Gateway, Day 3

at Chaminade vs. Columbia Rock Bridge (2-3)

Well, the good news is we got to play today, so we had a chance to get the ugly taste out of our mouth from yesterday's debacle. 

Because so many of the final day's matches were paring up teams that had already played each other this season, we did not play who we were supposed to play, Cherry Creek out of Colorado. We played Rock Bridge who should have been in the championship match playing Chaminade who they had beaten earlier this season.  So we took them on.

As the saying goes "if we didn't have bad luck we would not have any luck at all."  But as BWhite mentioned at halftime when we were staring at a 2-0 deficit, we have a lot to do with causing our own bad luck.

We made every soccer adage real today. 1) Goals are scored in the first five minutes and the last five minutes of halves. We surrendered all three that way. 2-0 is the most dangerous score in soccer. We roared back to tie it midway through the second half at 2.  

And then in some mystifying fashion, we fouled with 23 seconds left. And from 35 yards the Rock Bridge number 10, chipped a ball somehow over Sam's head for the winning goal.

BWhite named Danny Gabriel the BWhite Player of the Match, with a shoutout to Aubrey Evans.  Both had almost flawless matches, and their huge efforts inspired all around them.  But as a whole, our guys played well today. Just a gutsy comeback that only fell short by a few seconds. 

STATS:

First Half: Saints  

Shots: 8 (3) Corners: 5 (Whigham, Gonzalez, Sketers, Neely, Wherry)

Rock Bridge: Shots: 5 (3) Corners: 0

3:52 Koetting (19 hit a cross into the 18 box that Koetting strokes home)

0:38 Stanowski (Muhammand hits a long ball from midfield that bounces at the 18 before Stanowski knocks it in).
Second Half:

Saints:  Shots: 7 (3) Corners: 4 (Caragher 2, Sketers, Stoecklein)

32:31 Stoecklein (Joey hits the long free kick that Rock Bridge intially clears but first Wherry and then Evans out it back on for a Gaspo D-cross for the headball)

18:13 Whigham (Diggs boxes it)

Rock Bridge: Shots: 2 (1) Corners: 1

0:23 Klein (direct kick chipped in from 35)