Today Historic Lang Field hosted two section semifinal games. It was a beautiful day out, a little chilly but with the sun brightly shining. Both the Girls and the Boys played the most important games of their seasons.
The girls kicked off first against the Holy Angels Stars who they had just tied 2-2 two weeks prior. The game was bound to be a battle, SPA was the second seed and Holy Angels was the third. The game started off fairly balanced with the Spartans maintaining possession until three minutes into the game when the Stars on a perfectly executed counter attack were able to go up 1-0. It was a very unfortunate start to the game because the it was the first real chance on goal the Stars had. The Spartans looked to regroup and tried to find an equalizer for the rest of the half, however it was very hard for them to penetrate the Holy Angels defense. The half ended with the Stars up 1-0. In the second half the lady Spartans looked to work some of their magic. The girls tried to play the entertaining and fast paced soccer they had been playing all year, but it was not the same. They created a few chances but it was the Stars who capitalized on another counter to go up 2-0. The Spartans continued to try to find the back of the net, but it was too late. That 2-0 score marked the end of the girls season unfortunately. We will all miss watching their very entertaining, attack-minded soccer. That game will certainly not be the only thing taken away from this season were the lady Spartans accomplished so much.
Right after the girls finished it was the boys turn to take to the field against the St. Thomas Cadets. The same St. Thomas Cadets who they had beaten 5 weeks ago 4-3 at St. Thomas. This time however the Cadets were hungry for revenge and would do anything to come away with an upset of the first seed at Lang. The game started off high paced with the Cadets on the attack for the most park. After only four minutes St. Thomas went up 1-0 off of a mid range goal. The Spartans, not used to coming from behind, did not panic. The game went on with the Spartans began to bring the intensity up and dominated possession, however soccer is a cruel game and you can dominate all you want but if you don't score you won't win. The Spartans kept their patience and then finally about halfway through the half junior Josh "Slim Shady" Gray leveled the playing field with a goal from very close in that slowly rolled into the opposite corner of the goal. 1-1. The Spartans, for the second time in these section playoffs, found themselves in a tie game. The guys continued their dominance throughout the rest of the half, they controlled possession and did not allow the Cadets to even dream about having any chances, they completely shut them down. The defense played a key role in this with the Good German, the Swan, the Decapitator and Harg Knocks (i hope you know the nicknames by heart now) moving everywhere as one unit and not making very many mistakes. The half ended 1-1 but with the momentum overwhelmingly leaning the Spartans way.
The teams came out of the half both ready for battle in what ended up becoming a very physical game. A few questionable calls immediately shifted the momentum in favor of the Cadets and the tempo was completely sucked out of the game. The Cadets began to dominate, forcing Ben "Beast" Braman to make a few exceptional saves to keep the Spartans alive. However the referee begged to differ and called an invisible penalty in favor of the Cadets. If St. Thomas scored it would basically be good night to the Spartans. Cadet captain Ben Lamey lined up to take the penalty kick against the Beast. The Cadet fans fell silent while the Spartan fans began to make as much noise as possible to distract Lamey. The referee blew the whistle, Lamey kept his eyes fixed on the ground and struck the ball. The ball went high into the air and seemed as if it was heading for the top right corner, but by some good fortune it sailed farther to the side of the corner. A missed penalty, just what the Spartans needed to gain control of the game again.
The game turned out to be constant back and forth action, which many times was unjustly interrupted by the referee or unjustly allowed to continue by the referee who seemed as if he was trying to be the center of attention. However justice was served and on an incredibly confusing and mind boggling attack, Sam "Bulldog" Forsgren was somehow able to find the back of the net and the Spartans went up 2-1 with a little less than 15 minutes left. The Spartans and their fans celebrated the goal in an incredible fashion which saw raw emotion paired with a sigh of relief. The game however was far from over and those few minutes seemed to be the longest of my life. The Spartans defended with heart, doing whatever they could to avoid being scored on. When the referee finally blew the whistle for good it was 2-1 in favor of the Spartans. A loud roar came out of the fan sections and the Spartans celebrated their reaching of the section final game. A true test of character, this Spartan team has showed that they can be patient and keep their composure even in the most hostile of situations. For a team like that many things will end up going right. Good things will come to those who wait. A team like this does not come around often, so enjoy your Spartans. On Tuesday afternoon they will be taking on the Holy Angels Stars in a chance to go to state by redeeming the girls team. Go Spartans!
A big thanks to all the fans, we will see you at the game on Tuesday. Go Spartans!
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