Our Wednesday night team has found itself in a rare must-win situation. New, better teams added to our division along with poor attendance on our part has led to us being in fifth place with just two games to go, two points out of a playoff spot. Last night we played the team sitting in third place so a win would propel us past them and into a good position to make the playoffs.
The game started it out very even and both goalkeepers will playing well, keeping us deadlocked at zero for maybe seven minutes. We finally broke through when we were awarded a free kick on the left side of the field about fifteen yards from goal. At this point my shot accuracy had been pretty bad, but I took the kick anyways. A low line drive to the near post beat the keeper and we were up a goal.
Unfortunately, the lead didn't last too long. Rich went out with an injury so we were down to just one sub. Fatigue kicked in earlier than usual tonight (maybe because the game started at 11:15pm), and we were running around pretty winded. I don't remember how they scored but they did and we were suddenly tied again. The rest of the first half was very even, going almost ten minutes without a goal. Just before halftime, with the seconds winding down, a ball was sent deep into their territory. I settled it around the top of the arc. After facing up to the goal, there were two defenders standing in front of me. Two of my teammates ran to either side of me, making the defenders think about what they wanted to do. Their hesitation was just enough, and I blasted a shot that beat the keeper and gave us a one goal lead going into halftime.
At halftime, I had my concerns for the second. Overall, they seemed to be a younger team and history shows that drop off significantly in the second half of games. Tonight was different. We came out very strong. Or maybe they came out soft. Either way, we jumped out to a two goal lead and didn't look back.
By the time we were halfway through the second half, we had a safe lead and were able to kill the clock a bit. Our keeper, Tommy, proved to be the best keeper we have played with to date and made several key saves to preserve our large lead. The highlight goal for me would have been the shot I sent from just beyond the yellow line deep into our own half. The ball soared over the keeper, but didn't drop fast enough and hit the wall just above the goal. Instead, I will call my third goal the highlight of the game. Jason was carrying the ball just inside our half. I started to make a run at their last defender. Not knowing where Jason was going to play the ball, I saw a lot of open space to the left and ran that way, evading my defender. Just as I turn I see the ball headed in my direction towards the wall. As I get to the ball, I turn it inside away from the wall. Just as I did, the defender closed in slid for the ball. Perhaps luckily, I flicked the ball up and over the slid, against the wall and back into my path. I ran at the keeper from a tight angle and, just like my last outdoor goal, as I closed in I ran away from him to draw him out and slipped the ball past the near post. A very nice goal indeed.
We had no problem putting the game away and ended up on top 7-1, I think. I scored four goals and kept my cool all game long. A successful game.
Tonight I'm back in the dome and hoping I can rebound from my abysmal performance last week.
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