September 27, 2001
Memphis Shock vs Rowdies

After 20 minutes of trying to feel each other team out, Micah started the scoring off for us in grand style. He won a ball from his defender, cut to the left, dribbled past 2 defenders, and slid while taking a shot that went low and to Geoff the keepers left. Memphis Shock with their first goal and lead of the season, 1-0. Micah always seems to slide while shooting. It works for him, so why not?? Less than a minute later the Rowdies were coming down the field. One of their midfielders sent a ball in the middle to their forward Josh. Kip, was, as he put it "Trying to foul the guy and then got a different foul called." As the ball was coming to Josh, he ducked and the ball hit Kip on the arm. So far this season, nothing has surprised me, even as unlucky a call as that was. The ref called for a penalty kick. Baxter guessed the correct way but since it was not on the ground he went at it weird. Goal. Tied 1-1.

10 minutes later we got another goal from a fast break. Hobbs sent a loose ball to midfield to Nathan who passed the ball back to Jon. Jon took the ball up the field, cut left, and shot a low line drive from 25 yards out that hit the back of the net. Memphis Shock 2-1. Right before halftime we nearly got another goal. Micah gathered up a loose ball at the 18 and took a shot that was going to the right post. Geoff got there just in time to deflect the shot. A minute later it was halftime.

We were up at halftime 2-1. Spirits were high, we were scoring, Winters was smoking, and we were looking good as a team. We were determined to come out with at least a tie, but wanting a win.

We almost got a quick goal in the opening minutes of half number 2. J.J. won a ball on the touchline, juked past a couple of defenders, and took a shot that hit the side netting just inside the post. 10 minutes in the Rowdies got a goal when a midfielder sent the ball up to Josh, who flicked a pass to his right to the other forward that made it past an outstretched Todd. The forward settled and shot the ball far post to tie the game up at 2. It was a pretty play.

Chris, whose nickname should be something to the effect of "Ground" because he slide tackles so much was involved in a fairly humorous event. While fixing to run by a Rowdie he got tripped up and fell on the ball. He bounced on the ball and his body kinda popped up in the air. From the sidelines it was funny to watch. But then later near the end of the game he got tackled from behind, made a great dive in which he threw his hands up in the air, and then watched as the ref issued the only yellow of the game to the Rowdie player. But if you ask Chris, it wasn't a dive. The only thing missing was a scream of horror.

Another good scoring opportunity happened when a ball was sent in the middle to J.J. He turned, took a step and shot the ball right at the keeper. With just over 10 minutes left J.J. had another opportunity on goal. Jon sent the ball up to J.J who dribbled through 3 defenders who were chopping at his ankles. He still managed to get the shot off and it hit the right post and rolled away. Had J.J. fallen down, he probably would've gotten a penalty kick.

After another 45 minutes of play, the ref blew the whistle to end the game in a tie 2-2. Good news, we got a point. Bad news, we didn't get 3. We were shooting for a win this game to get our team and season back on track. Although we tied, we can still use this game to get us pointed in the right direction. We played much better as a team, talking, and passing a whole lot better than the previous 2 games, and we were hustling more. We were winning more 50/50 balls than in previous games, and were getting some good shots on goal. Some good reaction saves from the Rowdies goalie Geoff prevented us from netting at least 3-4 more goals. The Rowdies are always a solid team and they brought out the best of us, so far.

The defense knew they had a hard assignment with the speedy and talented forwards the Rowdies have. The defense was up to it. Yes both forwards did score, on a pk and a very nice flick, they really didn't do too much, as evident by the stats below. Midfield did a much better job of coming back to give the defense support when the numbers were against them. Not to mention they did a great job moving the ball around the field and creating chances. Forwards were doing an excellent job of keeping the pressure on the Rowdies defense and goal area. It was hard to move when we had 6 guys up front and 8 defending constantly. Even in tight spaces our passes were crisp. Not to mention, we were doing a good job subbing, putting in fresh people when needed. This should be able to get us over the hump, and I look for some wins in the 2nd half of the season.

Dennis Thompson