A few hours before the 16 May match against Symmetry NW, the signs were not looking favorable. The last time we had played them in the fall, Rangers had lost 0 - 6. Four regular players were scheduled to be gone, including starting goalkeeper Steve Berg, and as match time drew closer, many others indicated they were injured and unable to participate. Thirty minutes before kick-off, four of the first five players to show up all confessed to some sort of nagging injury that kept them from 100% fitness. However, more Rangers kept showing up and when Steve Aarnio made a dramatic last minute entrance and slapped on the goalie gloves, the Rangers took the field at Clackamas Community College with three substitutes to boot.
The match started briskly and play moved up and down the field regularly. Brian Bauman, playing striker, got his head on a couple of decent crosses and was unlucky not to find the net. The squad kept the ball down in the opponent's half of the field for long stretches of play and even when Symmetry scored around the twenty minute mark, the yellow and black didn't appear too disturbed. Ten minutes later Attila Szlovak took the ball in the far right corner, juked their fullback, and pulled the trigger on a cool near post strike to equalize.
Play continued back and forth for the opening fifteen minutes of the second half. Symmetry banged a cross back into the net on a volley that anybody would have been hard pressed to stop. Sean-Scott Ingersoll and Jim Snyder both took dangerous cracks at the upper right post for another goal, but were just a little high, wide and handsome. Around the seventieth minute, a 'Gers raiding party took the ball through the middle with a series of nice passes, banged out a couple of shots, and new player Ron Burden (having joined the Rangers for the first time ever) put a deft touch on a rebound to equalize at 2-2. Referee Osama Qutub showed Jay Abramowitz a caution late in the match, but the Rangers continued to scrap, scramble and scrape until the final whistle. A tie was a fair result and both sides left the pitch in good spirits.
Special FC77 thanks goes out to our Junior Ranger for the match, Stella Bauman (Hannah Montana rocks!) and to Steve Aarnio's unnamed baby-sitter, allowing him to come out and mind the sticks for us. By the way, did anybody actually do last week's delightful Word Jumble? Anybody? Anybody? I worked really hard on that thing!
Sean Ingersoll
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