Game 9 Recap

The above photo represents what D-Ray did to the Dallas Lions with one minute left in the game.

What a game.

Missing - Tutt, Brady, Chuck, and Peer.

The Dallas Lions started with 7 or 8 players and had the wind on another very breezy day. Even going against the wind one would still assume Boones would dominate and score a few early goals - WRONG. We instead goofed around and missed some shots. They eventually had 10 players. They won a corner kick midway in the first half. We were unable to clear out the ball and they scored. 10 minutes later we allowed one of their players to dribble down the middle. While Chris was yelling at our team "don't let that guy dribble down the middle!" he shot and scored with an assist from the wind. The Lions were up by two - they were beating us to the ball and they were doing a good job controlling the ball with good passing (with just 10 men). After we missed some more shots, it was finally halftime. It was so bad that the buzzards at Lake Grapevine were flying in circles above our bench.

The good news is that no one on Boones likes to lose. You could tell that we were fired up after an embarrassing first half. We played much more aggressively in the second half. They were going against the wind and I think we started to wear them out. Boones finally scored when Pele Julio was able to win a contested ball from a Lion at about mid-field. All of the sudden Clay swooped in took off with ball toward the goal. He dribbled in a shot the ball perfectly to the far post past their keeper. Our entire team was pumped up. Unfortunately the Lions scored another goal on us when they won a corner kick and took it very fast before we could set-up. They made a short quick pass from the corner, the guy that took the pass turned and centered the ball to their one guy in the middle. He basically took Chris out and ball bounced off his knee into our goal. Boones 1 - Lions 3.

We did not quit and kept putting a ton of pressure on them. We struck soon after when Big Dave was able to get a goal in by being aggressive and not allowing them to clear the ball out. I think he knocked it in while down on a knee. Boones 2 - Lions 3.

The last five minutes of the game were crazy. We kept the pressure on we were able to keep the ball on their end of the field. We essentially had 8 or 9 guys forward trying to score. I don't remember the details of our next goal other than the ball being in the air right in front of their goal and the only one near it was Pup. He jumped up and headed the ball in. We came back to tie 3-3! With only a few minutes left, we had the ball in another scoring position on the right side. I am pretty sure it went like this - Joel passes perfectly through the middle - Dave was in the middle but didn't get the shot - Pele Julio was next just to the left of Dave but the ball was out of his reach - the ball kept going left and somehow D-Ray shows up and was able to get his foot on the ball and bury it into the net. BOONES 4 - lions 3!!!! D-RAY! D-RAY!

Resolve

I'll wait for Julio's play by play awesome recap, but there are a few points I would like to make tonight.
1. After a quite embarrassing start being up 3 guys and not scoring, we finally pulled our heads out of our butts in the second half.  We showed a little resolve, moxy, balls...whatever you want to call it.
2. That was not the same team we played in week one.  Not sure what happened to their guys, but they definitely improved.  Mucio commented that they didn't know each other's name on the field.  I did send an email to NTPSA concerning illegal players and lack of id checking.
3. A loss in that game would have knocked us to second place and possibly put that team in the playoffs.  Imagine who they would show up with in the playoffs  Jorge Campos?
4. I saw a ton of hustle in the second half.  That is how we win games period.  Clay, you started it and kept pouring it on like water boarding.  Many other guys did a great job and pulled together as a team to get the W.  It felt good to go home on a positive note and enjoy a really big comeback over the Easter weekend.
5.  Injuries are starting to mount, so we will more than likely not play in the tournament.  Here is our AARP list:
Peer - Hammy - DTD
Brady - Leg - Out
Stu Dawg - Hammy DTD
Chuck - Groin - DTD
Davey - Ankle/Heel - DTD
Georgie - Ribs - DTD

I certainly hope everyone gets to spend some time reflecting on what's important this weekend and heals up nicely.

See you guys soon,

Stu Dawg

Game 8 Recap

Boones United seems to be in a slow motion funk. We are not losing games, however we could sure be playing much better. Game 8 - Boones 1 - Weekenders 1 Notes Brady, Peer, D-Ray, and Mickey were out. Boones had plenty of shots. We were either off target or hit their keeper in the hands. Luckily we converted on a set piece again. Excellent corner by Joel with an aggressive finish by Tutt. They scored off of a deflection in a pile up on our defensive end. Mucio had a nice group of fans. "Go Daddy" is the cheer I heard. Mucio???? Some little girl on the Weekenders sideline tried to steal Dave's soccer ball. Dave got so mad that he almost left the game and went home (actually he was just looking for his ball in the parking lot). Someone on our team made a Weekenders dude pretty mad. Then Pup jumped in and was trash talking with that a-hole. After another award-winning zinger, Pup was commended by our laughing referee for his brilliance and humor. Unfortunately, this is right when the Weekenders scored and that a-hole got all excited. Things I notice from the sidelines and while playing fullback: (1) Chad is often WIDE OPEN in the middle - trailing the offense a few feet behind the penalty box. If our outside halfbacks can cut the ball back to middle I bet Chad could rip some open shots from there. (2) Chuck and Nutz were working very well together down the left side and I am surprised that they didn't produce a goal or two. (3) We need more forwards and halfbacks in the box in front of the goal when we win throw-ins at our opponent's end. There are no offsides on throw-ins and I can sometimes throw it there o.k. I would love to see more blue jerseys in there to aim for. This is all D-Ray's fault.

Game 7

We have played SEVEN games already??!!??

Another win and another windy day. There was some major wind out there. Not much of a game. We dominated the game, yet we were terrible at the same time.

Recap:

We were against the wind in the first half. The wind was absolutely brutal. Someone on our team said that running against that wind was like running with a parachute on. Boones played a decent first half. We had some chances on offense despite going against that wind. After some near misses, the ball found Big Dave and he lined up and launched a left footed shot of perfection. Boones 1 - 0. Metro had a few chances in the first half with the wind at their back. Their best chances were off corners and long distance shots where the wind did crazy things to the ball. Chris would normally handle these with ease, but the ball was going all over the place and a few got away from him. Luckily the defense was able the clear them out and the crossbar saved us on one.

Things were looking up in the second half. We had the wind at our back and Metro was only able to cross mid-field a few times. Chris had zero action in the second half. Boones probably had 20 shots in the second half. The bad part of this is that their keeper only had to make a few saves because most of our shots were high. Metro probably had 15 goal kicks in the second half.

We did win some corner kicks. After about 3 to 5 failed corner kicks, Boones was finally able to seal the deal. Thanks to an excellent corner by Joel and a defender to head it in, Boones took a 2 - 0 lead.

There have been many superior athletes to wear the number 99 in sports like hockey, football, and baseball. But what about the greatest number 99 in soccer? My I submit to you Preston McKinney. Preston was the defender that clinched the victory for Boones against Metro by scoring that header off of Joel's corner. We needed that goal after missing SO MANY SHOTS in the second half. It was huge. Go Defense!

Notes:

Everyone on Metro wanted to beat up or yell at Tutt. Apparently he was pushing all their people around.

Missing in action was Stu Dawg, Todd, Brady, and Mucio.

I think I heard that is was Clay's birthday. You are old.

One of Metro's players apparently played pro soccer in Germany. The reason I know this - he made a special trip by walking over to our team after the game to tell us this. I think Dave or Nutz hurt his feelings during the game.