and then there were six

Sunday's kickoff came, and there was Tsunami with but eight players on the field against 909 united's 10. Several rays of good luck shined on us though:

• we won the toss;
  
• even though it was the early game, it was not so hot; and
• we had extra fans--Laura brought a friend and Brittney's mom came.

Very soon after kickoff, 909U had a full team, with subs. Nevertheless, Tsunami was moving the ball into scoring range and the defense kept the goal area clear most of the time--sometimes the defense was off supporting the offense, and a couple threats came into the zone, but they were not serious.

About half way into the half, a 909 player got the ball into close range. Although the defense was contesting, she managed to get a shot off towards the top right corner. When the goalie (yours truly) leaped for it, her knee crumpled and the ball sailed into the net. Sammi changed her shirt, donned her gloves, and began tending the goal. Without her on defense, she got to be busier in the goal than yours truly had been, and Staci and Sarah were really hustling to cover the back. Eventually 909U scored.

The game became more lopsided--nonetheless Tsunami never gives up. With few players to support offensive play, the mode of attack shifted to the forwards chasing long balls sent by Staci and Sammi. Brittney and Diane had some great runs. Laura and Amy were everywhere--they would have burned up Belinda's calorie counter. Not content to just overwhelm us with numbers, however, 909U resorted to decking our designated "punching bag," Diane. This earned us a PK, which Staci aced.

As halftime approached, it was 1-1, and 909U surged on our goal. Sammi stretch to block a hard shot, and came down hard. The ball hit the post and bounced to the ground, where Sammi scrambled to cover it before the 909U player's foot reached it for the tap in. Success! It remained 1-1, but a new problem cropped up over by the 909U bench. Laura was down, and not getting up. Her knee, too, had failed her.

... so they all rolled over and one fell out there were six on the field and the little ref said "game over...."

Game over, and from a 1-1 tie the record shows instead a loss.

ghu