Thursday Night in the Dome

These types of games are the reason I needed to start this blog. Not because it was a good game of soccer (It wasn't. We won 8-2). But because, I was typical GB Bomber - scoring over half our team's goals and receiving the biggest penalty of the game, which I will get to later. Before I get into this game, I need to let you know about the Thursday night league I play in.

We play in Division 10 at Inwood Soccer Center. The games take place on the smaller field in the adjacent dome. The competition week to week varies but, at it's best, is not good. Evan, Jose and I joined the team as "ringers" a couple years back. Basically, it was a confidence booster that, with the 3 of us playing, almost guaranteed a championship t-shirt at the end of the session. Evan and Jose are gone now, but I have re-joined the team as one of 2 ringers. I'm confident we will still win a championship but it's going to get a little chippy along the way. Last week, we won our first game pretty handily against a very bad team. We were a bit rusty but, fortunately, the opposition was as bad as they were. That brings us to last night's game...

Wednesday Night Indoor...

Before getting into a game recap, I should make mention of the season-long wager put up by our team manager. He decided that if our team were to go undefeated through the regular season AND win a championship, he would personally refund all of our season fees, about $60. Why he would make a $600+ bet on a mid-level amateur soccer season is beyond me. I think he has a gambling problem. But that is beside the point. Our first game was last week. It was kind of a joke - an 11-3 demolishing of some guys rocking white sneakers.

Last night's game was the bigger test. Everyone was wearing appropriate footwear, which is a pretty clear indication that they had played soccer before - not always a given in these leagues. We went down early 4-1 on some weak goals. As usual we were playing with about 4 forwards to our 1 defender and that never works out well. We gained our composure and were able to cut the deficit to 4-3 by halftime. After finishing strong in the first half, we felt confident going into the second.

Physically, the game was fairly clean. We saw a blue card for a check into the boards and some typical shittalking (not by me), but for the most part it was respectable sportsmanship all around. Anyways, the second half was pretty even. We exchanged goals throughout the first fifteen minutes and with three to go, we were down 7-6. That's when your boy took over. I Collected a 3/4 length throw from our keeper, cut the ball between two defenders and coolly put the ball past the keeper. 7-7. Less than a minute later, the ball was switched across the narrow field to me standing on the corner of the arc (equatable to the corner of the 18 in outdoor soccer) about 12-15 yards from goal. I chested the ball to the floor. It bounced once. I realized the defender was going to just watch. As the ball fell back towards the ground, I dropped a left footed volley into the roof of the goal. 8-7. After a goal like that, I might normally be inclined to yell a demeaning remark at the defender but I wasn't in a trashtalking mood. With just over a minute to go and exhaustion kicking in, I subbed myself off. I figured we would be able to hold on to the ball and run out the clock. Wrong. The other team ran right through us and put in the tying goal with a minute to go.

I cursed on the bench. The ref ran by, "I love this game!" I thought that was weird. Anyways, nothing really developed over the next 60 seconds and the game ended in an 8-8 tie. Exhausting game.

I thought we blew our chances at the bet, but after looking up the email I realized we just have to go undefeated, not win every game. There is still hope. I want my money back.

Thursday night game kicks off at 10:30pm.