I’ll say it again... WOW!  What a game!

To say that the coaches are proud of this team would be a gross understatement.  There were so many twists and turns of emotion and back & forth play that rather than try to come up with bad puns and try to detail certain plays, I’ll just summarize...

They scored an early goal, tried to make it stand up and very nearly succeeded.  Despite pressure on their penalty area, we were being shut out until Caroline corralled a ball on the left side and found the back of the net with less than a minute to play!  (The referee said it was 30 seconds).  That’s when I lost my voice.  Overtime.

Again, we gave up an early goal and were held scoreless until stoppage time.  (For those who aren’t sure, stoppage time is added to each half at the referee’s discretion for substitutions, time to chase loose shots, injuries, etc.)  Kayla steadied herself at midfield and blasted a shot that actually bounced off of Anna in front of the goal and ended up just inside the far post.  The referee confided in me that if we hadn’t scored on that shot, the game would have been over.  Penalty kicks would decide the outcome of this one.

We gathered excitedly at our bench and prepared our attackers for penalty kicks.  In hindsight, I should have been preparing Sarah for what she was about to face.  In the early 80s, ESPN did a survey and determined that facing a penalty kick in soccer was the #1 most difficult challenge in sports.  #1  And here was an 11 year old girl with 8 games of experience, in the playoffs, after a thrilling overtime game striding confidently into the box.  I’m not sure I could have told her anything that would have helped, but I would have liked to have a few seconds back to try.

We won the toss and decided to go second.  The Comets attacker took the first kick and Sarah actually got a foot on the shot, but it caromed into the goal anyway.  We missed our first attempt as the ball clanged off the right post.  They went up 2-0, then Becca (our youngest player) brought the crowd to it’s feet with a firm strike into the goal - 2-1.  They scored again to make it 3-1.  Anna (our 2nd youngest player) stepped up and blasted a shot into the right side of the goal - 3-2.  Sarah guessed right on the next shot and it sailed over the crossbar.  Unfortunately, our next attempt skittered past the left post and the Comets could end the game with a successful try.  When the ball went into the goal, the Comets celebrated a hard-fought victory and we mobbed Sarah in front of the goal for a job well done.  Apart from the tears, it was hard to tell which team had won!

We showed what great sportsmanship is all about in the face of adversity.  Tom Keller summarized it very well before we left the field when he said, "Look out for Calvary Middle School soccer next year."  The future looks very bright indeed.

Final score - Comets 3  Diamond Divas 2 (pks)