“Do, or do not. There is no ‘try’.” – Yoda (The Empire Strikes Back)
The tiny green Jedi master must have been visiting the IM Soccer fields last Wednesday as NA came back from a 4-1 half-time deficit to destroy NB with 5 second half goals. With pre-game strategy as clear as a TOM write-up, NA struggled to contain the attacking menace of NB. The rotating NA goalie was more exposed than a Spring Break cheerleader, and leaked 3 early goals. After good interplay with Sara ‘Brandy’ Strammiello, Joe ‘the Michigan muscle’ Titlow pulled one back with a sharp shot, but prospects were bleak when NB scored another just before the break.
Deciding that we needed some defenders, TJ ‘Toyota’ Carella re-organized the team and uttered those inspiring words, “We can still do it. We can beat these guys”. Sensing we were rather unconvinced, Carella took it upon himself to pull one back straight from the kick off.
And then another. And another. With the partnership of Mike ‘Marilyn’ Munson and Chris ‘Nutmeg’ Withers looking sharp (well, alive), the defense became tighter than a gnats chuff. Carella scored one more for fun and with Alex ‘Double-A’ Alvarez and Su-Lin ‘Give us a S-‘ Ong biting into the tackles, NA looked safe at 5-4. But there was more to come.
Shuhrat ‘the Tashkent express’ Kuziev made a run from deep inside his own half. Rolando ‘let’s go Mexico’ Lozano threw a dummy, and hit a long pass, which Kuziev buried in the bottom right-hand corner. Having run coast-to-coast for his goal, Kuziev called for a substitute and ran straight off the pitch. There was the little matter of another goal for NB, but who’s counting? Beware other sections, the Force is strong in this one.
