Soccer is far and away the most popular sport on the planet. If you don’t believe me, consider this. Last year, 1.5 billion viewers watched Argentina take down France in the World Cup Final, which was about 1.38 billion more than the number that watched the Chiefs beat the Eagles in Super Bowl LVII, and 1.49 billion more than the number that watched the Golden Bachelor Finale where Gerry picked Marina (or so I heard). There are many reasons for soccer’s popularity, which I may dive into in future articles, but perhaps the most compelling is that it is visually appealing to watch, hence its nickname as “The Beautiful Game”.
On Wednesday, the JV Girls Soccer team hit the road again, this time to take on the Pittsburg Pirates. Although the official attendance number was unavailable at the time this was published, I am pretty sure that number of fans was slightly below the World Cup Final, if for no other reason than the first half was played in a torrential downpour. However, what we lacked in numbers (and warmth) we more than made up for in passion cheering for the team.
Unlike last game where the Dons missed many scoring opportunities, the team converted early and often in this one. The scoring began about 30 seconds into the game on a play from Grace Colaco to Elodie Jensen to Grace Eppinger. From there, the onslaught continued. Other girls that scored included Julia Munter, Grace Eppinger again on an assist off a corner kick from Maya Shiniman, Elodie Jensen on a booming kick from distance, Julia Lyons on an assist from Dani Green, Maya Shiniman on an assist from Michela Barbano, Dani on a free kick, and Ella Culbertson.
The defense didn’t get much action, including goalie Cate Mercier who moved around mostly to try to stay warm.
According to Elias Sports Bureau, there were several Dons records set during the game, including the shortest elapsed time between checking into a game and scoring, number of beautiful crossing passes, and water depth when attempting a corner kick. Those records go to Grace Eppinger (about 1 second), Michela (too many to count), and Maya (at least 6 inches) respectively. Congratulations girls!
Two years ago, when my son was started playing Acalanes Baseball, I started a segment in my articles called “Get to know Coach” where I asked the coach personal questions to be revealed over the course of the season. Thankfully, Coach Alex was willing to continue the tradition. Alex’s favorite soccer player of all time is Ronaldo Nazário, the former professional Brazilian striker who was better known as “The Phenomenon” (not to be confused with this writer who has been called the same thing for his writing abilities).
Please come out and cheer on the team as they play in a JV tournament this weekend at Campolindo. First game starts at 4pm on Friday against Miramonte.