After an season opening loss to Alexandria, Xtreme 98 rebounded with an unbelievably exciting come-from-behind win against the VYS Firehawks on Sunday.
After much of the team stayed up ALL NIGHT at the Red squad's end of season party and sleepover, fans were uneasy going into Sunday's game. Xtreme fell behind 2-0 in the opening minutes, but dug deep and by halftime, the game was tied. The Taxman scored on a penalty kick, a result of multiple handballs, the last one inside the box, and Meg scored a blistering goal from the right wing.
The teams took the field in the second half determined to break the tie - and VYS opened the scoring. But Xtreme wouldn't give up, and actually controlled the ball and pace of the game nicely. Xtreme communicated very well and the lines Coach Summer developed synched up beautifully, backing each other up and feeding each other to test the Firehawk keeper.
Consistent with Coach Summer's belief that everyone should get a taste of goalkeeping duties, Xtreme rotated through six keepers. This game saw Kendall, Emma, Madison, Myriam, Meg, and The Hammer in goal.
Caitlin tied the game again with a thunderous shot from twenty feet that had so much boot on it, even if the goalie had gotten her hands on it, was going to carry her into the net with it.
Once again VYS broke the tie going up 4-3, but it was all Xtreme from that point on.
Backed by a solid defense of Kendall and Space Ghost, the offensive line of Elizabeth, Sunshine, and Caitlin peppered the VYS keeper and defense with an uninterrupted 5 minutes of pressure. Xtreme took at least 15 shots during the span that were saved or went just wide or were deflected. VYS was unable to make defensive changes and finally the shell-shocked keeper was able to deflect a ball into the Xtreme half, and all players on both teams changed.
With The Hammer in goal and Madison and Meg on defense, Xtreme's offense kept the pressure on. Taxman, Reina, and Laura continued to test the keeper until Laura found the back of the net to tie the game with less than 3 minutes to play.
The Xtreme line continued to dominate the exhausted VYS squad that lost two players to injury during the match, and Meg and Reina repeatedly tested the keeper, until finally, with less than 12 seconds left in the game, Reina found the back of the net from point blank range to send Xtreme up 5-4.
It was a thrilling match, both teams played well, but apparently working on no sleep seemed to work for Xtreme. Next up, a surprise Thanksgiving weekend game against TA Freedom 98.
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