MUFC U12 Girls

05/02/2026

Cold night, tough matchup, and a hard-fought result for the girls tonight against Freeland Force.

We came out flying—Macy put us on the board within the first 3 minutes with a great shot on goal. Exactly the kind of start we want and it rallied the team.

From there, Yaya stepped up big in goal, making multiple key saves to keep us in control through the first half. Freeland found one to even it up, but we stayed composed and finished the first half even.

Freeland played VERY compact, which made it tough to move the ball through the middle. They adjusted by looking for longer balls and found some success, but it challenged us to think and adapt throughout the game. We’ll continue to encourage wider play to spread the field.

What stood out tonight:
• Much better first touch (Emma’s been working on this with them Monday nights)
• Much better effort getting to the ball first (a big change we needed to make after BASA)
• Stronger reactions on first bounce or sooner (claiming that ball and taking posession)

The second half was a battle on both sides, ending in a 1–1 draw. Bella had a few great saves in goal, and Freeland had some fast runs happening on their right side. Kaia, Amelia, Lizzy, Makenna, Tilly, and Abby worked well together to jam them up, slow them down, and frustrate them.

Reagan, Madison, and Ava tried just about every approach down the middle to break through, but at times I counted 5 of their players parking the bus in front of their keeper making it difficult to accomplish their task.

We’re improving. You can see it in how the girls are starting to read the game and adjust to different styles of play. Makenna who made her debut earlier this year as keeper is also coming along really quickly with her training, we worked on cutting down the angle this week and I’m super pleased with how she’s progressing. This week in practice we’ll focus on widening the field for th team, pulling they other team apart, and continuing to develop our goalkeepers with some training diving, and learning to control the box so we can be more versatile as a team this season.

Right now, the focus is mostly recovery. It was a physical, cold game, and I know some frustration crept in at the end (I saw it on their faces… some more than others). That’s part of competing—but I want to make sure everyone bounces back feeling good and ready to go. There’s a tournament on the horizon and a whole season out there.

One ask for parents: continue to support the girls as a team—during and after games. Encourage them, build them up, and help get them to practice this week. The work we do there shows up on game day.

This group cares about each other. That’s what makes them special.

Proud of this team.

04/24/2026

04/24/2026

Big win tonight, 2–0 against a very solid Detroit City FC North team.

What stood out most wasn’t just the result—it was how the girls played. After a lightning delay, they came out with energy right from the first minute and found the back of the net early. That set the tone for the entire game.

We’ve been talking a lot about playing as a team, supporting each other, trusting the process, trusting our roles, and tonight that really showed. There were moments of great effort, smart decisions, and players stepping up for each other across the field. (Not a bunch of chocolate chips fighting for the spotlight.)

A big piece of tonight was Yaya and Bella stepping in at goalkeeper. That’s not always an easy role to take on, and both of them did a great job putting the team first and giving us what we needed. We’re working on developing some other options in goal, and I appreciate everyone who’s stepped up during practice to get them some more time
In other positions.

The defensive game was solid. When I say defense, I mean when the other team had the ball. That’s when we’re all on defense. We shut them down and clogged the middle where their number 9 was increasingly frustrated. (By the way the girls spotted that 9 only took shots before the game. Good watching the other team and taking it seriously.)

On the flip side, on offense we worked on passing to space, playing wide and crossing, and sending through balls to attack. I saw all of that tonight from everyone.

That said Detroit City had some strong players and created good moments, but our ability to work together, stay organized, and communicate well on the field made the difference.

Proud of this group and the way they’re growing each week.

02/21/2026

So I figured why not throw a quick winter indoor soccer session update here.

Under the alias BLIZZARD!
The girls are 3 games in… undefeated… and in their first three games have put away 23 goals, and only allowed 4 goals to be scored against them.

Whew!

10/25/2025

Soccerween Tournament Recap

Three games. One long day. And a team that just kept getting stronger.

We started early against Crawford AuSable Soccer Association. It was a bumpy first game — early morning legs, a bit of tournament rust, and some clumpy play to deal with as they settled in. Still, once they found their rhythm, they battled it out for a 2–2 tie and started to find their stride for the day.

The second game was against BASA (Bay Area Soccer Association), a familiar opponent who beat us 3–1 in the first game of the season and edged us 1–0 at home later on. Back on their turf, at their tournament, our girls held their ground and tied 1–1, showing how far they’ve come since that first meeting.

By the time we faced Nationals North in the third match, fatigue had clearly started to set in. They were tired, but they didn’t quit. Down by two for the game, they fought to the final whistle and found the will to score two late goals, ending the day unbeaten.

We finished the tournament with three ties — undefeated.
We tied the first-place team, who beat the second-place team by two. If the points system doesn’t tell the full story, the effort and results do — we played like a top team and thats a showing better than the second place spot in the tournament.

Today I saw a lot of passion — from players, coaches, and parents across the fields. Some of it was positive… some of it wasn’t. Too often, youth soccer normalizes yelling, blaming refs, and berating players in the name of “intensity.” That behavior is normalized. That’s not the “beautiful game” the world celebrates.

I didn’t see that from our parents or coaching.
It’s important to remember our culture flows downhill, too — and it shows in these kids of ours now.

Where I hear our club has a lot of problems with this “intensity” I don’t see that in our players where our parents and I think we set an exception to the norm of most teams. When you look at the brackets and you see U12 you have to remember that that means under 12 years old. Let them play and have fun. 

Today I saw creative play.
I saw no chocolate chips — everyone played their role.
I saw a team working together, supporting each other, and making a difference.
And above all, I saw a group of girls having fun playing the game the right way.

Each and every player played a role on this team today. Even the two players we were able to write on and bring up from the U 11 team. It’s a pretty big honor for our U12 team to be able to give them experience at a higher level and set the example that we did. I hope they all had a good time. 

Well done, MUFC United. You frustrated a lot of teams who thought they could walk all over you — and you did it with teamwork, class, and heart.

Go Pony’s

Oh and one last thing… You guys did beat them all today… Best costume! Nice trophy!

10/19/2025

Highlights from @ Mt Pleasant

10/16/2025

They’re real!

10/11/2025

MUFC United vs. Alma
United came ready to play today and delivered a strong 6–0 win at home! The girls played their game — connecting passes, keeping their heads up, communicating, and finding creative ways to attack. You could see the confidence and chemistry building in every play. (Especially finding patience in that final third of the field)

Alma’s a younger, developing team, and we were there too — learning the ropes, finding our rhythm, and building experience. It’s a good reminder of how far we’ve come as a team and how much growth happens when you stick together.

Proud of every player today — everyone had a big game! It’s gonna be a fun one to rewatch!

Red, white, red, white, red, white — MUFC huah!

10/10/2025

10/10/2025

BASA goal in first 5 minutes.