Rob Lasso: Episode Seven

“You know what the happiest animal on Earth is? It’s a goldfish. You know why? Got a ten-second memory. Be a goldfish, Sam.”

Ever since I started documenting my first foray into coaching high school kids, I've been waiting for the right time to use that Ted Lasso quote. Yesterday afternoon, like manna from Heaven, the Lord provided.

It was hot at the outset of our district playoff opener on Monday, so much so that our athletic trainer wouldn't let us warm up on the artificial turf field on which we play our games. That heat turned out to create an advantage for us.

In the rubber match against a cross-town opponent we had the biggest crowd of our season to date, augmented by the full boys' varsity squad, who played in the second half of our soccer doubleheader. They were vocal and amusing, but they were disappointed when we went down 1-0 midway through the first half when our outside back pushed up to high and left Mac on an island with a pacy winger.

We evened the match a couple of minutes later when Dee won a ball in midfield and slipped Jennie free down the left wing. The latter got her defender on her hip and lashed a rocket inside the far post.

In the heat, our coach substituted liberally from the early minutes, while our opponent stayed with her top 13-14 players. That started to make a difference in the second half as we began to impose our will. Roo poster her opponent up and laid a ball off to Soph who blasted the gilt-edged chance over the bar.

Shortly thereafter Kenny rose up in traffic to win a header from a corner, and the ball fell to Soph, who shanked it...and it spun over the keeper's head and in. Looks like a rocket in the box score.

With 20 minutes to play, Kenz played an inch perfect diagonal ball into Sid's run. Sid slices through the tiring opponent's back line, and patiently slotted into the corner to put us up 3-1.

We had a breakdown in the back just a few minutes later to give one back and set up a nervy final 15. 

All hands on deck defending, and all fingernails chewed to the quick on the bench. With less than a minute to play, the opponent's district MVP striker slipped inside our back line, rounded Ellie, and was thwarted by emergency defensive work by Dutch and Breezy. Ellie came off her line just enough to force the striker wide, and that made all the difference as we held on for the 3-2 win.

Yesterday in practice, I was talking to Sid, who was down on herself because she didn't play very well (according to her). To which I said, "You know what the happiest animal on Earth is, Sid?"

I think you know the rest.

The win gives us another shot at the undefeated district champs, with a berth in the regional tournament on the line. The last time these girls played a full season, they were winless, so our 5-6 mark represents forward progress. But I'm sayin' there's a chance. We've got to play smart and physical, and we're gonna need to get a little bit lucky, and we need to forget about our first game against this team.

We need to be goldfish.