FC77 Rangers 1:1 Blitz

FC77 Rangers 1 - 1 Blitz

(Muralt 60')

What kind of weird alternate parallel universe exists where the shortest guy on the squad plays goalkeeper, Bauman gets multiple shots at the opposition's goal, and Blitz shows up with eleven players AND substitutes? Is it the temporal/trans-dimensional forerunner of the counterpart universe depicted so memorably in the Star Trek, season 2, episode 12 "Mirror, Mirror" where Kirk gets inadvertently beamed onto the ISS Enterprise and Spock has an evil goatee? See exhibit "A" - Evil Spock, below.

Exhibit "A" - Evil Spock

Though one could reasonably argue that it was more than a coincidence that had Rangers first non-noon kick-off on the hottest day of the year, one could not argue that the second half fight, moxie, spirit, and grit on display was nothing but straight up Old School Rangers football. If Match Day Eight in the GPSD O-30 Third Rose City did happen in an alternate universe, we should all take heart that our parallel universe selves can all kick as much ass in that universe as we do in this one. And we do it without evil goatees. Mostly.

Starting XI:

Snyder, evil goalkeeper

Seaton - Bauman - Pullen, evil fullbacks

Gaffney, evil holding midfielder

Ingersoll - Radigan - Muralt - Burden, evil midfielders

McConnachie - King, evil forwards

Evil supporter: Calkins

Yes, Evil FC77 Rangers fielded a 3-1-4-2, which is something distinctly different from regular FC77 Rangers, but such are the foibles of quantum physics. With Calkins unable to suit up due to administrative difficulties, Evil Jim Snyder graciously took the keeper's gloves for the first 45 minutes. A full strength Blitz kreiged forward in search of the victory that has so long eluded them and put up a spirited struggle in the wilting temperatures. The Evil Black and Yellow started a little slowly and, while getting a few forays into the opposition's side, often found ourselves battling for possession in the midfield and struggling to get numbers forward to support the attacks. Evils Seaton, Bauman and Pullen clipped several attacks or held up play long enough for Evil Gaffney and the center middies to drop back and clog the center. We had a few strikes at goal and asked a few evil questions on corners, but the Blitz keeper was up the task and reset play with thundering punts that dropped somewhere beyond the center circle. Snyder smacked down two notable shots and kept his house clean and Bauman found himself deep in Blitz space on at least two occasions, earning a pop or two at the goal.

It should be noted that in this parallel universe, the earth is apparently closer to the sun, like Cestus III in Star Trek "Arena"--you know, the episode where Kirk fights the Gorn on the desert planet. Acknowledging this, referee Peter permitted water breaks mid-way through the halves to keep both sides hydrated and, well, not dead. Blitz took full advantage of this break and came back for the final 20 of the first half with a surge of activity that resulted in their only score of the match. Catching the midfielders high on a counter, four Blitzers ran at our outnumbered defenders and went up around the half-hour mark. Evil Rangers held tough for the remainder of the half and took refuge under the shade of the touchline trees.

Having served admirably in goal, it was only fair to get Snyder's fresh legs back onto the pitch, so 5'-6 7/8" tall Ingersoll man(agered) up and donned the sexy purple tunic and gloves. Having last played keeper in 19...er, well, actually never...this was a bold tactical move and one that only a truly evil universe skipper would make. I can't comment as to what the rest of the team thought when they saw him put on the keeper's shirt, so feel free to leave a comment on this post yourself. You can do that, you know. Just be sure to use the words "awesome" and/or "evil". After slowly walking out to the goal posts and having to leap pretty high to ensure he could actually touch the crossbar, Evil Sean was soon joined by his backs and match official Peter blew the second half to a start...

