A Heartbreaking Weekend

The busy weekend for Luther was complete with every emotion one could fathom a soccer team could have. Surprise, elation, fatigue, anger, and heartbreak were among those that showered down upon the Luther Soccer team this weekend.
In the midst of mid-terms, Luther sent a 12-man roster down to Pella, Iowa for a reserve tournament at Central College. Though they were undermanned and without any field-player substitutes, the reserves fought bravely and worked hard for each other. After a late arrival, they came out strong against Central College in the first of three sixty minute games that day. Luther took it to them on their own field, winning 2-0, with goals from Okete and Hwang. In the second game against Dubuque, their legs looked to fail them as they fell 1-0 to Dubuque in a close battle where it was anyone's game. When Paul Armstrong suffered a concussion against Dubuque, Luther knew they were down to eleven players for the remainder of the afternoon. Luther was suprised and elated to find out it had made it to the finals against a good Loras team on goal differential, and all pain was forgotten and the boys were ready to fight for sixty more minutes.
Though drained after leaving at 7 AM, driving four hours, and playing 120 minutes of soccer in four hours, Luther never gave up and didn't back down. Loras got the first goal towards the end of the first half on a scramble in the box, but Luther countered even later in the half when Tyler Brewer was fouled in the box and Hwang burried the penalty kick. In the second half, Loras was able to score as Dickson was screened to put Loras up 2-1. Once again Luther fought back as Brewer intercepted a pass in the attacking third and combined with Okete to tie the score at 2. The game looked to be headed to penlty kicks when a free-kick put us in trouble. When our defenders called for an off-sides call there was none, and the Loras player was in behind and able to score a minute before. They dug in deep and fought hard for the name on their shirt that day, and the coaching staff could not have been any prouder of them. They overcame obstacles and never gave up, and it was a sign of things to come.
On Saturday, another roller coaster of a game left Luther on the losing end 3-2 against UW-Platteville. The first half saw Luther demolishing Platteville for forty minutes and being up 2-0, with a goal off a corner from Stalberger and a bent shot from wide from Quezada the first of his career. But when Platteville pulled one back right before halftime, momentum changed, and they felt like they were in the game that they should not have been. Just after halftime, Platteville leveled the score and Luther looked to be in trouble. We were unable to hold on and they put another goal in the back of the net on a counter attack with fifteen to go finishing the scoring and putting Luther on the losing end 3-2. The timing of goals can be so important, when you score one going into and coming out of halftime, things don't look good, and it proved correct on this day,
The next day had Luther heading up to St. Peter, Minnesota to take on Gustavus Adolphus College. An organized side and a windy day made it tough for the Norse to score without many great chances on either side. In overtime, Luther was unable to convert their best chance of the game and then gave up a goal on a deflected shot after a Gustavus corner, losing with 2 minutes remaining. Heartbreak again found its way on the faces of the Luther players.
But even after all that, even after dropping two tough non-conference games this weekend, even after having a record go from near .500 to far below it, Luther has everything to play for. They are still fourth in the IIAC, with a win in the next three game securing a spot in the IIAC tournament and three wins allowing them to move as high as third. We can not give up. We can not lose hope. We still control our own destiny, which is a great feeling to have. So we will fight on, work harder, and do our best to become the best we can be.