4-25-2015

Soccer Saturday

This is one of the games that goes down in the record books!  Besides the 2014 Fall Finals for Jett's team, this one is another one that I never want to forget!  

To set the stage, it was already a busy, chaotic Saturday.  Sky and Brooke had already played in soccer games.  We had a guy come out and walk our yard to start the yard estimate, landscaping ordeal.  I had also ran to the store with Brooke to start the Baptism dress hunting.  I was really squeezing that in just before needing to take Jett to his game.  I got back in time to take him, only to find him sitting at the table playing Risk with dad.  He hadn't had a good lunch and so I scrambled to put a PB&J together along with a sliced apple.  We hurried to get his cleats on and ran out the door, without his backpack I might add.  (We always need his backpack cause it has his other jersey, just in case.)   In auto pilot, I drove to McMillan his home field.  When we pulled up already a few minutes late, the parking lot was empty.  My heart sank.  Who knew where it was let alone how far away it was.  I informed Jett, we might not make it in time for his game to even start and to prepare to sit the bench. I was not in a positive mental state by any means of the word!  Lucky for me, Jett is an upbeat kid and doesn't get down quickly!  

I called home asking for the location on the calendar.  This game was originally going to be played at 10:00am but after two reschedules, we were now stuck playing at 4:00pm.  A late afternoon game is never a good thing.  In the past, the boys seem run down by the end of the day.  I found out the game was at Copperview and so I raced like a mad lady to the field hoping and praying that he didn't need to switch into his orange jersey.  

We got there about ten minutes to 4:00pm.  Jett raced over.  Coach had already warmed them up and had the pregame talk.  Shoot!  At least they were in their white jerseys, WHEW!  And then, lucky for me, I found out the game before us got started late and we were just waiting for them to finish.  The threat of rain was there, so we were anxious to get on the field.  We waited, and waited.  4:30pm and we finally were ready to start the game.  Inside, I was happy.  Jett's PB&J and apples had time to digest.  The concern of a mom, right?  He was ready to play!

Jett's team moved up a bracket for Spring after taking first place in the Fall.  We were now in the same division as our Black team.  We have been struggling against these tougher teams.  We tied the first game, and lost the next three.  But those losses could have been ties or wins, easily.  Last week, we played the last place team and was able to pull out a win.  We were hoping to use that as momentum to take on this tough #2 team.  Game time.  The boys took the field and we as parents huddled up in our blankets and thick coats.  It was freezing.  The dark clouds lingered.  We could feel the rain about to pour at any second!  

Kick off, the other team took the ball down and scored in a matter of thirty seconds!  WOW!  It was quite the play... pass, pass, shoot basically.  Then in another thirty seconds, on a corner kick, they pulled off a second goal.  It was going to be a long game.  I said to myself, "I just hope we don't lose by ten and we can get a goal or two."  I decided to pull out my positive attitude and be ready to console Jett with happy, upbeat words after his game.

Then, some how the intensity grew.  Our boys were attacking the ball, running faster and looked like they were ready to take on these boys.  I could see Jett was putting in his own 110%, and I was so proud.  The whole team, worked hard to keep them from scoring any more goals.  They took several shots on us and our goalie, was great at holding them off.  Then, in a break away we got the ball down the field.  Their goalie had come really far out of the box and we were able to shoot past him and score.  It was exciting!  2-1.  Then, with another break away we did it again.  Same thing, the goalie was out of the box and it was an open shot.  We were looking great!  We had other shots at the goal.  We were keeping up with them!  It was insanely exciting!  2-2, there it was!  We were more than willing to take a tie against these guys!  

Then halftime!  The wind blew more and drops began to fall on our faces!  I looked over to see Jett putting on the goalie jersey!  My heart sank.  I had just watched our other goalie fight off shot after shot.  I worried that the rain would make shots slip past him, with a wet slippery ball.  With my heart beating out of my chest, I yelled out onto the field "Jett, get a shut out and I'll pay you TEN BUCKS!"  I was a little irrational, and the parents joked about how I had just raised the stakes.  But I know my boy and if he was going to stay focused, bribing him with money is the best bet!  

Jett was doing great, keeping them in the game, not letting anything past him.  THEN, my worst nightmare... PK in the box!  WHAT?!  NOOOO!  I teared up.  The idea of Jett getting scored on because of a PK, was devastating.  A dad close by said, "Hey you can't hold this against him for a shut out.  It's not his fault!"  I watched this tall, tough kid from the other team step up to shoot.  It was him against Jett and tears began to fall.  This was my boy!  He faced him with confidence, smiling even.  Then, he kicked the ball and Jett BLOCKED HIS SHOT!  I jumped out of my chair with excitement, screaming at the top of my lungs!  WHOOO-HOOO!  He had done it!  

The rain was falling.  Our boys were cold.  My heart pounded the rest of the game as shots were taken against Jett.  A couple of CLOSE calls, where I felt my heart drop thinking it had gone in.  He held on and we as a team looked great getting some of our own ALMOST goals.  We did it, we tied the #2 team 2-2!  What an exciting game.  Well, worth every cent of those ten bucks!