Well, let’s start by looking all the way back to 2007 when this team consisted of wee little U11 babies, when two U10 Rush rival recreational teams, the Red-Eyed Tree Frogs and Chaos, combined and started off their career as competitive players. With some players leaving and some crucial additions along the way, they finally can proudly call themselves State Cup champs at 19 years old: the beginning of one last ride. Although it may not completely compare to the U15 ECNL National Championship, this game meant quite a bit to this team. Actually, the plan was to automatically qualify for Regionals since Rush was originally the only team to enter in the U19 State Cup, but with a late entry by a long-time rival Real team, they were forced to play one final game to declare a State champion. Let’s be honest, though, would the championship really be as awesome if they didn’t have to play their archrival? So yeah, a 3-1 win over Real made the taste of victory that much sweeter.
Sadly, on Saturday, Rush was missing quite a few key components from the original crew. Mr. Erik Bushey couldn’t make it out to Gates Soccer Complex because he apparently has higher priorities in Switzerland or something (I don’t know what could be more important than having a reunion with the greatest team of all time, but I guess he just missed the memo). Luckily, Coach Blanco came to the rescue and didn’t leave the alums stranded. They also suffered low numbers due to missing players such as Jordan DiBiasi, Bri Curtis, Gabi Gines, and Bre Robertson. However, the team will be complete in Boise, so after seeing how promising they looked on Saturday, it’s exciting to think about what they can achieve in the near future. Thankfully, U18 studs Kayla Stark and Shannon Mooney guest played on Saturday to help out the old women.
In spite of not being able to practice once with the entire team back together, it was pretty amazing how well the U19s gelled and regrouped after almost a year of not playing together. I guess you could say that the devastating loss last June to West Coast F.C. is all too fresh in their minds and to say they are hungry for one last chance at a national championship is a massive understatement.
How unique of a feeling it was to wear the R (and the Chevy sign) on our chests again and to play one last time together in Colorado in front of family and friends. Of course, the game was physical, but the good soccer and incomparable team chemistry of the good guys (aka Rush) won out. Jastin Redman began the scoring with a beautiful finish to the bottom right corner (ladies and gentlemen, the Redman magic is back and better than ever). Not long after, keeper Shannon Mooney made an incredible save to keep the one-goal lead. Rush then increased the lead to 2-0 after the infamous Max Flom dribbled furiously into the box, and drew a handball from her cross. Betsy Brandon then finished the penalty kick into the top left corner. Good thing she got all her misses out in practice just days before…
After a solid 45 minutes, Rush entered the second half with the two-goal lead. Unfortunately, Real drew an indirect free kick in the box and in an attempt to block the shot, Redman got her head on the ball and it ended up in the top corner of our own goal (she was really just trying to keep the parents on their toes). It didn’t take Rush long to bounce back though. Flom flew down the left side once again and finished with a perfect cross to the near post where Brandon tried to turn but instead got her legs swiped right out from underneath her. This resulted in penalty number two of the game, which was effortlessly finished in the top right corner by none other than Kayla Hill.
So there you have it. Three for the good guys, one for the other guys…but you could technically say four for the good guys since, in all reality, Redman is the one who finished that beautiful header into her own goal. We are still waiting for our medals, but we are sure that they will be delivered very soon. Somehow Coach Blanco was able to slip away after the game without getting an ice chest dumped on his head. In the picture included, the team is hoisting up a chocolate milk trophy, because recovery is everything and preparation for Boise started right when the final whistle blew (valuable lessons brought to you by Sean Bushey).
That’s all for today, but stay tuned and don’t forget to follow the old women on the Colorado Rush social media pages for updates at Regionals. #RUID