On Sunday March 7th our premier soccer team FC Blackbird participated in the Keystone State Games (KSG) at Lanco Fieldhouse in Lancaster, PA.
KSG is a non-profit organization that was formed in 1983 in order to promote amateur athletics in PA. (www.keystonegames.com) Every year they host an indoor soccer tournament for adults and for the past three years we’ve entered a men’s team. In 2008 we took the bronze and this year we bested that by winning the silver.
The day started off with a slow start and a 0-0 tie on the small field. (Lanco has 3 fields. Two the same size and one that is considerably smaller) We were then surprised by a team out of Philadelphia, Tavolino and lost 0-3. For our third and final game in the preliminary round, we decided to change our strategy and finally found the back of the net to win the game 2-0. This put us second in our bracket. So, we would have to face off against another local team, Epic Photography in the first round of playoffs. We blanked them with another 2-0 victory and advanced to the semi-finals against CASL out the Elco area.
In the semi final game we struck first taking a 1-0 lead only to end up down 3-1. We climbed back to a tie, with the third goal coming in the final seconds of the game. So, we were headed to over time! The rules of the tournament state that in the case of a tie, the goalie is taken off the field and both teams play with only four field players. So, the object is to be the first team to shoot. We had the kick off and started toward the goal. We took a shot that was blocked, but Pahn who was playing forward, stole the ball from the defended and pounded it home for the win! Next stop the finals and CASL headed to play for the bronze.
Our opponent for the final turned out to be Tavolino, the only team that had bested us earlier. The game went back and forth. We were tied at 3-3, but in the final minutes Tavolino scored a fourth goal to take the lead. Then with a little over a minute, one of their players was ejected with a red card for cursing at the ref. We tried to take advantage of the numbers advantage, but they held on with four on the field to win the gold 3-4.
All in all it was a fun day and we managed to survive with out any injuries. (Last year we suffered a number of injuries.) Plus, we came home with the silver medal!
Go on FC Blackbird!
