WIN: 1-0 vs Santos – Defense Dominates Both Sides of the Ball as Badgers Get the Job Done at NEMP

Another week, another gritty win for the Honey Badgers! With the game moved up to NEMP, the subs bench was looking a little light, especially since Chappy joined the temporary walking wounded. But enough Badgers showed up to have one sub, as Jefe was back to getting some more significant minutes on the pitch after his ankle issues.

Someone said it wasn’t supposed to be hot this time of year. Again, someone was wrong. It was nice and toasty up north, but at least the NEMP winds weren’t present.

Santos had been a high-scoring team this season, so it was going to be a test for the Honey Badgers, but the Defense was up to the task and playing well at the start of the game. Danny was Hulk-smashing balls to safety, and he and Chris G had their hands full with the tricky attacking players from Santos. Chris G also had a nice long-ball switch of play early, as Cameron Road tried to break the Santos’ lines.

On another attempt, Jefe dumped the ball in deep down the left hand side to Derek. Instead of charging the box, Derek dumped in a nice cross to the danger area that the keeper pushed out into play. But the ball fell for the white-hot Guillermo inside the box, who sent a low-driving shot between the keeper’s legs to give the Honey Badgers the very early 1-0 lead!

But even though they got the early goal, the Honey Badgers were under the gun as Santos had most of the ball. For the second week in a row, Jaybone made an absolutely crucial early save as he pushed a free kick wide that was headed for the top corner. Brilliant save.

Santos also had two shots driven deep into the stratosphere as they tried to get back into the game.

Gianluca set Adam loose on a breakaway down the middle. As the “fastest barefoot post-game Badger” Adam got to the ball first as the keeper was hard charging. He let loose a good shot, but it was right down the pipe a la Ciro, and the keeper snatched before it could find its home in the back of the net.

The halftime vibe check was bussin’, but chill. No cap. Oranges and Round Rock donuts were in play.

With a slim lead to protect, the Badgers took the field for the second half. For 45 minutes, it was more of the same. Santos tried to get in behind the Badger defense by any means necessary (including a possible attempted choking of Chris G!), but more and more they were turned back.

At the other end, Gianluca continued to try and impress in front of the family. Ciro sent a shot into the treeline (progress since it was not right at the keeper). Chris. Peterson showed up to cheer on the boys. Chappy hid acorns for Gigi Jr. And Derek had a beautiful tribute to his Captain as he slid both feet of the ball and landed on his backside in front of Badgertown.

With the clock running out, Jefe entered the game as a surprise winger where Danny was booming balls his way. One of his final contributions was a great bit of “soccer” as he took the ball to the corner flag, backed up that thang and shielded the ball from danger.

The Soccer Gods continued to smile upon Cameron Road with the last kick of the game as a Santos forward smashed the ball off the crossbar and back out to safety to preserve the win.

Man-of-the-Match: Defense has been playing light-out, so you know someone from the back line is gonna get the awards this week. Guillermo got another goal, but Chris G was on a mission to help shut down the Santos forwards. He doesn’t say much, because he doesn’t have to. He’s just a shut down machine. Cheers Chris!