SACCO: A goal worthy of a hug

Sis would just have to do.

With a mob of Waynesboro boys soccer fans wanting to jump onto the pitch and wrap up junior Erik Simonsen in a giant bear hug, it was his sister, Bree, who got first dibs.

Walking up to her brother, she smiled, said something that Superman would have a hard time hearing amid the crowd and wrapped her arms around Erik after his first varsity goal.

Jealous, Giantdom?

Of course you are.

Because in a game that had you wrapped up tighter than a bed spring, it was Erik’s foot that saved the day. Saved the night. Put the Little Giants a match up in a rivalry with Fort that’s budding faster than the apple tree in your back yard.

And mere minutes after the game ended, Simonsen had no clue what happened. Only that his team met him with open arms and high fives after the shot, then bounced him around like a pinball and patted his head like a poodle as they trotted back to midfield.

“I can hardly even remember, really,” he said.

Don’t worry, it probably all came back to him at some point. Maybe when he got home and plopped down into bed. Maybe when he closed his eyes and fell asleep where, no doubt, that moment will be replayed over and over in a dreamy haze. Replete with screaming fans, high-fiving teammates and a coach who couldn’t take the time to celebrate until another six or so minutes ticked off the clock.

“My reaction was let’s make sure we don’t lose this game,” Meicke said in typical, well, Meicke fashion.

With a keeper like Fort’s Derek Uhler, Meicke said the way to get the ball into the net is low and hard. Simonsen’s shot was a grass cutter, never really leaving the ground and denting the back of the net to Uhler’s left.

“I was telling them, when you got a big keeper, you got to keep the ball low,” Meicke said, finally smiling and even throwing a laugh in here and there. “And Simonsen lit it up and I think it was a big surprise. To everybody.”

Finally, some of the details started coming back to Simonsen. Not much though. As he smiled standing on the side of the pitch, he admitted he had no clue how the cross got his way. You can’t blame him after all. He was just one player standing in a sea of Fort blue, Waynesboro white and black spikes that crowded the box about 18-yards out. When he noticed the ball right in front of his foot, only two things popped into his head.

“I got to shoot this,” he said. “There’s no better chance.”

And no better way to rejuvenate your teammates in game that was as testy as it was exciting. With four yellow cards already handed out, Meicke said the goal put renewed energy in his Giants and sped them up a tad. They would need it in the final four minutes as the Indians unleashed a flurry of attacks with hopes of knotting it back up.

The defense held and, afterward, you wanted to hold Simonsen.

“He was killing it, dude,” said Tuesday’s hero, Alex Farrington, of Simonsen’s goal. “We were pumped, man.”

And they all gave him one last high five as they left the pitch.

But it was sis who gave him the hug.

Jealous, Giantdom?

Of course you are.