We were in a relegation battle. We played the top team in our division and needed the 3 points to avoid getting sent down. We established a game plan and we stuck with it. It was beautiful execution and teamwork. Could not have been prouder of the guys.
Here is Eduardo's recap:
I must
admit that I was a bit concerned with all of the NO responses I
received this week, and even more so when I arrived at Wheelock this
morning around 8:15 to find that I was the third person there. Folks started to trickle in and we had 12 as the whistle blew.
My
concerns weren't easing up as we lined up a formidable back line of
Moylan, Ovalle, Concagh and Laughing. Yeah, that's not a typo. I was
nervously laughing on the inside at the fact that Pat was hungover and
this back four was in it for 90 minutes in front of him. We decided to
go with a 4-2-3-1 formation with Alex and Ingram playing defensive
center-mids, Drew and Ballerina Ed flanking Durocher and Stevie up top
taking space.
We
started off pretty well until their first real shot came in hot,
Maguire coughed up throwing up in his mouth and I got caught ball
watching while one of their guys chased it in and put it away on the
rebound. We were down 1-0 and nobody made a sound. Franco arrived
late, and we had two subs to their 7. But, to our credit, we kept
fighting. Somehow, not sure how, we found ourselves in a bit of a
breakaway (could be because they played most of the game with 9 guys on
our side of the field) and Alex (I believe) hit it with his purse and
the ball barely made it over the line for the tie. That tying goal
breathed some air into all of our lungs, until Ronnie went down with
what seemed to be a clear ligament tear about 15 minutes from half. He
stayed and watched, to his credit and you might have seen the update
email that he just sent.
Anyways,
just before the halftime whistle, Ed juked and deked his way clear of
his defender and ran wild down the left side. Franco was wide open on
the far post and Ed actually hit it that way. The ball was cleared near
the 18 by the near post, way up in the air. Their keeper was caught in
no-man's land and all of a sudden we had the lead 2-1 as the half
ended.
Second
half was fantastic. Like that one golf shot you hit that always keeps
you coming back, this game was something that should keep us all coming
back for more. They ran at us hard, with a lot of movement and we bent
but did not break. Our midfielders worked their ass off and our back
line did all they had to do to keep turning them away. Even though
Franco was on the field during the first half, he didn't really start
playing until the second half. He chased a ball in that was passed back
to the keeper, got himself in front of it to block it, friendly bounce
was reachable and then he calmly took his time from the left, and put it
over the keeper and into the side netting on the far post for a 3-1
lead. Halleluja. Can I get an AMEN-uh!
They
got one back with about 5 minutes to go, but we kept up the fight and
earned ourselves one hell of a win. As a prize, we get to stay in
Division 3. Mendon, by the way, won their game against Los Inkas, so,
unless we tied or won today, we were in serious danger of relegation.
Proud
of all the guys who worked their ass off today. Stevie was awesome up
top (that's the first and last compliment I will ever pay you) Doo-rag
was all over the field. Ed looked and felt awful, you could tell
because he didn't dance at all today, but he gave all that he had. Game
ball to Ingram, Alex and Durocher who might have each sat for 5-10
minutes the entire game and likely ran double that of anyone else. And
kudos to Doug and Mike for a full 90 minute effort under constant
siege. Danny, stellar as always, especially as a field marshall and
Pat, steady as a rock.
We
were very disciplined and the communication in the back was
outstanding. We kept close to them and didn't give them anything easy.
And, we put away the goal opportunities we had, which weren't many, but
they were enough.
Honorable mention to Texas Bob for showing up to watch and cheer us on.
Look
for an email for an end of year bash at Bora's pool. Rest up, get
healthy, get in shape. Let's do it all again in the fall.
A) Split Squats, Back Rack 
10 MB Situps
30 jumping jacks
In celebration of Dennis Birthday we did Filthy Fifty:
Warm up
A1) Front Squat Wave 
Masters and Munchies! Andrew and Corey joined us today. I really enjoy working out with both of them. They work hard and are just really nice peeps. Additionally its nice to have more X chromosome in the room.
