September 13, 2001
Memphis Shock vs Hotspur

To start off the game we were missing 5 players. 2 forgot about the game even though one of them made it, 2 others due to work and the last to injury. So, we at least had 11 this time.

Play in the first half was back in forth, with both teams having suspect passing. Not too much was happing this half. Hotspur did get a couple of good shots on goal that Chris made some great reaction saves. But then again, he always seems to be positioned right. Just over midway into the half Hotspur was given a yellow card when Jon stole the ball from one of their midfielders and one of his teammates got embarrassed for him and came and gave Jon a rough shoulder tackle.

We did have a couple of good chances on goal. One of the first was when Jon took a shot from the left side of the field and the ball hit just behind the left post on the side netting to give the goalie a scare. Our best chance came when Jon sent the ball up to Micah who was waiting to make his run. Micah took a dribble, pushed the ball to the outside, and took a sliding shot that went low to the goalies right. The goalie made a nice save to settle the ball on a hard shot. A minute later the ref called half.

At half we were happy. We didn’t give up any penalty kicks. Both defenses were making life hard on the opposing forwards and midfielders were working hard. So we were ready for half number 2.

Once again the second half started out the same as the first, with momentum shifting back and forth. A couple of times we had Hotspur reeling when they started bickering at each other. In fact, one of their players got a yellow card for continually yapping at the center ref.

We almost got the first goal of the game off of a corner kick. Mark made a short pass to Bishop on the touch line. Bishop lifted a delicate pass over the top to which Micah went up for the head against 2 opponents. Micah headed it and the ball just missed the post by a matter of inches.

Roughly 15 minutes into the game Hotspur broke through. From a corner kick Jon was trying to head the ball out of the box and just miss hit it and the ball went right past Chris for an own goal. Hotspur 1-0. Later, with about 10 minutes left in the game, we recorded yet another own goal. A Hotspur midfielder was trying to control a loose ball with his head and made a couple of headers. The ball got loose from him and another one of their players snatched it Kip was guarding the man well. He pushed him to the inside, then the opponent turned right, took a step and shot. Kip stuck his leg up to block the ball and all he could do was deflect it. After the ball tipped his shoe in dipped straight down and the ball slipped past Chris who made a pretty stretching dive. Hotspur 2-0.

In between these 2 goals, Micah managed to butt heads with another player cutting him open for the second straight season. It’s becoming a tradition.

Well, losing 2-0 on 2 own goals gives you a bad feeling inside. I guess its better than losing 1-0 on an own goal. But 1 thing that was nice about this game compared to the last, we had players present and we didn’t give up 3 penalty kicks. Own goals suck, but they happen. Neither one of those players have anything to be upset about. They still played well if you take those away.

We came out looking like a totally different team than our last game against them, which was great, cause we didn’t look too hot that match. Today we were passing better, but we still left a whole lot to be desired. Our defense showed that they are still as tough this year as they were last with the recent additions we picked up. The midfield did a good job making the transition to a new formation anf having to run a lot more. Forwards were doing well keeping pressure on the other teams defense and goal. Even though we played better, we are still going to have to pick it up a few notches to be competitive in this league.

Dennis Thompson