Friday Night Lights

Friday night we drove over to WF for my nephew’s big soccer game. His team, Rider High School, had made it to the playoffs, and this was their second playoff game. My nephew happens to be a senior and captain of the soccer team and a very talented player. You can see him in this amazing video – he is wearing a yellow shirt.

Although the wind was howling out of the south, it was pretty chilly and miserable sitting in the stadium. It seemed the wind blew in and all around before blowing on out – kind of like a mini-tornado. But the game was exciting. I have to say that Rider dominated the game, and my nephew played great – the entire game. At the end of the game, it was tied 0 to 0 and went into overtime – two ten-minute periods. The parents sitting with us were tense. If the game went into a shoot-out, my neph would be the fifth (last) kicker for Rider. It was at this time that Jesse turned around and said, "Is this instant death?" All the people within hearing distance broke out laughing. Jesse is always close, but not always correct in her terminology.

The game did go into a shoot-out with each team taking shots at the other team’s goal. In this league, the shooter is able to dribble the ball from the 35 yardline toward the goal before shooting. The goalie comes out to meet the kicker – it is wild and scary. Rider had a short little goalie that had played great the entire game keeping it scoreless, but for some reason the coach put in a taller player – fresh off the bench and not warmed up. It was a coaching mistake, if you ask me. When my nephew, the last shooter, came up to kick, the score was 2 to 3 in favor or the other team. If Paddy scored, the game would be tied. If he did not score, Rider would lose. No pressure! His mother said, "I’ll be in the bathroom puking." You know how us mother’s are - wanting to protect our young’uns. Sure enough Paddy drove down and kicked – wide – missing the goal. Game over. Season over. Rider lost. Paddy’s senior year of soccer had come to an end. Now we all wanted to puke.

What a heart breaker! What an exciting game where both teams played great! No team sport is won or lost by one player! The entire team had two regular periods of play and two overtime periods to score not to mention the shoot-out. No one should be ashamed of that game. Personally, I had a great time watching it and think my nephew is amazing.