...unleashing Old School FC77 Rangers. Proving that awesomeness cannot be constrained by the mere boundaries of space and time, the evil Yellow and Black went to work with renewed vigor and, from my lonely vantage point in the back, seemed to be tasked with only one goal: Blitz orthopedic surgery. Muralt, Radigan and King operated as blunt instruments, crashing shoulders and bludgeoning midfielders. Snyder, by contrast, appeared to be more of a scapel--his seventy-fifth minute slide on the Blitz striker was so surgical, so precise, that even the opposition was forced to conceed, "Um, that was a good tackle." Pullen and Seaton would rush in, hit the ball away, and dart out. Gaffney was a combination of all of the above and Bauman, well, let's just say evil Bauman in this dimension is exactly the same as evil Bauman in every dimension. He wiped out a lot of people. Or maybe it was that same silver haired guy with the glasses over and over. One tackle late in the match inside the box left the striker inert just long enough to make me think maybe he was unconscious...but then he twitched a little...then moved his leg...and then he staggered back to his feet. It was like watching Kirk and Spock fight to the death in "Amok Time", only without the duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-DUH-DUH-DUH-duh-duh-duh! music. See Exhibit "B" - Bauman v. Old Guy, below.

Exhibit "B" - Bauman v. Old Guy

All of this left Burden free to pillage the Blitz right side and deliver his typical tasty crosses and gave McConnachie room on the left to get several good runs at the keeper. The forwards starting getting more shots and finally, on the hour mark, Radigan appeared to give somebody a Vulan nerve pinch and keep the wildly bouncing ball in play long enough for Muralt to deliver a volley of photon torpedoes into the Berserker planet killer, er... goal mouth. Their keeper went down but was too late on the take. 1 - 1 with thirty minutes to play.

Meanwhile, back on Deep Space Nine, Sean realized that with the score tied, if he screwed up and let in a howler, he would really suck...like pretty much every episode of "Star Trek: Voyager". Perhaps motivated to not let the ball come anywhere near their rookie keeper, evil Rangers patrolled our half like the freakin' Neutral Zone and continued their search and destroy missions with a vengeance. Evil Sean's first touch of the ball--maybe seven minutes into the half when their striker's first touch was too hard and the keeper was able to rush forward and sweep it up--was greeted with team-wide (heartfelt/sardonic) cheers. His second touch was a brilliant reflex save with his right foot to stop an onrushing strike on frame. His third touch was deflection to the outside of the post and his last four were comfortable catches to the torso...although the last shot at minute 87 was a bit nervy. That was it. His awesome bridge crew repelled every other boarder and pretty much wiped out the forwards like the Borg v. the Federation at Wolf 359 (Star Trek: The Next Generation, "The Best of Both Worlds, Part 1"...arguably the greatest TNG episode of all time.) Frustrated that they could not breach our shields, Blitz got all pissy and Referee Peter showed no hesitation to brandish the yellow. Evil Seaton gets additional props because he played the last ten minutes on cramped legs and Evil Bauman gets another mention for talking me through my inaugural goalkeeping experience and not letting me overthink it too much.

Then it was over. Three tweets from the whistle and the universe collapsed back onto itself, leaving Rangers with a 3-3-2 record, some nice farmer tans, and a potential Weekend Warrior blog post in the next week. Once again proving your collective awesomeness, I thank you for your incredible performance and bid you to live long and prosper.

By the way, some people think that Trek is for dorks. Some people think that Trek is a silly show with forgettable characters. Let me ask you this: If Trek is such a forgettable show, would it feature a character like this (see "Exhibit C - T'Pol [Jolene Blalock]") who looks like this? See "Exhibit D - Jolene Blalock [T'Pol]".

Exhibit "C" - T'Pol [Jolene Blalock]

Exhibit "D" - Jolene Blalock [T'pol]

I think not. Google her. It gets way better.

Match notes...Attendance was estimated at 12, with Blitz bringing a supporter's corps of 11...Evil Calkins was the Not-So Junior Ranger for the match...Of all the people at the MES on Sunday, the only four shorter than Keeper Sean were the children and babies on the sidelines...Team picture next Sunday before the match...

