Yesterday we drove down to Santa Maria for our second to last CCU game of the season. They’re at the bottom of the table and we’re at the top, so it was shaping-up to be a confidence-boosting start to the weekend. Our initial goal of the game was Nate’s very first header goal. It was a beaut. Just a nice redirection off a perfectly placed cross from Eliot.
Only our Veo video cam can remember everything that happened after that. Nate scored four more goals and had the assist on our fifth. His only slip was missing the PK after a foul that took him down for longer than usual. We won 6-0. After the game I headed over to the head ref for the final match report and he says, “Man that #8. What a player. And quiet, too.” Nate left the field kind of grumpy… he wanted a double hat trick. Sheesh. We celebrated the win by heading straight to the Chick-fil-A for spicy sandwiches, hold the hateful belief system.
The real challenge was scheduled for today at our home field. Mustangs versus the Santa Barbara foul-mouthed, time-wasting, magic water carrying, elbow-throwing, switching cleats while on the field playing, fouling floppers. We managed to lose against them a few weeks ago during the most outlandish game I’ve ever watched. They theatrically claimed over 9 “injuries” while laying flat on their backs, running down the clock, having their coach pour magic water on their legs, and wasting over 10 minutes. We knew today’s game would be fierce.
We started out strong and Nate was fouled in the box early. Second PK of the weekend. What did we learn yesterday? Blast it hard and low. Check. We’re up 1-0. Then the floppers equalize. Nooo! It’s 1-1 at the half.
Second half we’re on our heels. But then there’s a great combo on the left side from Cruz to Nate to Cruz— he crosses it and bam, Colin scores. The crowd goes wild.
But it all comes crashing down again a bit later when they score a long rainbow shot from the left side into the back right side of the net. They get several corner kicks and we all experience multiple moments of heart failure and the loss of our fingernails. Spanner has the save of the season with a long left-handed dive and reach that deflects the ball at the last moment.
We’re tied 2-2 and running out of time. We’ve already won the league, but this game still matters. Nate gets a beautiful breakaway and jukes just a split-second too late as their goalie comes careening in for a solid save. Some things happen, time is running short, they foul Noah just outside the box. Nate’s up again for the free kick. He hears Ben tell him to get his shoulder over the ball and to blast it. His shot goes straight past the wall and directly into the back of the net. The crowd goes wild. Again.
Nate comes sprinting back in victory to a crowd of hugs. Tweet, tweet, tweee-eet. Mustangs win the season, and the day.
After the game Nate falls down flat on the ground, surrounded by all his teammates. He notices just in time before his coach tries to Gatorade him with water and only douses the back of his shirt.
So proud of this kid. Still almost a full year younger than the rest of his team and playing with both his head and his heart. Shut them up and shut them down.
They must have accidentally sprayed us with that magic water.