The alarm went off early for a Saturday. We needed to be on the road by 8:15 or so in order to be in Columbus by 11:00. While the reasons for going to Columbus should be obvious and numerous, this morning we were taking the 2+ hour drive to go see the CVCA boys’ soccer team play for the Division II state championship.

The CVCA soccer program is pretty amazing. We went to states in 2002 and lost in a shoot-out. We went back in 2004 and won the Division III title, but then we moved up to Division II (for reasons I don’t know). In order to make things really interesting this year, the playoff-caliber team from last year lost thirteen seniors from the team, and so we only had three returning players to the squad. Now, CVCA’s program is large enough that we have two “varsity” teams – a “white” team and a “blue” team. The white team plays the conference games and the blue team plays the larger out-of-conference teams. This helps the program have quite a bit of depth, but with losing so many players this year, it was not known how good the team would be.

Turns out our team was pretty good – they only lost one game all year. At 11:00 this morning, they started play for the state championship. Now, I know almost nothing about the game of soccer, but here are my impressions; it looked as if our guys controlled the first 20 minutes of the first (40-minute) half. Then, they appeared to back off a little (maybe tired? maybe a strategy?) and things were played more on our side of the field. In the second half, the guys played most of the game on the other team’s side of the field. Still, the game was a 0-0 tie until we scored off of a corner kick that slipped through the goalie’s hands with about 8:30 left to play. We then scored again with about 4:30 left to play on a break-away goal. That was the final score – 2-0, CVCA.

I was impressed by the skills of the CVCA guys – the footwork was impressive. They could stop on a dime and they could control the ball very well. If I tried any of that I would fall over. There were a few missed passes, but just a few – on the whole, the passes were impressive, especially when they were passing off of their heads. Well done!

The CVCA crowd thought the officiating was poor, but I have no way to know that. I don’t know the rules well enough to know what was wrong. There were a few missed calls that even Mer and I could make out. Still, I always take fans’ opinions about officiating with a grain of salt. It was enjoyable to be blissfully ignorant of the nuances of the game, at least in this respect.

The fans were pretty good. I admired the body-paint guys – it was only about 45 degrees out, and the sun kept coming and going behind clouds. Add a 5-10 mph wind across the field, and they had to be fairly cold. I was a little disappointed by a few CVCA fans. It is natural enough to groan when something unfortunate happens – that is a gut reaction, and I have no problem with that. But I was saddened by several adults hurling down genuine insults on the officials and even on a few opposing players. CVCA folks always need to be mindful that we are being watched as to how we act, and we should do better (in my opinion). Don’t get the wrong idea – the vast majority of the fans were great and supportive. It just makes be sad when a few Christians forget who they are and that people are watching.

So, a very good game, and a tremendous outcome for the soccer team for this year! Congratulations to the entire team and to the coach. Well done!