Well that was interesting. In a thrilling and intense affair, Memorial held on to win a tightly contested Regional Final 2-1 today at Memorial. I have to start by sharing I was not at the game. I was coaching ECU U15 Girls team in a tournament (we won both games by the way). No way to reschedule that, and no way to reschedule the game, so I had to miss it. It was a tough game to miss. How would I be able to live with missing Cooper’s last soccer game ever if they had lost, no way to do that, so they just had to win. And they did.
Fortunately for me, I have an awesome wife who is also really good at providing updates and thrilling play by play when I could not wait for the next text update and had to give her a call. Late in the contest I decided to check my heart rate on my watch. Any guesses….75….85…95. Well I was pinging along at around 98-100 for about 5 minutes late in the game.
Let’s see if we can review this one. First off, the game was very intense and heated. Physical was the best description I heard. Lots of tough plays, tackles, tugging, pulling, tripping, and a few yellows handed out as well. It just seems that DC Everest decided they wanted to muck it up a bit. I have discussed in a few of the posts that teams might try to take Jack Longville out of the game or try to get physical with him…sounds like DC Everest tried that today. An early Everest free kick that just missed set the tone for this one. Hold on folks. Longville got the scoring started at the 4:34 mark with a direct kick just outside the 18. It was a beautiful strike up and over the wall and just to the right of the keeper. In tribute to Jack….here is how I think it might have looked. Okay…I know Marcos Alonso is left footed, but he plays for Chelsea and it was a great shot. Enjoy. Way to go Jack, you are starting to get hot on your free kicks. Big games need a little magic sometimes.
Memorial seemed to get control of the game after the goal. There was some wind today and it favored Memorial in the first half. They controlled possession, kept the ball in Everest’s end a good portion of the first half. The most dangerous balls were long balls over the top that the back 4 and Tyler Hanson had to deal with. With the wind, it felt like Memorial needed another goal before half. It showed up at the 34 minute mark, along with a little controversy. Man of the Match Owen Jolley was able to get control of a bouncing ball in the box off a direct kick (I think) and in a crowd of players and poke it into the back of the net. The DC Everest fans, players and especially coaches all claimed hand ball. There was a long delay as the referees discussed it. After the discussion the goal stood. 2-0 Abes. A big goal. Talked to Cooper later and he felt it was the right call. Ball may have struck his hand, but the arm was at his side, no attempt to play the ball, just an inadvertent touch that did not seem to assist in the goal. It would have been really difficult to call that one. Play stands. Big Goal!! Halftime 2-0.
The second half was a much more even affair. The wind was now favoring DC Everest and they took advantage. More possession, more shots and a few more difficult balls to judge the wind. So at this point I start my count down. Checking my watch every few minutes, calculating the time remaining….50 minutes….55 minutes….60 minutes…oh man, stressful. I call Kathy a few times and during the call she blurts out an oh no! or an ahhh! and then she gets quiet. I am hanging there waiting to find out what happened…did Everest score…is there a PK….what happened! Fortunately, she fills me in that we are out of danger. Still anxious!
Then this happened.
Here is a link from Bob Bradovich Twitter Account with the play of the game from Owen Jolley. Kathy tried to describe it to me, she actually did a pretty good job, but unless you were there it would be hard to describe. A chipped ball into the box, a header back over Tyler and headed into the goal. I mean really….a bicycle kick to clear a ball off the line….not just a bicycle kick but a Ninja, leaping in the air, throwing my body forward, bicycling kicking the ball from a certain goal, and after all that, landing flat on my back. Wow….just wow…no other words. Tyler Hanson properly gives him a big pat on the back and back line mate Bryce Burlingame also recognized the moment with a low five and shoulder slap. Sort of a …man you saved our bacon on that one kind of pat of the back. Wow. Owen ends up in the net and just calmly walks back out onto the field…kind of like…no big deal, I do that all the time. I would be jumping out of my skin and celebrating…not Owen…just calmly goes about his business. Nice Owen, very nice!
https://mobile.twitter.com/BradoNews18/status/921859302696112129/video/1
So a 2-0 finish right, wrong. It was time for a little drama. At this point in the game it was getting pretty chippy. DC Everest is fighting for their lives and by fighting, I kind of mean fighting. A tough Yellow on Simon Larson near midfield starts the sequence. Everest plays a long ball into the 18 on the right side of the box. On the other side of the box, the DC Everest player who just forced the yellow on Larson is in a tussle with Bryce Burlingame fighting for position. They are nowhere near the ball. Foul Burlingame. What? Who makes that call? Drama. DC Everest steps up and buries the free kick into the back of the net at the 83 minute mark. 2-1 game with 7 minutes to go. 7 long and intense minutes. Memorial stayed calm and actual started to possess really well in this period. They had a few chances, a few near misses and weathered the storm. Everest best chances were the balls over the top as they tried to beat defenders long. That was a long 5 minutes I must say. I decided I could not wait for a text, I just called and had Kathy talk me thru the end of the game. Whew! That was a good one, pretty intense, especially when you are not there!! Heart rate coming down a little.
The team was really into it as well. Here is a shot of the bench late in the game. Arms locked, probably saying a few prayers. Love it! No sitting for this one!
Here is a shot of the boys celebrating winning their Regional .
Here is a shot of the boys having a team moment! It is a special time, especially for the Seniors. A classic Survive and Advance game. I mentioned in my Playoff Blog that you will need to win a game by just one goal. You will need to have a few moments of magic. And you may also need a little luck. I think we got all three today. Moving on to the Sectionals. I plan to be at the next game! Go Abes!