Next Match:

FC77 Rangers v. Green Dragons

Sunday, 7 June, 2:00 p.m. KO

Montessori Earth School

FC77 Rangers 8:1 Blitz

FC77 Rangers 8 - 1 Blitz

(Radigan 15', 50'; Foubister 25'; Muralt 55', 74'; King 60', 70'; McConnachie 82')

Before we proceed, allow me to introduce this match summary with a little theme song action. Feel free to sing along to the tune of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer":

You know Wolfhounds and No Subs

And Bridgetown and Azzuri,

Code Blue and Chaos

And Petro (now Blitzen)

But do you recall

The Greatest Men's Over-30 Third Division Football Club

In the Greater Portland, Oregon area of all?

FC77 Rangers

Broke their latest opposition's nose

And if you were there to see it

You would even say it was really gross.

All of the other men's teams

Used to laugh and call them names

They never let poor Rangers

Win any Division Three games.

Then one sunny afternoon

The referee was forced to say,

"Rangers with this score so trite,

Would you like me to call this game tonight?"

But how the home side declined,

As they score with impunity

"FC77 Rangers...never call the game earlyyyy!"

Rangers turned the Montessori Earth School into a bloodbath--literally--on Match Day Three of the GPSD O-30 Third Division Rose City spring season. With blue skies, a lush green pitch (albeit with some hard to discern field markings), and a comfortable complement of fifteen suited up, Rangers continued to claw and bash their way up the division table against "new" team Blitz...until it was recognized that Blitz was just the Team Formally Known as Petro Kickers. With the memory of their last visit to the MES undoubtedly still fresh in their minds, Petro--er, Blitz--was undoubtedly eager to avenge their previous 8-0 short-sided defeat.

That didn't happen. At. All.

Starting XI:

DeBar, goalkeeper

Seaton - Calkins - Snyder - Pullen, fullbacks

Burden - Radigan - Muralt - Gaffney, midfielders

King - Foubister, forwards

Reserves: Ingersoll, Vogel, Fahrbach, McConnachie

The away side started the match with ten players but within the first ten minutes found themselves fielding a full side...until a vicious mid-air collision with Calkins (channeling his inner Bauman as the first half sweeper) broke the nose of Blitz's second striker during an aerial challenge and reduced their numbers back to ten. Play was halted for almost ten minutes as first aid was rendered and Vogel's legendary water jug (a Rangers icon) was brought out to hose down the blood pooling at the top of the Division Street box. When play resumed, Rangers smelled blood--again, literally--and began an eighty minute assault on the Blitz goal mouth. Radigan came close immediately after the resumption of play with a monster header that was brilliantly saved by the Blitz netminder, but then got his name on the score sheet on fifteen minutes with a boot from about twelve yards out. (Sorry, Aaron. You deserve a better narrative than that, but there were so many goals I lost track of them...so many goals.)

Foubister doubled the lead on 25 minutes when he performed a brilliant stop-drop-and-roll maneuver with the ball from Burden's feed. Some would say that he stumbled on the ball when he tried to cut back on the defender, but I believe he will tell his grandchildren that the move was intentional to throw off his marker, who was flatfooted as the Scot wheeled back up and blasted a right footer past the keeper...thus saving him from eternal shame and ribbing for the rest of the afternoon. DeBar made a few saves when Blitz's Silver Fox (you know who I mean) got a sniff of goal and popped a shot from mid-range, but the keeper was comfortable for the first 45 minutes and gladly exchanged his gloves for a yellow field kit for the second half while Calkins minded the sticks.

2-0 is a good lead, some would say a comfortable lead. Reluctant to fall prey to the dreaded first fifteen minutes of the second half, 'Gers immediately went on the offensive and did their best impersonation of a Panzer blitzkreig through the Low Countries. (Get it? Blitzkrieg? Just checking.) The highlights included:

50' - Radigan receives a right side pass from McConnachie deep inside the opposition's box and absolutely crushes the shot at almost point blank range.

55' - Ingersoll releases McConnachie down the near side. McConnachie turns and fires a cross back to Muralt, who curls it inside the post.

58' - King opens his spring account with a thunder run.

