Part of the reason we went down to St. George for Thanksgiving was that Megan’s soccer team had at tournament to play on Friday and Saturday.
I took Megan to her first game early on Friday morning. I was a little worried that our previous night of early Black Friday shopping would not have her playing her best in her early game.
In the first half, Megan’s team (Utah Surf) had a couple chances, but they weren’t able to capitalize. At the end of the first half, the score was tied 0-0.
Late in the second half, the opposing team caught a break. Their forward went down after a clumsy challenge by a Utah Surf defender and they were awarded a penalty kick. There were only a few minutes left in the match, so this would likely be the game. But, their penalty kick went straight to our goalie.
With just a couple minutes to go, Utah Surf surged forward. Megan was playing left forward and helped move the ball up the pitch. Surf had a few chances, but never really got off any good shots. Then, in what had to be the last minute of the game, one of the Surf forwards controlled the ball on the right side of the box. She beat one defender and then whipped in a cross.
Megan was in perfect position. She volleyed the ball right out of the air and into the back of the net from less than 5 yards away. The goalie didn’t have a chance. The defenders didn’t have a chance. Megan threw both hands up into the air, and then was swamped by her teammates. The Utah Surf sideline went nuts.
“It was such an emotional finish! I might have gotten teary-eyed, although I would never admit that publicly,” said Jacob Johnson who watched from the sidelines.
Almost immediately after the resulting kickoff, the referee whistled three times signalling the end of the game.
MightyJohnsons 