Pool Play Games
▸ Colorado Rolling Rapids vs. Chippewa Valley Hooligans
Coming into Nationals, our team first had to face the Hooligans. Before the match even started, I had a slight feeling that the timing of our set plays would be a little off. However, that first game gave our team confidence in our passing game, which proved to be our saving grace for most of the tournament. The other thing I was worried about was communication, especially with defending goal kicks and calling off a teammate. Calling off teammates seemed to be one of our issues in the tournament; despite that, I thought we communicated well with defending goal kicks and reading them. The game against the Hooligans wasn't exactly how we thought it would go since our corner set plays were just off. We ended up beating the Hooligans 8–0, winning our first pool game and sparking confidence.
▸ Colorado Rolling Rapids vs. BORP Shockers
Our second pool game against the BORP Shockers was a little tougher and more intense than the first game. Our biggest problems were again my accuracy, the timing of my spin kicks, and my power, which made our set plays less threatening than they should have been. In that game, a new problem unfolded: a “hit ball, see ball” mindset. This led to many missed opportunities because we were not catching the ball or using it wisely. However, once again, our passing game was enough to beat the Shockers and secure a 3–0 victory, which was very promising.
▸ Colorado Rolling Rapids vs. Chico Gophers
Our third and final pool game against the Chico Gophers was definitely the toughest of the three. We knew that it was going to be a challenge, and a challenge it was, not just because of Josh's skill but because of his experience. I think our team, particularly me, underestimated Hunter's one-on-one abilities and his ability to make good passes, while also blocking our passes with Josh and Elliot. We just DID NOT get any long-term offense going, and I was horrendously inaccurate; however, our multiple 2-on-1 infringements killed our offense and led to a 1–2 loss, even after our halftime changes (man-on-man defense). With that loss on our belts, we decided to push forward and make our wing the secondary top-of-the-box obstruction defender for the opposing team's wing for the rest of the tournament. I will say that the Gophers took that victory as a huge win, and I totally understand why.
The Playoffs
▸ Quarterfinals: Colorado Rolling Rapids vs. Motor City Eagles
Going into the playoffs, I was primarily worried about our spacing and set pieces. This proved true in the quarterfinals and semifinals, as we still weren't spaced out enough and I couldn't get my spin timing right. The quarterfinals against the Motor City Eagles were the slowest and most boring game that we ever played. It was more of a controlled game than a quick-passing one. The type of playstyle we had that game was a dribble-bulldozer playstyle, which was fine, but I didn't like the fact that we did it in the playoffs, and it's a dying playstyle that doesn't get you far in higher levels. The only goal we got came from a passing play, which was cool because we won on that goal, but it's just disappointing that our spacing and set pieces weren't there. With that 1–0 win, we moved on to the semifinals against Lakeshore Force.
▸ Semifinals: Colorado Rolling Rapids vs. Lakeshore Force
The semifinal game against the Lakeshore Force was very close. Lakeshore put up a great fight, especially with how young they are, and definitely tested our defense with their passing. We knew they would be aggressive and put up a good fight, so we knew we had to play solid on our one-on-ones and play man-on-man defense. Our man-on-man defense wasn't the best at times; we would get caught out of position by their passing, but we were super solid on our one-on-ones. I thought my accuracy was decent during that game, but our box defense was our weak point. I was frazzled and not clearing the ball well. We still had spacing issues and got way too many 2-on-1s.
The main reason we got a lot of 2-on-1s in this tournament was that we were too slow to release the ball and get out of the way, and I was defending from the top of the box instead of normally rotating behind Jack, which screwed up Levi and led to many 2-on-1s. In the end, I should have told Levi that I was going to defend closer to the top of the box (which I learned I prefer), or told my dad to make me the designated goalie for the games after that Chico Gophers game. Still, unfortunately, we didn't realize that was happening until after the tournament, and my dad was hesitant to make me the designated goalie given how our games were going.
The best thing about that Lakeshore game was that we kept our cool and continued to pressure them in their half, and I didn't rush setting up my kicks despite conceding a goal in the second half, tying the game 2–2. Several minutes passed, and it was the 39th minute of the match, seconds before overtime. It was a sideline kick about five feet from the half-court line, and Levi set up at the mid-top of the box for a redirect. I knew that based on the position of his chair, he would either redirect the ball or get the rebound off a defender, so I just shot the ball as close as I could to his front guard, and it ended up being close enough for him to redirect it behind the goalie for the third goal. When that ball rolled into the goal, I unfortunately did my menial cry shit out of joy and went straight to the back of our goal. We ended up winning that semifinal game, 3–2. The second-best thing about winning that game was that it guaranteed promotion to the Champions Conference, which was really what I wanted most. It also lifted a huge amount of pressure off our backs and just relaxed us. Lakeshore Force has so much potential, especially with how young they are and how much they have improved in just a year.
▸ Championship Game (Presidents Cup Final): Colorado Rolling Rapids vs. Mary Free Bed Overdrive
Coming into the finals, the only player on our team who was sort of nervous was I, but I wasn't for long. After we got our first goal, I relaxed. Yes, we conceded an indirect kick after a 2-on-1 between Levi and me a minute after we scored the first goal, but we quickly scored again from a corner kick. That corner kick, we knew what play to do. And even though the play didn't initially score, when that ball rolled back to me slowly, I turned around to stop the ball, saw a gap between the goalie and the near post, went into gorilla mode and took a shot, smacking it into the goal. After I got that goal, I was very curious what the commentators were saying. I would say that our box defense was a little better than in the previous games because I was rotating behind our goalie more often. But the things we did well on were our midfield defense, our set pieces, and our one-vs-ones. We still struggled with releasing the ball quickly enough and with our spacing; however, we continued to pressure them and got a 4–1 victory, not only winning the Presidents Conference and being promoted to the Champions Conference but also getting our revenge against Mary Free Bed Overdrive last year in the Founders Cup semifinal game. It was an honor to play them again, and I hope we face them next season.
Final Words
The 2026 MK Battery Conference Cup National tournament was an absolute blast! Despite having a few poor games, the Colorado Rolling Rapids came out on top after a hard-fought battle against Lakeshore Force and Mary Free Bed Overdrive in the final, losing only to the Chico Gophers in pool play. Moving forward to the 2026–2027 season, the Colorado Rolling Rapids will continue to improve and focus on the mistakes they made during this tournament. There are definitely some areas that we need to improve, such as our box defense and our spacing, and yet, despite not having the greatest success in our set pieces, we still got first place in our division by being strong in the midfield and in our one-v-one skills. I hope to travel to more tournaments next season, as this is one of our biggest issues—lack of games. Good luck to all the other teams, and I look forward to competing again next year!