CLUTCH!

I was involved in the most intense game in my sports history tonight! It was a hot night in the NYC and you could cut the tension with a knife. Until about a few minutes before our game our star goalie, Adam, was MIA as was two others Cody and Erica. We thought we were going to start the game shorthanded. But, alas, they showed up.

It was team MKM United (my team) vs Furiyama Mama. 4 vs 5 (MKM United was #5). We had to win our last two games in order to make the playoffs and we did. So here we were. Without one of our best guy and girl. The game started out intense, the competitiveness had kicked it up a notch since the regular season. Furiyama controlled the game in the first and scored the first goal of the game, to take the 1-0 lead with about 5 minutes left in the first half. With one sub, we had to keep pushing, but ended the first half still down.

We adjusted our strategy for the second half, I moved back to defense to conserve some energy and start the move up the field and move our best shot, Mike up to midfield in order to get more shots on goal. We took control of the match, but after a few close calls, it was still 1-0 with about 6 minutes left. Then Mike passed it up to CJ and with a wide open shot, he scores! Then the intensity picked up even more and it was back and forth for the last few minutes. Wonderful saves were made by both goalies, including a point blank shot by yours truly. End of regulation 1-1.

Sudden death. First goal wins. Five minutes. Furiyama took control with a poor strategy by us. A quick sub was made for a more experienced defender to come in and we regained control. However, no goal was scored by either team.

Shootout. Best of five. At least 2 girls have to shoot. We set the lineup. We decided to have Mike, Adam, Cody, myself, and another girl, Patty in that order.

Furiyama gets the first shot. Awesome save by Adam. Mike shoots it low and scores. MKM 1-0. Second Furiyama shot - goal. Then Adam helps his own cause 2-1 MKM. Third shot, their shot hits off the cross bar, no goal. Cody, shoots and saved by their goalie, still 2-1. I'm starting to pump my self up to get ready to shoot. Not even watching what the other person is doing because whether or not he scores, I have to score...

Furiyama misses. If I score, we win. I set up the ball. I knew where I was going, lower left. But I made it a point to keep looking to upper right and even went towards the ball. I hit it right where I wanted and SCORE!!!! MKM wins on shootout 3-1. Semifinal game Wednesday night against the #1 team. Bring your A game...