The ninth match of the 2007 spring campaign found FC77 on the artificial turf at Delta Strasser against NE Portland Chiropractic. Under pleasant evening skies and with a roster of fifteen (eventually), the Rangers noticed that the visitors had appeared to have taken their own advantage of the summer transfer window--at least two and perhaps more of their players were from Symmetry Northwest. Typically a struggling club, NE PDX played several through balls against the 'Gers back line and appeared more organized than their overall record suggested. Approximately fifteen minutes into the match, a fluke ricocheted shot plopped behind keeper Steve Berg and put the yellow and black down by one. Undaunted, the Rangers pressed on. Sean Ingersoll had a streaking left side run that resulted in a cross to Bullie Sibanda, who dummied the ball to Brian Bauman for a hard shot on NE PDX. Dan Holstein followed up with a beauty of a goal that appeared to come off a volley and found the back left corner of the net. Ten minutes later the visitors scored again, this one a legitimate goal, and at the break the Rangers were down 2-1.
Malvern Ntini, recently arrived at the field, started the second half as the center midfielder and immediately made an impact. After stealing the Chiropractor's kick-off, the Rangers passed the ball down the left side and connected with Ntini, who dribbled around the keeper to equalize after less than a minute's play. Dominating for long periods of the second half and outshooting our opponents by at least a 3 to 1 margin, it was only cruel fate that kept the winning goal from going in. Matt Muraut had a zinger from distance smack off the crossbar. Another bold dribbling effort by Ntini saw him go through the fullbacks and fire off a shot to the far post that, in apparent defiance on all the known laws of Newtonian physics, hit the inside of the woodwork and somehow spun out into the sprawling goalkeeper's gloves. In the final two minutes, the Rangers had a trio of threatening shots from inside the box and Chiropractic appeared resigned to wait it out until referee Bristol Schmitz's final whistle. Honestly, if the match had lasted another two minutes, we would have won...it was that close.
The club had another healthy turn-out in terms of spectators--our handful of fans included former Rangers manager Tim Hanson and his daughter. Kendall Ingersoll returned as Junior Ranger for the evening and promptly made friends with every other child in attendance. The tie brought our club record to 2-5-2, with fourteen goals scored--truly, our best showing in the last three years. Our season comes to an end in two weeks when we replay the English, who apparently lost for the first time last Wednesday. So...they are mortal after all, eh...?
Sean Ingersoll
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