a team on a mission, as we found our rhythm offensively and came away with a much needed 4-1 victory. With this win, we found ourselves playing for a spot in the championship game.

The only thing standing in our way was the San Jose Steamrollers.

The game began Sunday afternoon and both teams wanted to showcase their skills. From the opening whistle, it was prevalent that both teams were very evenly matched. The game was back and forth for the entire 40 minutes, with each team having a near miss for scoring opportunities. At the end of regulation, both teams were knotted up at zero and headed to overtime.

The two overtime periods flew by as neither team could find their offense. With the game still scoreless, we headed to a penalty kick shootout. For the first round, each team had four shots on goal. After a great block by Heat Goalkeeper Ginny Munson, the Heat was one goal away from defeating San Jose. But San Jose came away with a great stop of their own and forced a second round of sudden death penalty kicks. The first one who misses will lose the game.

After several goals by each team, it was San Jose who blocked the first shot and won the game. The Heat played their best game that match and each player was proud of their performance. We held one of the best teams scoreless and gave them everything they could handle. Even though we wouldn’t be playing for the title, we still had a shot at third place and a trip to Nationals.

With the San Jose game still fresh in our mind, we didn't want to have any letdown in the game against Hollister. The Heat scored a goal early in the first half and pulled away in the second half as we scored three more goals and emerged with a 4-0 win. We took third place and qualified for a spot at the National tournament in Indiana.

Overall, the Heat played a great tournament. We showed a lot of improvement and will only continue to get better. Now we will return to practice and hone our skills. The Heat have a new found confidence and showed that we can be a force to be reckoned with.

Next stop, Indiana.