It started with a whimper but ended with a bang. The ORU ladies soccer team took to the field last Tuesday to dispel the myth that Elvis is still alive. They also went out to win as a team, and this they did, beating Sheffield United 1-0.

For those of you (and you know who you are) who missed this game - do not despair. The first regular season home game is on Labor Day, at 2:00 pm.

True, by the time you read this article, the game will have taken its place with the Battle of the Somme, the Bataan Death March and the Alamo as history.

Since time travel is not possible, and I believe never will be this side of heaven - but alas this is sports, not science-fiction - the next game on home turf is Saturday, September 16 at 2:00 pm.

This past sentence seems to mimic the first period: it was a run-on, confusing and real rusty. Hopefully this article will take after the second half. The first period saw the ball constantly hovering around midfield with neither team taking the offensive and controlling the action. In the second period, ORU came out, took the offensive and kept it.

When attack on the goal would flounder, the forwards would kick it back to the midfield and they would regroup and try again. This constant offensive led to #16 Amanda Mendonca feeding #3 Darlee Chaloupek, who deftly put the ball into the net.

For those not too familiar with soccer, this translates to a score, or one point. The object of the game is to get more of these points then the other team. Now back to our story.

It must be added that Sheffield United a team of area high school players who won state and went to regionals this past summer, did put up a great defense. However, through constant probing, ORU was able to find a weakness and, in a Godly manner, exploited it.

The excitement continued for another few minutes as both teams took shots on each other’s goals. The ORU defense was not tried as much as its offense.

Sheffield rarely got past the midfielders and took only three shots on ORU’s goal, while ORU took nine shots, scoring once and getting pretty close a couple other times. One of the shots glanced off the top of the goal post. The crowd consisted largely of parents and family of Sheffield United players, a sampling I of ORU students and a fan club or two. Roger and Carolyn Phillips, part of the #17 Leslie fan club, commented after the game on the audacious driver who drove right up to the field.

It was noted that he could do this since he was, in fact the president of ORU.

I said he could have driven to the middle of the field, but that would require him to leave his brain at the border, for judging by the speed of some kicks, his van would have been dented straightaway.

Fortunately, there were no injuries on either side, though two ORU ladies went down briefly from hard hits. Attitudes remained good on both teams and there were not many fouls called. Ask the players and they'll probably say there were some, but I didn't see them and neither did the referee.

Steve Hayes, veteran soccer player and women’s head coach, was very optimistic about the team’s future this year. He told them he was proud of the way the game went and that they all played hard had good teamwork and were communicating better on the field. The women’s soccer team looked very strong in the second period and seemed to have good team spirit. As they work together more, they will become a force to reckon with . . . or so I reckon.

Notes on Maiden

Published September 5, 1995