On the bus ride back from Rider, I realized how powerful the game of football really is. We had just beaten our rival Loyola 2-1 at their brand new stadium, and now we were driving back from an overtime thriller against Rider, a game in which we trailed 2-1 with under a minute to go. After playing the majority of the game, I came off with five minutes left, thinking the game was over. My first thought on the bench was how terrible the bus ride back would be after a loss like this. We had gone 1-0-0 in our conference with the win at Loyola, and this loss was going to set us back to where we started. I was still shouting encouragement to my team, but my mind had already given Rider the win.
Then, with 55 seconds left, Ryan Perkins, a freshman who had been subbed on in replace of me, brought down a ball on the corner of the 18 yard box. With great composure, he played a ball across the box to Jack Burridge, who turned instantly on his left foot and put in a low driven shot into the bottom corner to tie the game at 2. Last year, we would be on the other end of this type of comeback. I remember last season we conceded a goal to Rhode Island when their goalkeeper came up for a corner and toe poked the ball into the net with 10 seconds left. I remember how down we felt after that moment and I knew Rider must be feeling that exact same way. Rider thought the game was over, and I knew we weren’t going to be denied the three points now.
Then, with 55 seconds left, Ryan Perkins, a freshman who had been subbed on in replace of me, brought down a ball on the corner of the 18 yard box. With great composure, he played a ball across the box to Jack Burridge, who turned instantly on his left foot and put in a low driven shot into the bottom corner to tie the game at 2. Last year, we would be on the other end of this type of comeback. I remember last season we conceded a goal to Rhode Island when their goalkeeper came up for a corner and toe poked the ball into the net with 10 seconds left. I remember how down we felt after that moment and I knew Rider must be feeling that exact same way. Rider thought the game was over, and I knew we weren’t going to be denied the three points now.
Sure enough, we found the winner with three minutes left in the first overtime when Jack Burridge slipped Jon Clements in behind the back four with the outside of his right foot. Clem played in a cross that was deflected back at him, and with his second try put the ball right onto the head of Dan Shaw who flicked it passed the Rider goalkeeper.
Its amazing how powerful winning is, it really does make everything better. I’ve always had this idea that it’s important to keep the three S’s (School, soccer, social) in balance, and if one of these areas is lacking, the others suffer too. When I wasn’t playing because of my bad ankle, I was less enthusiastic about my schoolwork, even though I had more time and I wasn’t tired from training. It was such a relief to play most of the game against Rider, and even better to end the weekend with six points and at the top of the MAAC conference. After starting the year 0-4, it’s the best feeling ever to win 3 straight and no longer have the cloud of losing hanging over your head. One of my friends made the comment, “Wow! Why can’t we just win all the time. This is great!” It’s moments like these that keep me coming back to the game of football – it can be gut wrenching, and glorious, and the beauty is you never really know which one its going to be!
Its amazing how powerful winning is, it really does make everything better. I’ve always had this idea that it’s important to keep the three S’s (School, soccer, social) in balance, and if one of these areas is lacking, the others suffer too. When I wasn’t playing because of my bad ankle, I was less enthusiastic about my schoolwork, even though I had more time and I wasn’t tired from training. It was such a relief to play most of the game against Rider, and even better to end the weekend with six points and at the top of the MAAC conference. After starting the year 0-4, it’s the best feeling ever to win 3 straight and no longer have the cloud of losing hanging over your head. One of my friends made the comment, “Wow! Why can’t we just win all the time. This is great!” It’s moments like these that keep me coming back to the game of football – it can be gut wrenching, and glorious, and the beauty is you never really know which one its going to be!
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