Another Soccer Heartbreaker

For the third time in 4 years, once again this year our beloved South Burlington High School Rebels boys soccer team made it to the State Division 1 soccer championship and lost the title in overtime and/or penalty kicks after a tie score.   The Rebels have been a highly skilled, talented and tight soccer team for at least 4 years.  We have a core team of club soccer players developed from a young age with Far Post Soccer Club (I have a very close association with Far Post, because our sons have been playing with the club for 9 years and I currently serve as chair of the Far Post board of directors).  Leading players from 4 age groups of club soccer play together on our high school team, which is a recipe for success.  But soccer is called "a game of a thousand mistakes" and as a soccer fan I've seen this play out so many times.  Every Division 1 title game is a battle between two strong skilled teams and the 2008 championship game yesterday was no exception.  Our Rebels kept on attacking the goal but their opponent, Burlington High School (BHS), has an exceptionally talented goalie, Amir Pasic.  He stopped everything except one penalty kick, which kept our team in the game.  But if you can't score, you can't win.  And in the third overtime period, our defense deflected a shot and it went in our own goal.  Like most "own goals" in soccer, our goalie had no chance to stop it.  This is a wrenching way to lose in sudden-death overtime in a title match.  As a fan, and a parent, it's heartbreaking to see our sons Rob and Brad and their friends on the team lose again in such a hard fought championship game.  The saying "Always a Bridesmaid and Never a Bride" comes to mind. But of course the bridesmaid is always a friend of the bride - and similarly, players and parents on our team have close friends and club soccer teammates on both of the high school teams that have defeated us for the title - Champlain Valley Union High School (CVU) 3 times (twice in the title games 2 and 3 years ago, and last year in the semi-finals) and now BHS.  Congratulations to our friends with the BHS team, and see you on the pitch again next year, with Brad and friends.  And more importantly, many thanks to the SBHS Rebel boys soccer team, it has been a wonderful good time for Rob and for us as his parents.  Rob is a graduating senior and will move on to new adventures in college soccer.