September 24, 2000
Bumrushers vs. Zebras

For our 4th game of the year we were up against the Zebras. In the spring we tied them twice and this year both teams were looking for someone to come out on top. Before game time it was unsure if we would be playing or not but thanks to some sun and dry pitch conditions we did end up playing. We started the game with 16 of our 17 players showing up, the closest we have ever in the history of our team come to having a full team show up. And tonight the subs were very necessary as the high humidity was killer.

We started the game off quickly. After kickoff we lost the ball 15 seconds into the game. The ball made it to the left side outside our 18 and Dennis settled it, saw the open field and made a 18 to nearly 18 yard run down the left side of the field. He saw that David was wide open in the middle of the field and passed it to him. A Zebra defender barely nicked it and it went to Mark Winters, now called Winters, who one timed a shot past the keeper. Bumrushers 1-0 a minute in. Our second goal came minutes later when Brian gobbled up a loose ball and chipped it over the Zebra defense that David ran unto, settled, and shot it in the goal. Bumrushers 2-0.

The third goal came 15 minutes later when Dennis took a pass on the left side of the field and then gave it off to Robert. Robert had a choice of 2 guys making a run, Micah or Dennis. He chose Micah who had split the defense and got the pass from Robert on the run and shot it past the left side of the keeper for a goal. Bumrushers 3-0. Our 4th goal came when Sam took a ball to the corner and beat his defender to come back across the end line. Robert ran near post and called for the ball. Sam obliged by driving a head high cross to Robert who flicked it inside the far post. Bumrushers 4-0

About 10 minutes left in the half we went on another scoring spree. Goal #5 came when Art handed off a short pass the Chris who sent the ball to David at the 18 and he buried it. Bumrushers 5-0. Our next goal came off of a corner kick from Pat. Of course Pat centered the ball and Sam settled the ball in a flock of Zebras and made it past the keeper. Bumrushers 6-0. Just before the half we got another one. Art picked up a ball that was misplayed by the defense and took it by the touchline on the left side, and took a shot that dinked the left post that made it in the right netting. Bumrushers 7-0.

After halftime we struck again early. Winters won a 50/50 ball on the right wing. He won the head ball and headed it right in front of Robert as he made a run toward the top of the box. It bounced once in front of Robert and he shot it on the volley over the keeper and into the far post. Bumrushers 8-0. The next goal came off of a goal kick by Baxter. Robert settled the ball and sent it for a waiting to run Dennis. Dennis fought off the defender and sped past him to win the ball. Looking up he noticed the keeper was coming off of his line and lifted on over his head. The ball hit the crossbar and Dennis followed up the shot, settled it with his head and lightly tapped it in the goal. Bumrushers 9-0.

Mark Davis, aka Davis, scored our 10th. Pat saw Davis wide open near the left sideline and passed him the ball. Davis dribbled for a bit, took a swig of Gatorade, then dribbled some more and the fired on past the keeper. Bumrushers 10-0. Pat had the 11th goal of the game when he dribbled down the middle of the field and using his keen eye saw the keeper of his line and lofted the ball over the keeper into the back of the net. Bumrushers 11-0 The last goal came within the last few minutes left in the game. Chris stole the ball from the Zebra's right forward, passed wide left to Winters who centered it to Micah, who in turn one touched it to Chris to put away. As Chris puts it "And in case you don't remember, it was a right-footed bend just inside the post on the goalie's left!" Bumrushers 12-0

I just want to state for the records we did not expect or want to score this much. Tonight we were finishing, something that we hadn't done yet this year. I applaud the Zebras for not getting too rough when they were down and not trying to take any of our players out. Also, they were hustling until the very end. You would think that when you are getting beat by a score of ours, you would give up. The Zebras didn't. We played an all around great game. Great passing and finishing were our strengths including a tight defense. The true test of our team will come in our next 6 games when we play 4 of the next 6 vs the 2-4 ranked teams in our division.

Dennis Thompson