FC77 Rangers 1:2 Salem Kickers

FC77 RANGERS 1 - 2 SALEM KICKERS

GPSD O-30 Third Rose City

Division Championship

(Ingersoll 65')

"OK, guys, I don't have any more practices at PSU. I don't have any more motivational YouTube clips or awesome quotes from Bob ("I didn't join this team to play in a championship. I joined this team to win a championship!") All I got is you guys and even though it is colder than a witch's tit out here right now, there is no place else I would rather be than here on this field playing soccer with you guys. Something something overuse of the word 'awesome'. Something something gratuitous profanity. Everybody in this entire arena knows that the Kickers are in the wrong division. Let's make their last match in this division one they would rather forget. Rangers on three. One! Two! Three! RANGERS!!"

--Manager Sean Ingersoll's pre-match team talk. Mostly.

The final match for the Fall 2009 O-30 Third Rose City division was truly the epic clash befitting the occasion. FC77 Rangers and the Salem Kickers saved the most exciting, most physical, most out and out awesome 90 minutes for last and although the final score line didn't favor 'Gers, everything was left on the pitch and every single guy in a yellow jersey was able to walk away with their head held high. We may not have won, but we sure as hell did good.

Starting XI:

Silverman, goalkeeper

Pullen - Bauman - Calkins, fullbacks

Snyder, holding midfielder

Burden - Radigan - Muralt - Ingersoll, midfielders

Switzer - Bennouri, strikers

Reserves: Fahrbach, Gaffney, King, McConnachie, Seaton, Vogel (injured)

With a crowd of approximately 40 gathered in the arctic conditions at PCC Rock Creek Field #1--temperatures and a howling gale put the wind chill factor down around 10-15 degrees--Yellow and Black met Blue for the third time this season. Having practiced the previous two Sundays at PSU's turf Community Recreation Field, 'Gers hoped to avoid the mistakes of last fall when the unfamiliar playing surface wreaked havoc on our game and cost us early goals. Motivated to get underway and thus stave off frostbite and hypothermia, Rangers went all out from the opening whistle. Both sides traded possession early on, with the Kickers often looking to pass through their middle and 'Gers going to the wings. Bennouri found some early success down the left touchline and his dribbling would prove to be a thorn in the Kicker's side all afternoon. Bauman and Snyder kept the back line well-organized and working together, parrying the occasional Kicker thrust and directing Pullen and Calkins to intercept outside passes and dribbles that ventured too far forward. Radigan was called for a pair of early fouls as he reinforced his dominance on the Salem center but stayed out of the referee's book. Things started to look promising when Muralt's dish to Ingersoll allowed him to break down the right side. A fortuitous bounce off Kicker center back Greg Keyte allowed the skipper to spin free and surge forward, but his final touch back to the middle for Bennouri and/or Switzer was off and was only rewarded with a corner kick, not a shot on goal.

Then, against the run of play, a fluke: A Kicker move back to the inside from the wing gets their forward open for just a moment and his shot from outside the box jerks wildly in the frigid wind and just beats Silverman under the crossbar. It was either brilliant or lucky and given the visible wind dynamics as it arched over the top, I'm inclined to say lucky. Down 0-1 after fifteen minutes, 'Gers collected themselves and went back to work, calm and nonplussed. Burden, Radigan and Switzer had some good interplay on the left and sent Bennouri behind the defense on another mazy dribble. Juking his marker, he sprinted to the end line and sent a beautiful low pass across the face of the goal. Ingersoll similarly got free of his man and stretched forward to slot it home...but his leading foot tripped on the turf and what should have been an easy tap-in went horribly awry and the ball flashed wide of the goal. The bench "oohhhed!" in disappointment and Ingersoll used angry, terrible words to himself as he sprawled out flat in the goal mouth.

Chances continued to come FC77's way and keep hope alive. King got free on another Route One run and also found the turf not to be his friend. Radigan and McConnachie both got pops at goal but were stymied by the keeper, the wind, or perhaps a little of both. The cold started to be a factor, too, with Pullen and Seaton subbing out because of tight hamstrings. Gaffney and Fahrbach both proved to be able substitutes and 'Gers continued to hold their shape until...

...then, again against the run of play, a goal that was not a fluke: Salem found a delay left wing runner streaking clear far side and the service to him was divine. He hit the ball first time, on the volley I think, and put in a second goal around the 30th minute. It was a well-taken shot and not one to be begrudged, so it was with an hour to go that Rangers were down 0-2.

That was, however, the last goal they would score this season.

Silverman made two (maybe three) stops to finish the half and was reasonably unbothered, save one shot that hit the side netting. The centers all adopted an unspoken of "bodying up" on the Kicker middies and disrupting their distribution. Salem complained about the physical play, but the cards stayed in the pocket and allowed 'Gers to continue to work the outsides. FC77 flashed another shot just left of the uprights and Ingersoll's cutback outside their box earned him a blast that would have been good in rugby, but high, wide and handsome in this type of footy.

With the half-time whistle, the team came off determined and unbroken. "We are still in this game!" Bauman yelled as the team huddled together to fend off hypothermia. Rangers would get the wind at our backs for the second half. There was no sense of defeat, no hopelessness in the gazes of the eighteen guys standing around the bench. Just 45 more minutes to represent, as the kids like to say.

