Degenkolb FC Extends its Undefeated Streak
Degenkolb FC Extends its Undefeated Streak
On Wednesday night, after a restful bye week, the Degenkolb FC squad made the trek out to Telegraph Field in hopes of extending its win streak to three games. It was the smallest line-up the team had assembled to date, with only seven players and no substitutes. The enthusiastic few consisted of team manager Adam Azofeifa, Gordy Wray, Henry Burton, Brendan Lo, Erik Kneer, Hulya Kayir, and honorary employee Allison Hellner (for those who didn’t meet Allison at the holiday party, she works for FTF Engineering in San Francisco and joined the team back in Week 2). Their opponent, the Blackrock Gunners, was in second place in the league standings and looking to get another win under their belt to catapult them into the top position. Little did they know that goal would not be easily accomplished.
The game began with the Gunners pushing hard to try and score the first goal. They had the advantage since Degenkolb, awaiting the arrival of Henry “Just Start Without Me” Burton who was running a bit late, had to start the game with only six players. Yet even playing a man down, Degenkolb was able to shut down any attempt from Blackrock to put the ball in the back of the net thanks to some awesome defensive play, namely by Brendan “Running Blind” Lo (at one point Brendan’s glasses flew off and he continued to chase the ball), backed up by sure-handed goal keeping from Erik. Blackrock clearly did not know what they had gotten themselves into, because it was not long before Degenkolb took over on the attack and moved the ball to the confident feet of Gordy “Dancing With Myself” Wray who put the moves on a couple Blackrock defenders and fired a shot that the Gunners keeper had no chance to save. Degenkolb 1, Blackrock 0.
The second half of the game would prove to be quite dramatic. Now playing with a full team, Degenkolb continued their attack in the Gunners half of the field. One of the many shots on goal would lead to a corner kick that, after a couple deflections, landed in front of Allison “Took Ya Long Enough!” Hellner who, determined to get her first goal of the season, buried the ball in the back of the net, giving Degenkolb a two goal lead. Blackrock proved to be a persevering competitor however, because they continued to push forward, still hoping to walk away with a win despite their deficit. Their offensive pressure created many scrambles for loose balls in front of the Degenkolb net, one of which resulted in a penalty kick for a Gunner who had allegedly been tripped up by Erik. Unwilling to give up his shut out, Erik “Not in My House” Kneer employed his cat-like reflexes and pounced on the penalty shot, maintaining the two goal lead for Degenkolb.
Alas, without any substitutes, fatigue soon took over the Degenkolb players, making it more and more difficult for them to track back on defense. Blackrock was able to score on a 3 on 2 counter-attack. Yet even without the shut out, the team was still hopeful to walk away with its third win in a row. You could see the determination in the eyes of both teams – Degenkolb unwilling to yield a goal, Blackrock unwilling to concede the loss. In the end, Blackrock was able to take advantage of Degenkolb’s exhaustion and score a second goal. It was the very end, in fact, because 30 seconds later the game was over. The final score was a 2-2 draw. Even without the win, the Degenkolb players remained proud of their feet. Undefeated in three games is no slouch performance. And the team will surely be looking to extend the streak to four games in their final match on Tuesday.
