After Team Gigantic had booked themselves a place in the semi-finals, we found that we would be playing Sabres, another friendly rival. In the other semi-final were the not-so-friendly rivals Academy, and another old unfriendly rival, FC Inter.
FC Inter came up against us a couple times in our first season, and they beat us thoroughly. At one point, one of their guys decided that getting into a fight with Stephen would be a good idea, but unfortunately it never happened. It did work well for Stephen though, he really got under the guy's skin with some well-placed sarcastic comments and a smile that could make a small child wet himself. Him and I laughed about it afterwards, and still do to this day.
Though it turns out Academy beat them, so it was them and the winner of our game in the playoffs.
If you need an introduction as to what Academy are like, well, to put it shortly, they're a bunch of assholes. Check some of the previous posts tagged "Academy" and you'll find out.
Now, the Sabres game started well for us. Jay and I each put a goal in, mine was a simple rebound-and-volley. By just after half they had tied it up with one particularly terrible goal, where Jay fouled a guy in the corner, and they took it quickly. Shaun managed to somehow save the first in a 2-on-him, but they then equalized off the rebound. My team started to freak out a little because of the lack of control over the decision and the quickly taken free kick. We had people questioning the ref more than concentrating on the game, and fouled more than playing the ball. Admittedly, we were getting a little jumpy, so I sat on the bench and quite literally silently meditated to get all of the other distractions out of the way.
I had not even employed it as a method to improve my game, but the next shift I was on, it seemed to have worked. I pounced on a loose ball by their net, roulette'd it out of the way of the goalie, and then slotted it into an empty net as I heard multiple footsteps approaching behind me. It was a fantastic goal that fired everybody up, and Jay went on to put in one more after that, so we won 4-2. I couldn't really contain myself after the goal, and I did the typical clenched-fists facing-up-but elbows at my side while running and screaming. I think I've found my default celebration (which may have fired my team up more than the goal itself).
It's funny how such a momentum change can occur so quickly though. One moment, we were pissed off and fouling everybody, then after the goal, we calmed down and played a fantastic rest-of-the-game.
My dad, one of our many spectators today, had really enjoyed the game. With him were Josh's parents, who dubbed my goal today's title.
And now our most challenging test this season is about to come, this Saturday. I've got to really step up in this game, as I've been somewhat responsible for the push to playoffs and sparking our momentum in the playoffs. The thing is, I've scored one goal in maybe 6 matches against Academy, and that goal was a gift, however deciding of that game it was. Contrasting that to my recent form in both that league and others, though, I might do well. I have 6 goals in as many games for Team Gigantic, and I can't remember the last game that was not an AFC Soccer game that I haven't scored in.
We'll just have to wait and see, I suppose.
FC Inter came up against us a couple times in our first season, and they beat us thoroughly. At one point, one of their guys decided that getting into a fight with Stephen would be a good idea, but unfortunately it never happened. It did work well for Stephen though, he really got under the guy's skin with some well-placed sarcastic comments and a smile that could make a small child wet himself. Him and I laughed about it afterwards, and still do to this day.
Though it turns out Academy beat them, so it was them and the winner of our game in the playoffs.
If you need an introduction as to what Academy are like, well, to put it shortly, they're a bunch of assholes. Check some of the previous posts tagged "Academy" and you'll find out.
Now, the Sabres game started well for us. Jay and I each put a goal in, mine was a simple rebound-and-volley. By just after half they had tied it up with one particularly terrible goal, where Jay fouled a guy in the corner, and they took it quickly. Shaun managed to somehow save the first in a 2-on-him, but they then equalized off the rebound. My team started to freak out a little because of the lack of control over the decision and the quickly taken free kick. We had people questioning the ref more than concentrating on the game, and fouled more than playing the ball. Admittedly, we were getting a little jumpy, so I sat on the bench and quite literally silently meditated to get all of the other distractions out of the way.
I had not even employed it as a method to improve my game, but the next shift I was on, it seemed to have worked. I pounced on a loose ball by their net, roulette'd it out of the way of the goalie, and then slotted it into an empty net as I heard multiple footsteps approaching behind me. It was a fantastic goal that fired everybody up, and Jay went on to put in one more after that, so we won 4-2. I couldn't really contain myself after the goal, and I did the typical clenched-fists facing-up-but elbows at my side while running and screaming. I think I've found my default celebration (which may have fired my team up more than the goal itself).
It's funny how such a momentum change can occur so quickly though. One moment, we were pissed off and fouling everybody, then after the goal, we calmed down and played a fantastic rest-of-the-game.
My dad, one of our many spectators today, had really enjoyed the game. With him were Josh's parents, who dubbed my goal today's title.
And now our most challenging test this season is about to come, this Saturday. I've got to really step up in this game, as I've been somewhat responsible for the push to playoffs and sparking our momentum in the playoffs. The thing is, I've scored one goal in maybe 6 matches against Academy, and that goal was a gift, however deciding of that game it was. Contrasting that to my recent form in both that league and others, though, I might do well. I have 6 goals in as many games for Team Gigantic, and I can't remember the last game that was not an AFC Soccer game that I haven't scored in.
We'll just have to wait and see, I suppose.
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