68' - King gets a second after going one on one with the Blitz right back, shoulder checking him so hard everybody assumed the play would be whistled dead, marveling that it wasn't, and then cheering when King rips a kill shot inside the six to the near post. So angry, Ron. So angry. We likey.

74' - All that was missing thus far was a header goal, so Burden obliges with a lovely cross from the left, finding Muralt low in the box. The center midfield stalwart flicks the ball backwards with a fading header. Nothing but net.

80' - McConnachie bags the last home side goal with ten minutes from Radigan's assist.

Blitz got on the board and salvaged some pride with an 88th minute consolation goal. In all fairness, our keeper was distracted by the group of Latino children who were wanting to play with him while he stood alone and unbothered for extremely long periods of the second half. "Hola, el Sr. Calkins. ¿Jugará al fútbol usted conmigo"? Calkins was unbothered due to the relentless and dogged play of the fullbacks and holding midfielders--Seaton, DeBar, Pullen, Snyder, Vogel and Gaffney--who jousted (physically and verbally) with the Blitz attacks and kept most shots to distance. And of course, it wouldn't be a Rangers match without Seanny going wide with his shots, which he did. Twice. Some day I'm actually going to score and go absolutely ape-s**t crazy.

All in all, it was one of our finest performances ever. The passing was clinical and controlled. The hustle up and back was relentless, and that was probably the highest goal-to-shot ratio we've ever had. A fine match for a fine April afternoon.

Match notes...Attendance was estimated at upwards of 20, a season-high...the team enjoyed post-match treats courtesy of Becki and Kendall Ingersoll...Rangers now hold a career 24-6 goal advantage over Petro Kickers/Blitz...Ron Burden bravely saved the life of a Junior Ranger spectator by breaking his fall with his body when the tree limb the young supporter was perched in gave way...Did anyone notice my prophetic comment in the last match summary about an 8-1 score? Did you?

Next match:

FC77 Rangers v. Green Dragons

Sunday, 26 April - 12:00 noon KO

Montessori Earth School

Congratulations, 'Gers. You've Earned This.

As I await independent confirmation of the scoring details following today's 8-1 Blitzkreig (get it?  Get it?) in order to write the official match summary, please allow me to reward your efforts with additional photos of "our" very own Ranger Cheerleader, Marlina.  As a San Diego Chargers cheerleader, Marlina knows a thing or two about blitzes, broken noses, and playing in the sun. Enjoy.

Your manager hears your poll-related requests and wants to help out whenever possible. Match summary to follow.

Cheers.

FC77 Rangers 8, Petro Kickers 0

Scorers:  (McConnachie 10', 55'; Burden 20'; Radigan 30', 60', 75'; Muralt 65', 70')

Rangers closed out the regular season of GPSD Over-30 Third Division Rose City league play with a total annihilation of third place club Petro Kickers.  In all fairness, Petro was only able to field a team of seven, the minimum per league regulations for a match to be played and counted and full credit to them for not opting to forfeit the match and just scrimmage. However, it would have been nice for them to bring nets and corner flags and perhaps good-naturedly ribbing us with the comment "well, we tied you with nine last time so we are going to go for the win with seven players this match!" is not the tact you want to take when facing a squad with four more players.  Regardless, when the match was over, 'Gers claimed their first clean sheet of the season, scored their highest single match goal tally, finished league play squarely in first place and were well motivated for the Division Championship in three weeks.

Andre DeBar returned to take his place in the Ranger line-up, originally slotted for the goalkeeper's position, but switching with Dan Calkins prior to kick-off for a place on the back line.  Besides Calkins as keeper and DeBar as sweeper, Jim Seaton, Jim Snyder and Mark Vogel filled out the rest of the defensive line; Sean-Scott Ingersoll, Aaron Radigan, Matt Muralt, and Ron Burden started as midfielders; and Gary Foubister and James McConnachie paired up front as the strikers.  Ron King and Mike Pullen were the reserves for the afternoon with Pullen taking himself off the pitch midway through the first half to protect a niggling indoor soccer injury from worsening.  The referee blew play to start approximately ten minutes after noon and Petro--again, full credit--pulled off a bold two man run down the center that caught us a little off-guard and required some defensive scrambling to nullify and redirect up field.

