Working on my Day Off, Game 2...

The second game I was shooting was after Cooper's game. It was nice that I had time to edit and send my photos from game one and take my time getting them sent, then have a little time to relax before the next game. I was told the game between Midland High and Arlington Martin was going to be a dogfight, and boy was it. The first half was kind of uneventful, both teams were playing good defense but the intensity level just wasn't as high as I was expecting.

In the second half things changed a lot. Especially as the clock was winding down. Both teams had chances for goals, Martin had one that hit the top crossbar and went straight down before Midland could clear it away, but no goal was scored. After the full 80 minutes there was no score and we were going to overtime. During the first overtime, there was again no score. In the final overtime, I was hoping for one team to score, I didn't have time for a shootout, plus that's never a great way for a team to win the game, it's better decided on the field. Well, with about three minutes left Midland finally got the ball down the field with a player going one on one with the keeper. Martin's keeper got a hand on the ball but couldn't hold on to it and the Midland forward was able to just tap the ball in the goal. After that Martin really turned up the pressure but Midland was able to keep clearing the ball down the field and kill the clock. For a game that had no scoring for the first 97 minutes it turned out to be a really nice game.

Playoffs...

November might as well just be called the month I'm never home, let's see home many miles I can drive in a single month without ever leaving the state. So, the first playoffs I shot was Cooper playing Arlington Martin in Brownwood. It's been a while since Cooper made the playoffs in 5A, they did make it once during their 2-year stint in 4A, but their one playoff match was far away and one of the other local teams had a home match. But, a short trip to Brownwood was an easy choice to cover. Well, the match wasn't all that great Arlington Martin was good and Cooper was just over matched. They ended up losing the match in three games and it wasn't event that close. Getting blown out so bad, there wasn't a whole lot of emotion about the end of their season, but I was happy with the action shots I got from the match.

Waiting for a Goal...

Last week Abilene High played a home playoff soccer game. Since soccer crowds aren't usually big I normally get there about 5 minutes before the game since I don't have to worry too much about fighting crowds. That and most of the time it takes at least 30 minutes for a goal. This time it took even longer. After two 40 minutes halves and two 10 minute overtime periods neither team scored a goal. There were a couple of missed opportunities, but those don't really make great photos. So they went to a shootout. It worked out ok, the bottom shot of the ball getting by the goalie is the winning shot. The funny part is the kid's family was sitting behind me and said, "Hey, make sure you get a shot of the goalie in the newspaper." I don't think this is the shot what they wanted... how ironic. But, the photo did tell the story.