Orange Bolts lock Volcanoes 1-3 but Red Team gets first Goal

Dateline: October 10, 2009.  Dawn broke early and cold on the muddy field at Fox Park.  The referee arrived looking rough, possibly after a long Friday night on the town.  The Auger foretold a messy match, and messy it was as the Volcanoes dropped to 0-4 on the season.

But first there was business to do.  "The name 'Volcanoes' isn't lucky," announced forward William Steadman.  "We should change it."

"What do you like better?" his coach asked.

"Hot wheels!" he responded.

"There aren't enough people on the team who like that name to call for a vote," responded the Coach.  "Maybe next week."

Maybe that rejection fired Steadman's determination to get his first goal; no one will ever know.  But the rest of the morning went better for the Steadman than it did for Volcanoes.

The teams played wet and muddy scrum in the first half.  There were several good blocks by both teams' goalies.  Volcano Micah, playing goalie in the second quarter, was repeatedly forced to go face-down in the mud to make stops, so often that his jersey was a uniform shade of wet-brown by halftime.  But he prevented all shots, and it was all tied at zero going into halftime.

At the beginning of the third quarter, just after halftime, forward William "the Wolf" Steadman broke away with the ball, behind the Orange Bolt defense, and went end-to-end for a beautiful shot past the Bolt goalie.  It was the Volcanoes first offensive goal of the season. Steadman was all smiles and fist-pumps, clearly pleased with himself. 

Still in the third, a Volcano tripped a Bolt.  The referee, still looking dazed, awarded a cheap penalty kick that resulted in the Bolts' first goal and it was all tied again 1-1.

Orange scored again in the third to make the score 1-2.

In the fourth quarter, Steadman played stout defense then (after position substitutions) had another nice shot on goal that almost resulted in a score.  On the breakaway the other way, however, goalie Drew Kunkel fell asleep and allowed the Bolts' third goal.

The match ended 1-3, for the Volcanoes fourth consecutive loss.  But there was a lot to like in their spunky play.  They out-shot the Bolts, despite a size disadvantage, and they passed well.  They got their first goal, and at times showed excellent defense.  "We'll win one for sure by the end of the season," predicted an optimistic Steadman.  "But we may need a long season."