After a fairly back-and-forth start to region play, Claire and her lady Red Devils eventually squeaked, or maybe surged into this year's playoff tournament on the strength of a series of impressive victories against several strong squads (9-1 against Provo [maybe not so strong ...], 5-0 over Wasatch, a tremendous 3-2 nail-biter over mighty Timpanogos).
They were in! Accordingly, on October 9, they met up-north Bountiful's Viewmont High in the first match of the state's yearly single-elimination round robin tournament.
Viewmont had finished first in their region, with a 9-1 record. They were good. As it turned out Springville kept pace with them. In fact, they went so far as to outpace them, scoring first and ending the first half of the game with the lead. But then fatigue, and maybe a bit of a shallow bench, conspired against these young Devils. Viewmont scored twice in just a few minutes toward the end of the game, and came away with a 3-2 victory.
Springville was eliminated.
But we believe in moral victories. Chuck Wepner and all! Notwithstanding, maybe because of all of its ups and downs, this was a good season. And for Claire and her fellow Seniors, this was a good game to close out these last four years of high school soccer.
For Claire, or maybe for us, especially. As mentioned, Springville opened the scoring in this game. Claire opened the scoring, actually. And did she ever!
Let's make a flip book here. Click on the first photo, then press that forward button quickly. As you do so you'll see this play develop. There's a throw-in on the far side. There's a bit of scrambling, until left back Claire moves toward an open space as (future hall-of-famer) Tara Warner gets hold of the ball and serves it to her. Then, everlastingly, Claire makes a bid. She ventures a shot, which turns out to be a big, bending 35 yard strike of historic proportions. Man! Golaso!! You'll notice the poor goalie, who was positioned well, and couldn't have played this better, or otherwise.
Perfection! Celebrations follow. One's mates! Even opponents, on occasions like this, have to give a guy credit.
The sun goes on rising and setting, and these good things give way and fade into next things. Sometimes, though, there are indelibles.
These images come from a dad's i-pod, with which he recorded the whole game. Here's a link to the goal in real-time. Go to about 11:30 or 11:45, and then proceed. Did you hear that? We'll remember the beautiful sound of foot and ball, and the communal elation that follows.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vH-vQa9QN8Y&t=727s
Claire ...
