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Johnson City - Game 3 - Sunday, April 21, 2002 - 7:45 AM

After two great performances on the field, the Girls of United Quest '88 Athena White relaxed with an evening of food and fun. They knew they had another "break of day" match at 7:45 Sunday morning, so it was off to bed early. When the sun rose on another picture perfect day for soccer, United was ready to play. Their opponents, Beckley United, of Beckley, WV, arrived just before game time after some speculation that they had heard of Quest's exploits from the previous day and had decided to just stay home. United Quest Coach Anne Bristol was happy to have an opponent, however, and proceeded to send her girls into the match with a warning not to be too complacent after two relatively easy matches the day before. Beckley seemed to play the "wounded tiger" style of competition and came out a player short to start. They would later go down two players, which compelled coach Bristol to also pull players from the field. The Quest side seemed a little too happy to begin their possession passing game in the back before they really found their offensive groove, and the goals would not rain down on their opponents as they had the two previous matches. Thankfully, the defense was playing their solid, supporting style in the back, and Beckley wouldn't seriously threaten to score for most of the match. When they did break through, keeper Ana Trujillo quickly put an end to their scoring hopes. Although United had some trouble finding their attack, forward Meagan Dilbeck finally got things started midway through the half to give her team a 1-0 lead. Little did she know at the time that this goal would be the first of two consecutive game winners for her and her team. Active involvement in the midfield typifies the play of Kylie Foley, and it wasn't long before she set her sights on goal to give Quest a two-goal lead. She would also notch United's third unanswered goal later in the match. Late in the game, forward Amanda Masters managed to just barely squib one by the Beckley keeper to push the score to the eventual final tally of 4-0. For the tournament, Amanda and Kylie would share scoring honors at five goals apiece. All players together, the United Quest team had scored twenty-two unanswered goals to secure a place in the final later in the day. However, each and every one of them knew that they'd have to get at least one more goal in that final match to properly honor the outstanding defensive team effort they had displayed in their first three games. Parents and players were beginning to believe that this tournament might just be Quest's for the taking. Of course, their eventual opponent for the final, CASL 88 Spartan White, of Raleigh, NC, had other ideas, and the final would turn out to be a hard-fought, rough-edged soccer classic.