Victory!

The St. Anthony High School Bulldog soccer team is off to a good start with a 3-0 win against the Effingham High School Hearts in their first junior varsity game of the season.

The boys played very well this evening, keeping most of the action in the far side of the field. The Bulldogs took 25 shots on goal, so we need to do a bit of work on our accuracy, but nonetheless it's a good way to begin.

Congratulations, boys!

The game was followed by our first "pasta night" of the season. Each season the parents divide themselves up into hosting the team for pasta and fun. Tonight it was pasta and a pool.

There was much tossing of players into the pool, and even a few launches. They tired to lure me close to the pool so they could toss me in, telling me they saw Jesus on the bottom of the pool. (Somewhere I saw today someone says they saw Jesus in a moth, so why not?) When I opened the door to go outside and saw a clear path from the door to the pool with boys on either side, it didn't take long to figure out what was up. After pleading my cassock and my cell phone, they decided not to throw me in. That might have been too much excitement for one day.

At the varsity practice, one of the boys decided he could jump over me (when I was standing), by launching himself into the air with my shoulders. He asked if he could try and I - not being very keen on the idea - said I'd have to think about it. That didn't dissuade him and he kept pressuring me to let him try. I did, standing very still, with my head slightly pulled down. He tried, and succeeded. I was impressed.

At any rate, a good time was had by all this evening and I think we're in good shape for our tournament this weekend, beginning tomorrow afternoon.