A Rivalry Reignited

First of all, apologies for the delay in the post. The author has been on the road for the last week and did not make time to post, so please accept his deepest regrets for his tardiness. Adding to the misfortune, the game last Saturday at Wartburg was a battle worth watching and reading about. Luther headed down to Waverly with heads held high after an impressive away win at Central earlier in the week, and looked to continue their winning ways against Wartburg. The winner of this game would most likely be locked in at 3rd place in the conference, which would be Luther's best finish in recent years.
The weather was almost as unkind to the Wartburg field as it has been to Luther's this fall, and it was to be another sloppy mudfest which made it difficult for either team to play. After the Luther women's thrilling victory over the nationally ranked Wartburg women, the men looked to replicate the feat over a team that won an at-large bid to the national tournament last year.
The boys fought hard and were supported well by a traveling base of fans who made it to the game in the nick of time. With a couple chances for either side, the first half would end with a nil-nil tie. The second half began in heated fashion, with intense, individual battles happening all over the field. After losing senior defender Gabe Less to injury in the first half, the makeshift back line was challenged in the second. Early in the half Jimmy Laroque beat a player on top of the box and hit a shot well to the low corner, but the Wartburg keeper did well to parry the shot wide of the goal. But there looked to be rouble when Luther lost possession in their own third, the Wartburg forward received the ball on top of the box, turned the Luther defender, and had only Steve O'Meara to beat. He finished the ball near post and put Wartburg up 1-0 in the 51st minute.
Luther continued to battle and were not easily defeated. Then in the 70th minute, junior midfielder Alex Case dropped a ball in behind the Wartburg defense and into a charging Saul Rosales, who burried an incredible one-touch finish in the back of the net for one of the top goals of the year. With the score knotted at one, the game looked headed to overtime when two Luther defenders arrived late on a ball switched through the midfield. The Wartburg wide player hit an excellent cross and found his man's head on the back post to score what proved to be the game winner. The game finished with Luther on the losing end, 2-1.
Close losses like this have plagued the Luther season, but the team must feel good that they were able to battle back and be competetive in every game this season. Hopefully their competetive nature will carry them to some success in the following games. There is still a little yet to be decided in the conference with a few games to be played on Staurday, but a win against Coe on senior night would guarantee a home game for the opening round of the conference tournament, a treat Luther would definitely like to take part in.