The World Cup
The goal that united a nation: Donovan celebrates after his injury timer winner against Algeria
As to be expected, there were many highlights within a rather large highlight as South Africa hosted a pretty successful World Cup. Spain emerged as winner for the first time in the nation’s history, after beating the Netherlands in the final. The top U.S. moment was Landon Donovan’s dramatic injury time winner against Algeria, which sent Bob Bradley’s men through to the last 16, where they lost to Ghana in overtime. Another star to make the headlines was Paul the oracle octopus, who predicted correctly all of Germany’s seven encounters and the final itself. Alas, Paul departed for the great sea in the sky after he died in October.
Feldhaus save clinches regional for Jeff
Jeffersonville goalkeeper Cauldon Feldhaus dove to his left to stop Cameron Hensley’s shot, giving the Red Devils a 5-3 penalty kick victory over Trinity Lutheran for the team’s third regional championship, and first since 2005. “To be honest, I totally guessed,” said Feldhaus. The Red Devils (18-2) lost to Washington at semi-state.
Final fling for UofL
One of the best moments of 2010 and helping the game locally no end, came towards the year’s conclusion when University of Louisville reached the NCAA Division 1 championship game for the first time in its history. The Cardinals went into the tournament as No. 1 seeds, and beat Charleston, Ohio State and UCLA in front of bumper home crowds before traveling to the Men’s College Cup in Santa Barbara, Calif. Ken Lolla’s boys beat North Carolina to get to the final, where it lost to No. 3 Akron, a program Lolla had been in charge of from 1993-2005.
Cards celebrate Big East tournament win
Two class soccer
The moment that the IHSAA announced in May that high school boys’ and girls soccer would be divided into two classes come the fall of 2011 was the moment that certain smaller schools started dreaming of long post season tournament runs and maybe even a state title. The cut-off point for the revamped tournaments — to be based on school enrollment — will be known in the spring following the next classification realignment.
Providence winner v Floyd Central
Providence's Casey Marlin fires homes against Floyd Central. Photo by Ronda Trimble.
The Pioneers’ overtime clincher against the Highlanders in the sectional semi-final is so far one of the best goals I’ve seen since covering local girls’ high school soccer. It was rather apt that it was superbly finished off by Casey Marlin, who broke all manner of records in her junior year (top all-time Providence scorer at 59; most goals in a season with 29), but it was the searing 60-plus yard run by defender Leah Mattingly, leaving a number of Floyd Central players in her wake, and her delivery to Marlin, that made the goal special. Providence went on to win sectional and bowed out at regional to eventual state finalist Columbus North, coached by Jeffersonville’s Mike Spock.
Christian Academy forces shootout
Beaten 6-0 by the Pioneers during regular season, Christian Academy of Indiana was in no mood for a repeat result. Following a 1-1 tie after overtime, and penalty kicks tied at 3-3 with just one shot remaining for both teams, CAI goalkeeper Tyler Stumler’s effort dramatically hit the crossbar and sped downwards, but was adjudged not to have crossed the line when it bounced off the turf. Ben Orem made no mistake with the last penalty, sending the Pioneers to the championship game, where they lost to Jeffersonville.
U.S. loses World Cup bid
Matching the disappointment of the U.S. losing to Ghana at the World Cup was the awarding of the 2022 tournament by FIFA to Qatar. At one stage considered a strong favorite, the U.S. bid (which included the Colts’ Lucas Oil Stadium as one of the possible venues) lost out to the Persian Gulf nation the size of Connecticut amid allegations of a corrupt selection process driven by oil money. Bah, humbug. Russia won the right to host the 2018 World Cup.
Eh, where?
The winner … oops, no it isn't!
Those who witnessed it, including Providence match report writer Tim Brown, said they had never seen anything like it before. With just 20 seconds left, and the game tied at 3-3, the Pioneers took the lead when Pierce Crawley notched his hat-trick. However, Providence celebrations were short-lived. In fact, they lasted as long as it took Jennings County’s Matt Flora to kick the ball from the restart at the halfway line perfectly into upper left hand corner of the net to tie proceedings at 4-4.
School shocks in Louisville
Soccer powerhouses St. Xavier and Sacred Heart, both winners of boys’ and girls’ Kentucky state titles respectively for the past three years, crashed out of their respective tournaments on the very same night. Minnows Louisville Collegiate tamed the Tigers, while DuPont Manual overcame the Valkyries on penalties in a game played over two evenings. Collegiate would later lose to Central Hardin the quarterfinals, while Manual made it to the final four, where it lost to eventual winner St Henry.
Some magical assistance from Rick 'Dumbledore' Underwood helped the Gryffindores (DuPont Manual) make the final four in Kentucky.
Déjà vu for New Albany
It was a case of déjà vu as New Albany, for the second successive year, beat rival Floyd Central on penalty kicks after a scoreless encounter. The Highlanders had gone through the entire season unbeaten, securing the Hoosier Hills Conference along the way, before the shootout defeat to the Bulldogs.
New Albany celebrates sectional win over Floyd Central
Others highlights worth mentioning include the fifth staging of the New Albany Deanery Soccer League for hundreds of the area’s children; the acceptance of Javanon ‘94 (featuring Southern Indiana’s Jordan Vejar, Matt Kelecy and Nick Blackwell) into the U.S. Youth Soccer National League; and the announcement of a new adult team for Kentuckiana in the shape of River City Rovers, which will play in the United Soccer League’s Premier Development League, seen as a shop window for aspiring pros.
And then on a wider scale, there was Colorado Rapids winning its first MLS Cup over Dallas; Inter Milan being crowned king of Europe and World Club champion, and the interesting acquisition of Liverpool FC by John W. Henry, owner of the Boston Red Sox, following a long and drawn out saga.
