Tobin Heath & Fitz Johnson with the first kick

 I think Beau Dure (@duresport) tweeted it best. “The Atlanta Beat must be awesome in possession drills. Beautiful dribbling and passing. Finishing, not so much.”  It really was some of the best passing and dribbling I’ve ever seen.  Ramona Bachmann made several Sky Blue FC players look silly.  She owes the Sky Blue trainers some athletic tape because she was breaking ankles left and right.  McCall Zerboni  also really impressed me with her work-rate.  It was a great all around team effort and the Beat were unlucky not to convert one of their many chances.  After the game Coach O’Sullivan said “The girls are devastated right now but we’ve got to keep them up because if they keep playing like they are, we will do well.”

 This was the first Women’s soccer game I’ve been to and my family and I had a blast.  I will be covering several games from the press box but I wanted to experience this first game with my family as a fan.  My wife has never been a huge sports fan and my son, 5, and daughter, 7, have never been to a professional sports game.  I knew my son would have fun as a soccer player and a kid who loves music and the energy that comes from that type of atmosphere.  It was also educational as he asked me at one point very innocently what I was doing.  I explained that I was “encouraging the referee to make better decisions”.  (On a side note: there was at least one, if not two, missed calls in the box).  My daughter also stayed engaged in the game and asked “Do we get to come back again?” she said “This is my favorite stadium and I like watching the game.”  Again, not sure what stadium she’s comparing it to but I think it’s my favorite stadium too.  Even my wife had fun and said that her favorite player was Mami Yamaguchi.  She wasn’t sure why other then she thought she was really good.

 It was a great turnout of over 7,000 fans but that leaves 1,000 seats to be filled.  If you didn’t make it to the game you really should try to come out this Sunday, May 16^th, as the Atlanta Beat takes on the Washington Freedom at 6 pm. If you want tickets call Jessica with the Beat at (678) 298-4780. I hope to see you at a game.