Dragons vs Keller

Keller, TX - March 11, 2013 - by J/K Horne

The Dragon Men faced a number of obstacles when traveling to Keller for their match against the Indians Monday evening. The first day of Spring Break left our scholar-athletes without the typical measure of mental challenge they are accustomed to, though rumors abound that certain players were “reading ahead” in their calculus textbooks and others studying for end-of-semester exams on the bus ride over. In yet another challenge, the poor design of the stadium prevented Carroll supporters from an otherwise perfect opportunity to view comet panSTARRS… their viewing of stars that evening was therefore restricted to the Dragon players on the field. Nevertheless, the squad came out razor-sharp for this important matchup that was to determine sole possession of first place in the District. One minute in, Jack F rifled a low skimmer across the face of the goal that set the Indians back on their collective heels. Sensing a need to divert the Dragons’ attention, the Indians apparently began communicating with smoke signals, as a toxic haze enveloped the field. But it was to no avail; things were business-as-usual for Carroll as Tanner muscled aside an emerging Keller offensive run, and moments after that launched a long free kick that caromed off Mike’s head and then Shane’s for another near miss. About halfway into the stanza, Shane made a nice feed to Jack P, who then passed back to Jack F for a shot that missed just left by the narrowest of margins. Meanwhile, Walker dominated in the middle, continually flicking the hapless defenders aside, bouncing them away with one well-placed shoulder after another. With 13 minutes left, a free kick by Tommy deflected off a defender for a corner. Brad then made an exquisite serve to the back post which skittered to Mike who convincingly slammed it into the net. While the crowd on the Carroll side sounded its approval, somewhere out there a big fan of Mike’s, though not in the stadium, had the best seat in the house to witness his fitting tribute.

With ten minutes left, Duncan added some fresh legs to the mix, and emerged from a triple-team near the sidelines to start another Dragon surge. Five minutes later, Shane made a nice pass to Jack F, who faked the shoes, socks, shin guards, and ankle bracelet off the would-be defender before launching a promising shot that resulted in another Dragon corner. As usual, the Dragon “D” had its way with the opponent, with ever-calm Logan rendering any over-the-top passes ineffective and wisely stepping up with his back-line mates to disrupt every advance. Near the end of the half, Baker made an outstanding run toward the corner before a Keller defender hopped on his back for the last five or ten yards.

In the second half, Turner started things off nicely for the Dragons by snaring a long throw-in, and then booming a punt to start a Carroll transition. Paul made an outstanding running header six minutes in to again start our mids off and running. A few minutes later, Tanner made a textbook “all-ball” slide / pass which started Brad off on a run of his own. With 26 minutes left, Shane took a page from Jack F’s first half effort by freezing a perplexed and bewildered defender along the left sideline. Ten minutes later, Walker unleashed a low screamer from 25 yards out that sprained the goalie’s wrists and bounced straight out to a speeding and perfectly positioned Ricardo who slammed it home for an obvious goal. While the AR held up a flag and thought otherwise, fans on both sides realized it should have counted. Nonetheless, the Dragons continued pressing hard as the now-desperate Indians attempted to cobble together an offensive run. Predictably, the Carroll defense would allow no such thing, and the mids and forwards continued their dominance, drawing foul after foul, and culminating in a nice run through a rug-like defender administered by Shane that the ref felt compelled to award a yellow. (We on the East side award a blue ribbon). The last few minutes were highlighted by a couple nice saves by Turner, and a long run by Mike down the right side, evading the now-second-place Indians all the way along. Dragons: one nil.