Taylor and his teammates…

This past Saturday afternoon Miss and I took our seats up against the press box. We laid our blanket across the cold, metal bleacher and settled in for 80 minutes of Liberty High School soccer. The temperature was in the mid forties but it felt much colder as the wind was howling from the southwest at 20 mph. The game would decide the District champion and moments into the contest we knew it was going to be a fight – almost a literal one. The Catholics from St. Charles played as if they were on a crusade and we were in need of some kinda, serious conversion.

The first half ended with the good guys, LHS, failing to capitalize on their wind advantage. Somewhere around the 66th minute, a gutsy attack began with Joey winning a ball out of our corner and playing it into the middle. Donny the defacto Liberty king of the air, was draped by his defender as the ball arrived. Taylor’s defender made the fateful decision to go for the in-bound ball in the air as well. He left Taylor for what musta seemed like a fraction of a second. Donny fought through his Catholic Draping duo and managed to simply get a sliver of head on said incoming missle. His redirect was pure magic.

Taylor took it from there.

Taylor moved ever so slightly as Donny’s re-direct followed the laws of physics and quickly headed toward the turf. About 13 inches prior to landing, however, Taylor’s flat laces greeted the incoming missle with enough force to simulatenously sound like the crack of a bat and, just as suddenly, crash into the back of the net.

The goalie never saw it.

You play and you play and you play. You make run after run after run. You get tackled and tackled and tackled. You get knocked down, knocked off, and knocked around. You keep playing and suddenly the ball is in the back of the net.

Taylor and the Liberty High School soccer team pushed back the Crusaders by a final score of 1-0. Their season continues this week with another battle against another good team from central ohio. I want them to win for so many reasons but none more than this – I don’t want the season to end. I want them to win because they are great soccer players who are learning to play together, yes. However, when I’m really honest with my feelings my desire for their victory is kinda self serving. You see, Taylor is a senior and when this season is over it means his time with us is that much closer to being over. My heart breaks just writing such a thought.

Yes, I want them to win but it’s much bigger than a game to Miss and me. You see, the longer they win, the longer they keep playing. The longer they keep playing, the longer we’re distracted from thinking about the inevitable. The longer Liberty lives on, the longer Miss and I are from realizing our loss. Kinda cra cra, huh…

So, this wednesday, if you think about it say an extra prayer for Taylor and his Liberty teammates. They deserve another victory for all their hard work and talent. Miss and I will be there, pressed up against some press box, waiting for that one touch and the sudden shake in the back of the net. Thanks Taylor and your teammates for so many memories. You’ve got a few more in you, right…