Represent we did.

Muralt and Radigan went back to work breaking up the plays in the middle, either by intercepting the passes or by hacking down the player. Bennouri went back to work dribbling down the east wing. One such run beat at least three Kickers en route to the far touchline, and his wormer-burner cross through the penalty spot was just beyond both Muralt and Radigan's runs into the box; literally, if either of those guys had been an inch taller, they would have netted--it was that close. [Note: One Salem supporter was so impressed by Bennouri's run he came down to our side to compliment the bench on the play. Umm...thank you?] The Kicker keeper found the wind-assisted shots to be more frequent but he was still equal to the task. A quick counter looked threatening for FC77 until Bauman picked the striker's pocket and turned the play around, much to his opposite number's chagrin. Play moved end to end for much of the first fifteen minutes of the half until 'Gers finally got the little bit of luck they needed.

Ingersoll subbed on for Burden around the 60th minute and not five minutes later, got a beautiful ball sent out toward the right corner by Radigan. The skipper raced past the defender and struck the ball first time, approximately 20-25 yards from the goal mouth, maybe ten yards from the corner flag. In the interest of full disclosure, it was a cross. It was always supposed to be a cross. I saw two yellow shirts plugging the middle and I thought if I could get it to drop in the mixer, maybe we would get a lucky bounce and a shot. The wind, however, had other ideas and drifted the arching blast closer and closer toward the net. The keeper dropped back and lunged to deflect it, but it careened into the upper far corner and splashed into the net. The Ranger bench, led by Vogel and supporter Gary Foubister, all erupted into mad cheers. Ingersoll, not one to hold back, also exploded into his typical quasi-hysterical, semi-intelligible vocalizations. "YEAAAAHAHHAHAHAAHAH!!!!" As the team turned to walk back to the center circle, the manager only had one thought in mind: We need another goal and we need to get it now. "GET THE F**KING BALL!! GET THE F**KING BALL!!" he roared, much to the chagrin of every parent with a child under fifteen in a two mile radius.

The ball was duly collected and the rekick taken fairly quickly. 'Gers literally threw everything but the kitchen sink at the Kickers in hopes of an equalizer and produced 25 of the most exciting soccer minutes this year. The midfield was up and back. The strikers went balls to the wall toward their goal every time the ball went long. The defenders hacked and slashed their way at every foray in our half of the field. Burden, Ingersoll, Switzer, McConnachie, King, Radigan, and Bennouri all took shots at the goal. 'Gers won multiple corner kicks and fed about a dozen crosses back into the goal mouth. When the Kickers surged forward to counterattack, Gaffney, Calkins, Bauman, and Snyder all threw themselves at the ball. One Kicker strike blasted off the woodwork. A second foray saw Salem get their striker free...only to be stuffed by Silverman, who flew off his line in anticipation. After the impact, however, the ball ricocheted off the crashing bodies and continue to bounce wildly towards our open goal. With the Salem bench screaming "Ohhhh!" in hopes of a third score, Bauman frantically chased the errant ball down and slide-cleared it away just a foot or so from the goal line...not a fun thing on turf in fifteen degree weather.

The second goal was just not to be, however. All the corners and passing yielded chances, but not the clear-cut look at goal we craved. A bouncing shot in the 89th that caused the Salem keeper to lunge low to his left just wouldn't find the net. A corner in the 90th went short and got punted down field. With Ingersoll asking the referee every three minutes how much time was left and Salem in "kick it away defensive mode", it was with frostbitten hearts that the final whistle brought the match to a close.

We may not have gotten our trophy back--yet--but we certainly regained our pride and put up the toughest fight Salem saw all autumn. Considering the only time the Kickers won by less than three goals this fall was when a squad forfeited against them, I view our 1-2 defeat as a tribute to our teamwork, heart, hustle and--yes, say it with me--all around awesomeness. We played great football. Against any other team in our division, that effort would have yielded a massive drubbing. (Remember that when we play No Subs in the spring, boys.) We have a fantastic team. He have great players at every position and a bunch of unsung heroes who play wherever they are asked, whenever they are asked. When I said at the start of the match "...there is no place else I would rather be than here on this field playing soccer with you guys..." I wasn't just talking about a match. I was talking about all of them. You guys are awesome and thanks for paying your fees, stepping up to help if I ask, and generally not being a dick. I try to make Sundays on the pitch kind of fun and I believe we are doing a pretty good job.

Enough sappy crap. We have one team function left. We must party. I'll email you all after the first of the new year, but keep Saturday, January 16th open.

Have a great holiday season and a Happy New Year, Rangers!

Match notes...Andre DeBar and Bullie Sibanda were unavailable to play because of injury...Kendall Ingersoll was the Junior Ranger for the afternoon...Ingersoll lost the coin toss, preserving his streak of five consecutive coin toss losses when he is asked to "call it in the air"...Junior Rangers Ethan and Rory Snyder brought a Rangers banner and were rewarded with delicious holiday cookies...Photos by Becki Ingersoll...Silverman provided a fun new counterpart to Vogel's famous water jug; let's just say that "every king deserves a crown" and leave it at that...