It was a dark and stormy night.
Suddenly, a shot rang out!
Well, not so much as rang out, but more like skipped across the muddy field until it came to rest against the inside of the net. Just like that, the Rangers opened the Spring 2007 campaign with a goal and the lead en route to a 2-1 victory over Blue Monk.
Field conditions at Delta #7 were awful and the pitch was a muddy bog, but the Rangers came out hard and found a couple of early shots that signaled intent. Finally, somewhere around the twentieth minute, new player Aaron Radigan got enough of the ball to send it rolling through the muck and into the net for the first goal of the season. The goalkeeper struggled to pull it in, but the slow moving strike was just outside his grasp. It will haunt him for the rest of his days. Ron King doubled the tally a few minutes before half time with a thundering header that would have made anybody's Top Ten List.
Backed by a solid defensive line that kept most of Monk's shots to long distance efforts and goalkeeper Steve Berg's command of the box, Rangers kept their opponents scoreless for most of the match. Monk finally got a goal with ten minutes to play--and that made for an interesting "last play" corner kick that bumped around the penalty area before being cleared--but Rangers dominated the match and would have had a third goal from Attila Szlovak if the cross bar had been two inches taller. Everybody played hard and hustled, we had some decent passing series, and Mark Vogel's immortal water jug was back for another season, so all in all, it was a fine evening. Except for the weather, which sucked.
Thanks to our three fans who braved the elements and special thanks to Kendall Ingersoll and Toby Holstein, our inaugural Junior Rangers for the match. Sure, the weather made it necessary to wear rain coats over your fine matching jerseys, but it's the thought that counts.
Sean Ingersoll, 4/19/07
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