When she’s not out catching fish, Mia Littlejohn is also fairly good at snagging soccer balls shot at her. (Dawn Hesselgrave photo)
Contributed by Joe Lippo
Saturday came, and made its presence known like a mugger in a dark alley.
It was 45 degrees in the shade, and the wind easily matched the temperature. It was colder and wetter than Penn Cove, where the Great and Powerful OB (Owner of this Blog) usually marinates himself.
It was a really, really crappy day. Perfect for soccer.
Four Coupeville middle school girls took the field with the Whidbey Islanders, the U-14 select soccer team, in Bothell to square up against NSC Spectre, the #1 team in this league.
The first half was a stalemate with a few scoring opportunities, and the whistle blew on the half with the two teams deadlocked at 0-0.
The second half would be different.
NSC Spectre dialed up the pressure and the Islanders were up to the challenge. The tone switched from soccer to hockey as bodies started flying and shots on goal increased.
Now, we all know that to be a goaltender, you need to be a special kind of crazy.
You must be able to ignore pain (even welcome it), understand angles, keep an eye on that wing trying to sneak into the open grass, and not flinch when a sprinting forward is about to run you down.
This author (been there, done that, got the bloody goalie equipment) realizes that it “takes one to know one” and so knows that the position is perfect for Mia Littlejohn.
The bulk of the second half was played in front of the Islanders net, and Mia is who kept her team in the game.
She made several challenging saves, including a bunch in a row during a scramble in front of her net that resembled a mosh pit at a Rammstein concert.
Coupeville’s own Lindsey Roberts and the Islanders defense stood tall and cut off any angle that Mia didn’t already have covered, doing their part by turning aside several shots.
Kalia Littlejohn ran back from her right forward position to throw body checks into opposing players twice her size in a bid to clear the area in front of her sister.
There were 18 players in the box and the ball rattled around like a pinball.
Shot after point blank shot was somehow turned aside by Mia with her hands, feet and even one where she was on the ground until she finally covered the ball, putting an end to the chaos.
Later in the half, NSC Spectre scored on a bullet from the left of the goal that Mia had no chance to stop. Then a penalty shot found the back of the net to make it 2-0 in favor of NSC Spectre.
However, the Islanders weren’t done.
A foul committed against the Islanders deep in NSC Spectre territory gave Coupeville player Sage Renninger a free kick.
She took full advantage, bending the ball to a spot eight yards from the goal and right in the middle. Center Devin Whitlock made no mistake with the pass and buried the ball in the net to cut NFCs lead in half.
Unfortunately, despite several opportunities and some inspired play, that’s the way the hard fought game would end — NSC Spectre 2, Islanders 1.
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