'We Are The Champions....."

Maybe my favorite of all sports images I have taken to date.
One frame that tells the story.

Both the Semi Final and the Final were decided by penalty shots because the score was tie at the end of regulation time. (The two games played on Saturday were also ties).
We were down to the last of the opponents shots... if Kyle stopped it... we won. Simple as that.
Nothing simple about being a Keeper on a penalty shot. You stand on the goal line in the middle of this gaping net... the opponent is 30 (?) feet out... the ball placed in the center width of the goal. The player shooting the ball has all kinds of ways to fake out the Keeper to dive one way, then kick another. The Keeper cannot move until the ball is kicked... the ball is coming in H A R D... and F A S T!!!
I could not imagine trying to defend one... let alone 5 or more.
The teams take turns... 1 PK at a time.
As you can see... Kyle stopped the last putting us up 1 PK... and giving the team the Championship!
It was not an easy stop... he blocked it as he hit the ground, but the ball still had forward momentum... Kyle reached up with his foot and re-directed the last of the balls momentum forward... the team sprinted out to surround Kyle. I have a 30 frame string that runs from the stop to what you see here... about 4 seconds of elapsed time.
The team surrounds Kyle (in green) the teams Keeper, the hero of the day... in a moment these amazing kids will remember for the rest of their lives.

My son Aden is #11, front, second from right.

SUSC U14 NPL Tournament Champions
Seacoast United Summer Challenge 2017
Bowdoin College - Brunswick, ME 06-18-17
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