’26 Summer Game #5

Thanks Jake for the write-up!

Unfortunately, no AI was used in this write up, we saved the water to dump on Ciro…

  It will also most likely be out of sequence & many important details left out, just like the way they teach History…

With 100 degrees and a 2pm match, getting 11 to start was questionable… But with 2 tents, mad coolers, and a mister, we started with a solid 12 (despite Billy needing a full kit). The first 20 we had lots of possession, but kept turning the ball over. Danny made a sweet sliding scoop for a ball in the box that left their forward on the ground, whining about a penalty. Conner & both Chris’s were holding the back line steady, with me & Billy taking turns. Ciro & Yunir were handling the midfield well, trying to get anything to Matt or Derek who was all over the place (in a good way). Adam was doing his usual magic noire, Rueben was pushing the wing with pace. Ciro almost put in a glancing header off of a nice ball from Rueben. 

There were a few offside calls, that were most likely not… but the only one that mattered, wasn’t… The midfield was a bit clustered, Conner gets the ball to Peterson, who lobs it over the right back to Derek (who was not off, the ref signaled), with only the keeper and time on his hands, Derek took an eternity to get as close to him as possible and smash it past his face at the roof of the net. Now time for an array of fruit! The frozen pineapple was exquisite.

For the second half the Badgers were on the hunt, everyone was playing some pretty good footy. We had most of the possession and they couldn’t seem to put together the last part of their attack. They did get a corner, which saw Ciro’s drumstick flare up & he was done for the day.

With about 30 to go and no subs, CRU was looking to drive this one home.

That is, until we entered the Twilight (Sundowners?) Zone, ref edition…For some reason, he kept counting down Danimal’s goal kicks, even though he was not wasting time in any fashion. Somehow, despite us having 4 balls, the other team kept trying to play with under and over inflated balls (Livergate). At one point after kicking one of these balls, Peterson requests another. Common theme… later on, the ref brings said ball back saying it was at 18 PSI!!!

After one of my famous ground maneuvers got us a free kick, Matt kicked it into the guy impeding the start, the ref says, “ ball’s live…”  Everyone (including the other team) was so confused, we all stood there for a moment looking at each other… Play on! 

This strange occurrence got Matt a lil feisty and soon after, got a yellow for dissent (can’t remember what exactly, offside or foul call?). With the fire still not smoldering, he let Adam have an earful, which turned into just TWO FRIENDS TALKING… The ref dealing with some other infraction, thought Matt was talking to him the way we talk to our friends. Looks like the double yellow might be coming, but we all assured him… it was just TWO FRIENDS TALKING. Crisis averted, almost.. Matt decides to take a cool down (smart move), but we insist that he hurry up & help us bag this one up.

Which exactly what Conner did… Me and Peterson were getting a lil ragged on the left and out of nowhere, Conner takes the ball from the back, schools a couple dudes on the wing and slots through the sweetest pass riding the line all the way towards the corner flag. That’s where Adam comes blazing through  and gets to the ball, works some magic to Derek, who looks like he might take his time like the last one… But acts quicker & slides it passed the keeper! Dose a Ciro for the Badgers!

We had a few more chances that could have easily led to a couple goals, but we were happy to still be pressuring them and played smart. The best chance was Adam getting to ball again with only him and the keeper. He went for the Ciro tactic of straight to the keeper. I can’t say shit, I jumped over a simple tap in from Yunir (good ball playboy!).

Time to kill it off, which the ref made a lil harder with his high strangeness. He almost issued a yellow to Peterson for time wasting when he tries to swap out a ball on a goal (maybe offside?) kick, even though Danny is standing there with the other ball. Right at the end, they get a ball through and the forward gets accross to the back post. But luckily Dan the Man gets a fingernail to it and pushes it wide. Both teams are setting up for the corner kick when the ref says, “Goal kick!” Dan, then says (being a true gentleman and scholar of fruit), “Um, I touched it sir?” … He was having none of it. His decision stands!

With a few more long boots from the keep, it was beer:30 and it was a well deserved win.

Man-of-the-Match: Everyone for MVP, although Conner did win a lot of headers, tackles & set up both goals…