NexGen v. Machine

The only thing that looked good about Machine was their new Jerseys. The game started out with a Machine Oline, that didn't even closely resemble the Oline that will be stepping on the field at Regionals, punching in a score. Machine followed with a strong break and then decided to take a nap for the next five points. Down 5-2 it never really felt close again. Machine got as close as 7-6 I believe, but the game ended 15-9.

Some notes from the Machine side.

-A few key players were missing, most notably Machine Captain Mike Shiel and Illinois Superstud Joel Koehneman.

-Illinois Captain Ryan Smith made his first Chicago Machine appearance. 6 points played, 2 turnovers, 1 assisst... I'm not sure about D's but I am going to go out on a limb and say 0.

-Rory of Machine came down with some great jump balls.

-Machine threw a Clam that seemed to work fine early but as points, and the game, wore on it was just bad.

From the NexGen side

-Their experience as a team is definitely what set them apart from Machine.

-Stubbs' ability to shine on a team of all stars says more than a ton.

-When Dylan Freechild had space to work with no one could keep up with him. When he didn't have free space, he made some.

One final point in the game bummed me out. After Matty and Jimmy Mickle combined for a score the announcer referred to it as Colorado to Colorado, a few points later Ryan Smith and Walden Nelson put together a goal and the announcer totally misses on the Illinois to Illinois connection. Oh well... #cantgetnorespect