Then the punishment began.

Some patient build-up and possession play led McConnachie to open the scoring about ten minutes into the match with a delightful shot inside the post that rippled the net--oops!  My bad!  No nets!--rippled the implied space where a net would have been after patient build up play along the right side with James finishing the move up the middle.  Burden, having found his scoring mojo the last few weeks, dropped a sublime lob under the crossbar from near the top of the box to double up the score line.  Radigan killed off a lovely run through the center after receiving a tidy pass to feet and put it past the goalie after shrugging off his marker and isolating the stickminder at point blank range.  Calkins made one of this three blocks late in the half by deflecting a well-struck knuckle ball with a reflex save and the midfield and fullbacks worked well to distribute the ball out and down the flanks, opening Petro up and then pushing crosses or quick dribbles back toward their goal.

After some crazy talk about shortening the second half to twenty minutes, McConnachie took a well-placed cross from Vogel and "thighed" it inside the far post on the Powell Street End. Muralt and Radigan then blasted away on the exhausted defense and scored the final four goals of the match.  Sorry, guys, you deserve a more complete accounting of your scoring exploits, but they all just kind of ran together in my head.  I remember Radigan had a goal from about eight yards out and I know Muralt scored from my cross that hit King's feet and spilled out to the center midfielder for the finish.  Beyond that, it was just pass-pass-shoot-score about every five minutes.  Hell, I had to make up goal times in the scorer's summary because I literally couldn't remember how they went.  [Editor's Note:  Feel free to leave a comment at the end of the summary and give yourself props!]  At some point Muralt had another shot dribble suspiciously close to completely over the line but their keeper swore up and down he stopped it and Foubister was also unlucky to not get a goal after a slick diagonal pass skittered just past his run.  Ingersoll had approximately 53 shots on, around and nowhere near goal--including a header--but ultimately realized he is really about distribution.  Thanks to Burden and the other midfielders who still passed me the ball, anyway.  Calkins made two more nice saves, including one from Petro's elusive "8th man" who was an FC77 Newcastle player arriving early for his match.  The defensive kept things tidy in the back with good communication and set play marking; Snyder and DeBar worked well together in the middle and Seaton and Vogel chased down the occasional foray into our half.

That's it.  We finished the regular season 8-0-2, first in the division, likely with the most goals scored and the fewest conceded, pending today's result from the Chaos-Azzurri match. Here's the thing, though...that will mean absolutely nothing if we don't finish the job and play hard, strong, and aggressively against Controlled Chaos in three weeks.  Pardon my language, but the Division Championship will be an absolute motherfucker of a dogfight against a team that believes they can beat us.  They truly think that their 6-1 loss to us on the opening match of the season was a fluke because they were missing some players and they would like nothing more than to leave Delta Strasser Field with the trophy.  Our trophy. Frankly, I don't want them to have our trophy.  I don't think you want them to have our trophy, either...so I need you to be there on Saturday, December 6th at 4:00 p.m.  I need you to clear your schedule.  If you have transportation issues, you need to contact me and I will get you there if I have to drive to your house and get you myself.  If you have child care issues, you need to bring the wee ones to the match or get a babysitter.  If you have an office Christmas party starting 6:00 p.m. that same night over by Washington Square, you need to tell your boss that there is a really good chance you will be very, very late, stinking of sweat, and perhaps with little bits of rubber field embedded in your legs.  (Oh, wait, that's me.  Never mind.)  I don't ask a lot, but I need you to be there for the last match.  

Guys, we've earned this.  Let's stay focused, not get too cocky, play our game, and end this season as champions.  Last spring was one of the best soccer seasons I have ever had.  90 more minutes and we can do it one more time.  

