November 17, 2002
Memphis Shock vs Colts

Off of a 2 game losing streak, we were looking to break the slide. And the Colts seemed just the team to do it against. Really, any team would’ve done, it just happened to be the Colts. On a beautiful day outside, we had a 1:30 game. The week before had been cold, but temp’s made it up to the low 60’s with a little bit of wind. Pitch conditions were dead, hard, dry grass.

We started the game off with exactly 11 players. We had 2 subs walk up within 10 minutes of the start of the game. Someone mentioned this which I thought was kinda funny. Either everyone shows up or no one shows up. That’s nearly true though.

For most of the first half, there wasn’t any real momentum for either side. The Colts did seem to hustle a little bit more than we did, but we had the better play. After a few attempts on each goal, we finally broke through. With about 8 minute left in the half, Matt was leading a fast break on the right side towards the Colts goal. The ball got knocked away from him but he stayed with the man and followed him into the center on the field. From there, the ball got loose and he won it back. He shielded a Colt defender and laid it off to Mike who was coming across. Mike took a couple of dribbles and took a shot at goal. Mike’s shot curled just inches inside the top right corner of the goal from 20 yards out. What a shot! Shock leading 1-0.

A few minutes later was halftime. We all rested regrouped, and went out to play the second half.

Colts brought it to us at the start of the half. 10 minutes into the half, the Colts got an equalizer from a shot that went through 3 of our players. Game tied at 1-1.

The Colts seemed determined to take the lead from us, but it wasn’t meant to be. Both defenses were running the off sides trap pretty well. Kip sent a ball up to Bishop who was waiting to take off. Bishop settled the ball and kept dribbling towards the goal. From 23 yards out he took a shot. The ball bounced one time in front of the diving keeper who couldn’t keep a handle on the hard shot. Shock up 2-1.

After more back and forth play, we got another one. Matt took a corner kick from the left side that was nearly headed out. Bishop settled the clear and shot to goal. Billy was standing right in front of the keeper with his back to the keeper. Using some slick James Brown type moves, slipped the ball past the keeper moving only his feet. Shock up 3-1.

A few minutes later a Colt defender was trying to clear the ball from his corner. The clear went right into the middle of the field were JJ was standing. JJ took a couple of dribbles and rocketed a shot from 35 yards out. The ball was too much for the new keeper (without gloves) to handle and the ball bounced over him and into the goal. 5 minutes later the ref blew the whistle to end the game with a Memphis Shock victory at 4-1.

This win was a great way for us to come back off the losing streak. It was a good quality win. We actually needed a win. Everyone on our team played hard today. With only 2 subs everyone got a good workout in today. This win wrapped up 2nd place for us in the D2 standings. One of their big guys did try to push Billy around. And we all know, Billy doesn’t get pushed around, he does the pushing. And then he gets suspended. But I won’t go into that.

The only downside to the game was the officiating. Granted they only had 2 refs and were doing the best they could, but a couple of offside calls that were given were not even close. The center ref was a bit touchy on his calls. When 2 players would go for a ball, the guy who didn’t win the ball won a free kick. The calls were going both ways.

Dennis Thompson