Section Finals

I would like to begin by apologizing for the delay in the publishing of this post, but my emotions were all over the place after one of the greatest nights of my life last night and I simply could not keep them in check. Enjoy.

Last night our Spartans took the field at Griffin Stadium against the Holy Angels Stars in the section 3A championship game, the match would decide who would go onto state. The Spartans had recently come off a morale boosting victory over St. Thomas in the semi finals and Holy Angels had dusted off the Washburn Millers 2-0.

Countless Spartan fans came out to cheer their boys regardless of the frigid temperatures. The game started off with a great level of intensity, with both teams searching for a goal straight away. The Stars came away with the better chances over the first ten minutes and began to set the tempo, with a lot of balls in the air that interrupted the flow of the Spartans attack and general play. Then just like against the Cadets on Saturday, the Spartans fell behind 1-0 on a goal from inside the six that the Spartan defense could do nothing about. Down 1-0, the boys got a little nervous and tried to rush things a little too much on the attack, they were not playing their game. Holy Angels continued their physical and aerial play as the Spartans tried to do everything they could to find an equalizer, but almost never were the Spartans able to get past the defensive line of the Stars. The half ended with the score still 1-0.

In the locker room at halftime, Interim Head Coach Max Lipset told his boys that they could beat this team but they needed to start playing their own style and not adapting to what the Stars wanted.

The boys took the words to heart and came out of the gates fast. Holy Angels seemed content to try to sit back and defend their lead rather than go for more glory, but the Spartan attack proved too much for them to handle. Led by the wingers, Ikey "the baby faced assassin" Forsgren and Josh "slim shady" Gray the Spartans began to tire the Stars defense out. Then they gained a free kick from right outside of the box around 15 minutes into the half. It was now or never for the Spartans to tie the game up and nobody understood that better than Sam "Bulldog" Forsgren who had the ball tapped to him by Captain Ryan Hobert, took a couple touches into the box and sent a sizzling ball off his left foot into the bottom corner. The boys had become men, they had come from behind once again. But the comeback was not complete.

The Spartans continued their domination of play throughout the next 15 minutes but the Stars also had a few chances off of speedy counter attacks, all of which were stopped by the phenomenal Ben "Beast" Braman. The last ten minutes proved to be incredibly intense as both sides battled evenly for a chance at the State Tournament. Slim Shady and Gabe "G-Unit" Brennaman each had their chances but failed to get them past the keeper. The half ended with the Spartans under heavy pressure from the Stars who hit the post and were cleared off the line various times by the Beast in the last minute of play.

Regulation time ended and there was still a score to be settled. Who would be crowned section champions? Based on the last minute of play it seemed like we were about to see an upset by the Stars, but the Spartans went in more confident than ever. Extra time would be Golden Goal, sudden death. That simple, you score and your through, you don't you lose.

The Spartans started the extra time in great fashion, only on the attack and not allowing the Stars to even think of touching the ball. About 50 seconds in, the Bulldog made a huge run down the middle, bursted through the Stars defense and then was fouled recklessly by a defender on the edge of the box. Forsgren lined up to take the kick but this time sent it over. The Spartans felt it coming though and continued to attack and then the moment of truth came when Slim Shady received a ball in the air on the right side of the box and struck it with incredible power. The ball made a wonderful parabola in the air, hit under the crossbar and then..........

It dropped, hit behind the line. And the SPARTANS WON SECTIONS!!!!!!!

Unbelievable. The Spartans showed the character yet again, this time when it mattered most. All the hard work put in finally payed off. The boys received their GOLD medals and preceded to run 1 by 1 through a tunnel made by the Spartan fans (a genius idea). The boys, now men, lifted the trophy and confirmed their spot in state for the second year in a row. The magical season lives to see another day. A big thanks to all of the fans who came out to support us, it means a lot.

A confession: I cried a little.