GPSD O-30 Third Division Rose City Championship

Saturday, December 6th, 2008

Delta Strasser Field, Delta Park, Portland

4:00 p.m.  KO 

FC77 Rangers v. Controlled Chaos

FC77 Rangers 2, Petro Kickers 2

Scorer:  Muralt (45'+1, 47')

Matt Muralt's brace on either side of the half-time whistle salvaged a draw for 'Gers, who outshot the visitors by an approximately 15:1 ratio but were unlucky to find the third goal to claim maximum points.  Fair temperatures, a good crowd of supporters (both home and visitors), an appearance by the GPSD league president, and a rousing comeback all made for a fine October afternoon on Match Day Five, but the reigning Rose City champions were still a bit disappointed to settle for the draw.

The Yellow and Black were up to only eleven players when the referee whistled play to start for the 4:00 kick-off, but were soon joined by Mike Pullen within the first fifteen minutes.  Only eleven players meant everybody started and injuries and non-attendees meant that manager Sean had to mix up his back line to compensate.  With Brett Baumgarte nursing an injured hand and unable to catch, Dan Calkins once again graciously accepted the invitation to play keeper.  Fronting him was a makeshift line consisting of Ingersoll, Snyder, Baumgarte, and Vogel.  The midfielders included Foubister, Muralt, Radigan and Burden.  McConnachie and King were the familiar tandem in the forward positions.

Early probes into the Kickers defense yielded a promising start, with crosses and shots peppering the keeper from all parts of the pitch.  Both McConnachie and King received good service in the middle and their shots went just high or wide, sometimes even clattering off the woodwork.  Play was consistently in the away sides end and so it was quite against the run of play that Petro capitalized on their first real strike at goal with a breakaway to the far post.  Events turned even more grim when the away side doubled their lead around the thirty-fifth minute, again on a bold solo effort that was more hero run than coordinated play.  'Gers refused to mope, however, and deep into added time for the first half, Muralt received a short corner, worked himself well into the box, and beat the keeper near side with a spirited strike to the inside left upright.  As this score was about thirty yards closer to the net than most of Muralt's other goals, the home side were glad to go into the break only one down and with momentum on our side.

Muralt immediately followed up with a more characteristic blast to start the second period, finding some open space in the middle of the field and launching a rainmaker from (conservatively) thirty-five yards out.  The keeper tracked it all the way in but was powerless to stop the expertly placed finish in the upper right corner.  Tied at a deuce a piece, 'Gers smelled blood in the water and went hunting in packs to find the third.  Ingersoll, Burden, Radigan and King worked the left side with some good passing sequences.  Foubister, McConnachie, Vogel, and Baumgarte (moving up to a more offensive position for the second 45 minutes) tied together multiple passes and "give-and-go" series on the right.  Snyder, Pullen, and Muralt held court in the middle and allowed FC77 to take about 352 shots on the Petro goal.  I'm exaggerating a bit, but honestly, if I had that advanced video "shot tracker" technology like they do for the professional clubs that traces the position of every shot on a layout of the field, the resulting diagram would look something like a screenshot from an advanced level of the '80s video game "Tetris":  Dozens and dozens of straight lines splayed all around the outside with a disappointingly clear center.  With little to do in the second half, Calkins was only required to make one or two saves and the final whistle was greeted with a collective team "hmph!"

The second leg of fixtures starts next week with the return bout against Controlled Chaos, who will undoubtedly be eager to avenge their inaugural thrashing.  I--we--need everybody who is not injured to be there to play.  Twelve players allows for a lot of pitch time, which is great, but we need 14-15 guys to make sure we have fresh legs.  We have proved we can go face-to-face with everybody in our division.  We have seen what they can bring and frankly, it doesn't impress me.  A strong start out of the gate won't mean jack s**t if we falter in the home stretch and finish third (i.e. Arsenal.  Sorry, James, that's not a slam on you but it's true!)  I want to play in the division championship again and I want to win it again.  I want teams in this division to look at the schedule for next spring and think, "Man, am I glad Rangers got promoted 'cause I got sick and tired of them kicking my a*s every season!"  I want to get calls from other players asking if we have space on our roster because of our level of awesomeness.  I want league president Terry to say, "Sean, your club is too good for the 0-30 D3.  By the way, here are your new championship t-shirts."  I know you want it, too.  A year ago we were just happy to win a few matches and drink home brew.  Now we want to win everything and drink friggin' champagne from the division cup.  (OK, that isn't possible with the configuration of the trophy, but you know what I mean.)  To do that, we need to run the table from here through November and to do that, we need bodies to finish the job.  Our pitch is the best.  Our camaraderie is second to none.  And dammit, our wives are the hottest in the league!  Are you with me?!  Can I get a "Hell, yeah!?"  

