The Uxbridge Girls Soccer teams have always been pretty strong. They usually finish at or near the top of the league standings and make it into District playoff action. Unfortunately, that's where they usually stop. In the past, they've just not played up to their potential in the really big games. This year was shaping up to look pretty much the same. They were seeded #2 in the District playoffs and had a bye in the first round. Their first game was with Leicester (say "Lester") and they won 3-1 to advance to the semis for, I think, the first time ever. That was an exciting game and Carly almost scored a blistering shot that hit the crossbar. It bounced up in front of the goal and Steph (something like 34 goals this year) headed it in. Already this was farther then they had gotten.
The game with Oakmont was on a frigid Auburn High School turf field and they came a way with a 2-1 win. There was wild celebration that they had made it into the District Finals! We found out that the #1 seed and arch rival Millbury (who had defeated them in Districts last year) would be their opponents in the finals.
The Finals were scheduled for Saturday, November 15 at Auburn High but it was raining and I guess there was lightening so it was postponed to Sunday at 1:00. A little after noon, I got in the car to head to Auburn. Deb's choral concert was today and Kyle was going to Wheaton to practice with the team so it was only me. I got to Auburn and quickly realized that I had a big problem because there was nobody else there. Hmmm. OK, I guess I'll strangle Carly after I figure out where the heck they are. I used my Blackberry to go to the Scheduling web site but the browser on my phone doesn't really render web pages that well and it refused to show me any details about the game. I called Kyle who was at home getting ready to leave for Wheaton and asked him to use a real browser to see if he could find out where they were. He got the page up but it didn't have any information about where the game was. I didn't have phone numbers for any of the other parents on the team and I could not figure out how to find the game. I called the sports desk of the local paper hoping they could help me but only got an answering machine. I finally Googled "Uxbridge Soccer MIAA" (MIAA is the Mass Interscholastic Athletic Association) and got a page with the tournament bracket. It was pretty jumbled on my tiny screen but I managed to find a link to the Finals and it said "Location: Foley Field". Great, I wonder where that is. I Googled "Foley Field" and found what had to be it - with driving directions to boot!
Luckily, it wasn't that far away so I as I got there and was walking in, I saw that it was halftime and the score was 3-0. Uh-oh. I was pretty sure that Millbury would be the one up by that big of a margin but when I got in and talked to the Uxbridge Athletic Director, he said "No we're up and your daughter scored a goal!" Woo-hoo!
The wind was howling straight down the field and, since it's a turf field, the ball just runs. Basically, whichever team is playing downwind has a huge advantage. Uxbridge had downwind the first half and got the big lead and now would have to hold on for 40 minutes of relentless pressure. Of course I didn't see Carly's goal but everyone told me she ripped one from the top of the 18 yard box and put in the opposite side netting. It sounded like a beauty.
The second half was a wild and woolly affair. When the Uxbridge girls would attempt to clear the ball it would basically get blown back in their faces. Millbury sent one of many corner kicks into the box and managed to ping it around and into the goal. They got another off of a deflection off of an Uxy defender. So it was 3-2 with time winding down and the crowd on it's feet. When the final whistle blew, it was pandemonium in the stands and on the field. When the girls finally came over to the stands, there were hugs and pictures all around. It's a fantastic achievement and I'm really proud of the team.
They are now in the State Semi-Finals and the game will be played later this week. Here's hoping for more success to prolong this improbable run.
1 comment:
Soooooooo- What happened?????????
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