The One with the Gooooals
Taking a break from scaring off the geese in my yard with a water gun to bring you these insightful comments and photo evidence of a wonderful Racing win over Boston Legacy.
This win was historic in two ways: for starters, it was the first time that Racing had won three league matches in a row in its five and half years of existence. Turns out, that’s pretty hard to do. Second and just as important, it was the first time that our friends Susan and Rick were able to see a Racing win! They have been to about a dozen matches with us including those where we sat in the cold and the rain, and of course last night where we used ice cubes in unmentionable places to try to keep cool. But it was all worth it! Racing showed up big and we ignored the embarrassing sweat stains as we cheered not one but four times as the goals kept rolling in! Their curse is broken and they are now welcome in Lynn Family stadium any time they want! Even if there’s not a match being played!
But back to the geese. They are seriously everywhere. Anyone have any tips for scaring off geese without also running off the cute, innocent little waterfowl like ducks? I’m not exaggerating when I say we can have as many as 30 ducks at once in our 0.05 acre backyard. We do back up to a lake, and maybe I throw corn to them, but still. That’s a lot of ducks. I think we had maybe 4 last year and we joked that we hoped one of the couples would come back and maybe have some little baby ducks because wouldn’t that be cute. After no less than five little batches of babies have come through with their single mama ducks, we have concluded that there must be one studly mallard drake out there getting all the hens knocked up. Although we haven’t met him yet, we have named him Duck Cannon and are researching duck birth control.
But if you didn’t come here to read about geese or ducks, then hopefully you skipped that last paragraph and are now ready for some soccer pictures.
The fantastic, harmonized singing of the national anthem was followed by a flyover that fans were thrilled to welcome. I don’t think anyone realized this was the “Fill the Fam” night because the club knows that is a bridge too far, and “Fill the Fam halfway” just doesn’t have the same ring to it. Still, we had over 7,000 fans and they were treated to show!
Let’s get those scarves UP! But for the love of all things soccer, do NOT put said scarf around your neck because we are not looking to cause anyone to have a heat stroke. Keep those scarves firmly in place in the air, and then tuck them under your seats for later when you will use them to wipe the sweat off your face, neck, and other places that we don’t want to know about.
A good alternative to the scarf was the cooling rag. When dipped in cool water, the rag can provide some immediate relief by wrapping it around your neck. It can also provide some comic relief if you let it sit in your lap, then stand up and let your wife take a picture of you. Either way, 10/10 would recommend.
The match started with some moments of brilliance by both Emma Sears and Kayla Fischer, but those moments were short lived because did I mention how friggin’ hot it was? They just needed some time to adjust to the heat and they would be unstoppable.
Kayla kept her cool while managing to irritate Boston a bit. There were early signs that the yellow cards would be staying in the referee’s pocket.
I learned this week that Katie O’Kane sometimes goes by KOK when someone is writing about her. (Probably to keep some well-meaning people from calling her Katie McKane.) So now that KOK is so popular that she has her own TLA (three-letter acronym), she is ready for the corporate world. I shall wait with much anticipation for the spreadsheets and decks that she will be preparing when we circle back to that topic after this Zoom meeting. “No problem,” -KOK.
Early save by Bloomer. If you haven’t watched this week’s episode of Ted Lasso and met the Richmond women’s team’s keeper, then you don’t know why she doesn’t wear gloves. I’ll wait while you go watch it.
Back? Great episode, right? And now I wonder why any keepers wear gloves. Also why more players don’t take dance lessons. Lo Milliet’s years of ballet are clearly paying off for her.
Another shot on target by Emma is chased down by Boston’s keeper who drops into 90s slumber party position while Arin Wright keeps watch for eavesdropping parents.
The dynamic duo - unless Batman has that copyrighted - of Fischer and Sears bring the ball down the pitch and remind us that Chappell Roan was not kidding about it being HOT TO GO! as she wrote about August soccer games at Lynn Family. Or maybe that song means something else entirely. Best not to overthink it.
And now we come to my favorite part of every match - when the bench players come to warm up in front of section 109. Why section 109? Because the weaselly little coach who coordinates the warms ups and probably has a title like “Assistant to the Actual Coaches” feels like this turf is better than the turf that is located where no fans’ views are obstructed, despite it being fine for the Lou City players. As much as I love being up close and personal with the players, I am trying to take pictures whilst I enjoy the match from a rather comfortable (and expensive) front row seat. So, I end up with pictures like this.
And this. Not that I’m sore. Not that I’ve moved seats for the second half of all recent matches. Not that we’ve held off renewing our season tickets (and missed the thank you calls from the players!) because of this. If the referee’s a wanker, this guy is a son of a wanker.
I know, Ella Hase, I’m appalled too. Not a creepy stalker. Trying to get pictures of all the goals. And the set-up, including this masterful move by Kayla. In 0.3 seconds that ball is going straight into the net.
Told ya.
Let’s celebrate with Kayla and the gang (not to be confused with Kool & the Gang, but I bet they would also be up for some celebration if it was 1980).
Back to business. Quincy McMahon takes another run at the goal with the distinct advantage of letting her opponent’s hair stick to the sweat on her face. Don’t they sell headbands at TJ Maxx?
After the break for the half, the bench players are thankfully still on the bench and not in my face, so I could capture this image of Bloomer landing on the ball and keeping the score Racing 1-Boston 0.
Kayla Fischer cleverly draws the foul from Boston, earning a free kick to be taken by KOK. She bangs it into the net like a reply all email telling people to stop replying to all.
There’s a party going on right here.
Save some of that celebration energy for a goal six minutes later from Emma Sears.
Keeper barely had time to dust the grass off her elbows before she has to hit the ground again, all for nothing. Even Boston’s Carabali is ready to high-five Emma for that smooth shot and the 3-0 Racing lead.
Hugs all around and hearts from Emma.
Quick pause to appreciate the dedication of the Boston palyer who had her nails done to match the nuclear neon green of the unis. I don’t hate it.
Unpause. Barely three minutes have passed and what’s that? Kayla found the goal again? Makenna Morris should be in charge of goal predictions from here to eternity because she called this. Whoever thought to ask her to predict the next Racing player to get a brace needs a raise (ed: it was Brendan Devine from BTRD, so Bekki will be sure to double his salary). Please ask Makenna if she has any thoughts on the Anthropic IPO coming up in October.
I may have mentioned that I have a front row seat (literally) to player warm-ups and thus player celebrations so I did enjoy watching them jam after Kayla’s goal while I inhaled sulfur from the fireworks again. Lots of sulfur in the air tonight. Probably not what Phil Collins was singing about but who knows.
Although we couldn’t keep the sheet totally clean (thanks for those unnecessary seven minutes of stoppage time, refs), the extra playing time gave Arin Wright a time to shine when Bloom was a bit too far up the pitch. She guarded that net like a mama duck guarding her babies. Gave it back to Bloom, not a mama duck yet, and unfortunately a ball got in. Too little, too late. Racing wins, 4-1.
I know you secretly wanted to see a picture of some baby ducks so here you go. This is brood #2 of 6 (so far this year).