Next match:

FC77 Rangers v. Controlled Chaos

Saturday, 18 October, 2008

4:00 p.m. KO

Montessori Earth School

FC77 Rangers 6, Petro Kickers 3

(Scorers: Ntini 10', 60'; Radigan 20', 85'; Fahrbach 65'; McConnachie 75')

7 October, 2007

GOAL-A-PALOOZA, BABY!

The Rangers unleashed a barrage of shots against league newcomers Petro Kickers and were rewarded with six goals at the Montessori Earth School, highlighting a solid all-around performance that saw the yellow and black triumph with their highest offensive output (against a full-strength squad) in the last three years. Inspired by the manager's email call-to-arms after last week's low attendance, 'Gers responded with a full strength squad that included 17 uniformed players, a half-dozen family members/spectators, and of course, the PBRmy. New player Mike Porter joined the team for the afternoon to help shore up the back line and referee Joe Pardo promptly started play at 4:00 p.m.

Even from the kick-off, it was obviously going to be FC 77's day. Rangers held possession for the first two or three minutes solid and kept play in the opponent's end. Malvern Ntini, returning from an early season hamstring injury that kept him out of the first four matches, got on the scoreline ten minutes in with a dazzling dribble through most all of the Petro back line, across the face of goal, and shot back against the keeper to the net. 1-0. Not to be outdone, Aaron Radigan produced a similarly impressive dribble of his own through the goal box and finished with a goal to the left side. He may say he was trying to cross it, but we all knew that had "score" written all over it. 2-0.

Up by a deuce at the half, Rangers were excited about their ball movement and control. Ample substitutes kept everybody's legs fresh and the pace lively. Petro found some momentum of their own early in the second half and scored approximately fifteen minutes into the half, but Ntini quickly answered back with a second strike to keep the lead at two...3-1. Rangers and Petro exchanged goals for the last half hour to keep the match interesting and taut: Petro found another shot ricochet off the inside of the woodwork to make it 3-2, but Thomas Fahrbach's tap in off Ntini's cross restored the two goal lead. Petro had another mid-range shot skitter off the crossbar to make it 4-3, but then the Rangers turned the screws and killed the game off. After the Petro keeper punched a shot off the line, Radigan took the deflection and crossed it back toward James McConnachie, who finished the series with a header to the back of the net...5-3. 'Gers finished the scoring summary when Radigan cleaned up a poor Petro clearance and shinned it back into the twine...6-3. The defense also shined throughout the match. David Hayden, playing the near post on a Petro corner, took two shots/deflections to the body before Steve Berg wrapped up the ball...and David never left his post! Mike Porter headed another curling corner off the line that would have been a goal. Mike Pullen, Brian Bauman, and Ron Burden all put in their typically solid efforts at the back line, and the midfield kept good possession and control throughout the afternoon. Referee Pardo issued a caution to Petro late in the match (a green card again...what is with the green card?) for a frustrated challenge on Ron Burden (I believe).

A sterling performance for the club. To paraphrase the timeless words of '80s uberrockers the Scorpions:

"Here I am...and I will rock you like a hurricane."

Kendall Ingersoll was the Junior Ranger for the match. Ranger fans are encouraged--nay, beseeched--to join us next week for the always epic battle against Tekvision Lagers Legends. Good seats always available. Any young fans waving a Rangers banner or sign will get a prize the following week! Seriously!

Sean Ingersoll