Some history

Yesterday's win versus Gang Green was a good one - a 3-2 come-from-behind win.  It got me thinking.  It's been a while since we've seen that team, but we have, in fact, seen them on a number of occasions.  I searched our blog.  Until recently, I didn't tag team names on the game reports so it was a basic and unreliable word search.  Anyway, I found two games, and I remember them both.  Those two games plus the one we played last weekend all followed a similar script.

In the spring of 2009, we were a pretty decent side but we hadn't distinguished ourselves in the standings.  We faced a must win in the final week to get into the playoffs.  Gang Green came out strong and led us most of the game.  I remember taking the field and shouting that this was it for our season if we didn't step up.  I have no idea what effect that had, but we had one of our great all-time finishes.  We scored two in the waning minutes to get ourselves into the playoffs.  Meg got her first goal for the club and then Adrian did something special to win the game.   I remember Adrian taking a ball and just going all the way to goal with it.  Their defense faced so much pressure in the second half, they finally cracked.  Adrian scored a great 90th minute goal.  Read about it here: http://golerosteam.blogspot.com/2009/06/adrian-propels-team-into-playoffs-with.html.  

In the fall of 2009, just a few months later, we had a similar situation where we earned a 4-4 result that was also come-from-behind.  I recall one of the Gang Green players congratulating us because we never gave up and they just couldn't find a way to beat us.  That was saying a lot because they won the division that season and went up to First Division.  They were there for a while, but took our place in Second Division when we moved down recently.  Now they fell again to Third Division - probably because of attendance. 

We may see them in the playoffs.  Let's be ready.

For Gema

The one and only Silver Fox

She was born in Havana.  She had an amazing son when she moved to Miami to start a new life.  Her name is Gema Ginoris Maceo.

I know she is proud of her son, Carlos, a guy who puts his heart into everything, especially football.  Today, Carlos scored the winning goal to end our two-game slump and book our ticket to the playoffs.  That one was for mom on this Mother's Day.

Carlos exemplified our team approach today.  We were pretty good all game, although our offensive struggles followed us well into the second half.  Nevertheless, a goal down, we kept pressing and got some goals that had been really eluding us.  

The first was the result of sustained pressure - we finally got a break after several games.  The second goal was a piece of magic by Jon.  While I approached the area unchallenged, my options were diminished.  Jon made a fantastic slashing run.  I found his feet in a small piece of real estate.  His first touch on the run was amazing.  He made a move and bent it around the keeper to the far post.  That was a piece of skill alright.  Carlos' goal - he was well positioned for a rebound and took his shot nicely across the goal - felt like insurance when it happened.  But when we surrendered one more with about 12 to play, it turned out to be crucial.  Carlos played end to end today.  [Nate added this explanation: I took the ball to the left corner, cut back and meant to cross into the box - I screwed up big time and crossed all the way to the other side of the field. Lindsey was there, crossed to Carlos who was on sides despite the outcry from Gang Green and Carlos did put his shot in off the post from six yards out. Similar to the first goal, we scored the last goal because people attacked at the right time and were persistent. ].

So, with good play by everyone and a nice introductory performance by Lindsey, we finally earned a win.

The previous two weeks were disappointing.  Our match versus DC Thunder was a killer (4-1 loss).  George saw red for allegedly denying a goal scoring opportunity (he made a great and clean play!) and our defense was completely broken down.  DC Thunder's goals were generally unmarked "tap ins."  And we couldn't put much on the board to counteract those issues - you can't expect to blank DC Thunder.  We've never done it.  Even though we had the right formations and made the right tactical moves, we couldn't make an impact.  There were two small positives.  Cheryl assumed a huge responsibility as central midfield and shined brightly.  She was the only player with an answer to Roland.  And Suzie was back from injury, looking pretty good.  That's a big deal.

Our match versus DC Divided was much better.  We had about 5 heart attack moments in the first half when last ditch saves were necessary after repeated jailbreaks, but we escaped with only 2 goals against at the half.  Nap led the team to make a critical tactical adjustment by stacking our midfield and taking their #10 out of the match.  We didn't give up any real opportunities after that.  Nap and Elyse were field marshalls who returned the better possessions and opportunities to us - Nap plays slightly deeper than Elyse.  It's a 1-2 punch and fun to watch.  It must harken back to the college days.  Anyway, Adrian had subbed for George in goal and kept us in it with some killer saves off his line, but with 20 to go and nothing on our score sheet, we needed his possession.  We brought him out of goal and he made an immediate impact in the field.  He forced a keeper error and scored.  It wasn't enough in the end as we couldn't find that last pass.  DC Divided is the presumed winner of the division at this point, and that win will have a lot to do with it. 

This coming weekend is going to be interesting.  I think the pressure is off us. We have 15 points already and we're going to the playoffs.  First place isn't likely and won't be in our hands.  I will look at scenarios a bit later.  I can imagine we will likely take 2nd with a win.  That would be good enough for a bye.

We looked great today everyone, let's enjoy the week and get ready to finish out the regular season.

This post has been updated since publication.

Notes:

3-2 win versus Gang Green on 5/13/12 at Ridge.  Goals by Jon? (Bucky), Jon (Peter), Carlos (rebound).  GK: George (2 GA - a new stat, I may try it - George's GA figures are pretty impressive this season).

2-1 loss to DC Divided at 5/6/12 at Galludet U.  Goal by Adrian (NK).  GK: Adrian (2 GA), Peter (0 GA).

4-1 loss to DC Thunder at 4/29/12 at Galludet U.  Goal by Chris N. (NK).  GK: George (1 GA), Peter (1 GA - a PK), and Adrian (2 GA).  Discipline: George (Red, 60', denying goal scoring opportunity), Nate (yellow, unsporting conduct), Mike (yellow, unsporting conduct).