Queenston disposes of Celtic. Marches onward to the Tehel Cup final!!!

If I had to say one thing about my team……………….we don’t like making things easy. 3 games in a week going a total of 320 minutes and including 2 pk shootouts and a loss to a non-playoff team in a meaningless (standings-wise) game.

Steve Butcher picked me up on the way to the game and we drove together, like best friends. He went the long way, we got “stuck” in traffic, and he threw my goalie gloves off the Lewiston-Queenston Bridge. Little did he know I had an extra pair. We arrived at Lew-Port HS and found out that apparently youth football had the field until 8 pm. I guess it worked out well because there was an accident on the 190 so we would have probably delayed the game anyways. We threw on our yellow jerseys only to then decide to wear the greys…..only to find out that multiple people didn’t bring their grays or left them in their cars……yellow it is!

We showed with 17 and a great lineup and game plan. Celtic had 14 but were missing Tiedt and Taggart which wouldn’t help. I’m not sure if Celtic had any fans there other than Rocky, but Queenston represented as always. This was basically a home game for us. 9 of our 20 players graduated from Lew-Port HS and at one point I honestly believe there was 100+ fans in attendance including multiple fan tees (huge hit and very bright). Kickoff began at roughly 7:55 pm.

In the first 5 minutes we came out flying. They tried fooling around with it in the back and we intercepted a few passes. Donner had a breakaway in like the 3rd minute and slotted it wide. That would have been a dagger had that gone in. After that Celtic started to settle in with their passes. We still dominated the first half. Multiple players on our team were super nervous coming into this game, including myself. But we shook that off real quick.

Butcher ran a ball down about halfway thru the first half and pulled up with a hamstring tweak. He basically played on one leg the whole game. Funny thing about that, he’s still better on one leg than more than half the guys in this league. Also Ben Frederick also got injured in the first half, no clue what happened or when.

We had a couple more breaks and pelted ski in goal. Miguel alone had 5 shots that all sailed over, had one of those gone on frame it would have been a wonder goal. Celtic had multiple crosses which I was ready for and gobbled up. I was very vocal last night and my back line loved it. Queenston absolutely dominated the first half. I don’t think we played long ball once in the first half and we connected very well with our center mids.

Celtic did have a little life to them in the first half. Josh Hall arrived late and he beat us on the dribble a few times. Also Charlie Woods cranked a one timer off the crossbar from 25 yards out. I would like to say I had it covered if it was on frame, but who knows. Halftime arrived 0-0.

At this time the lights still weren’t on. I figured Rocky was in cahoots with Ski and they were gonna leave the lights off and force us to go straight to PK’s. Then came the field guy slowly flipping on each light pole. By the time the second half started, WE HAD LIGHT! This was really our game to win and we all knew it.

We came out flying yet again. We possessed and switched the field and took our chances when we needed them. Worth noting that Larracuente is an absolute animal and if you were 1v1 with him you probably should have just kicked the ball out of bounds. He won EVERY slide tackle and I think he had 25 of them in just the first half alone (only slightly exaggerating).

FINALLY, the deadlock was broken. Sims got loose on the right wing, got to the end line and whipped in a cross on the ground to the far post. Crossett slid in and got a piece of it only to see it crank the post. Rebound fell right to Todino who smokes it in the net from about 7 yards out. 1-0 Queenston.

We continued to press after that goal. They were tired and hurting and a second goal would have iced it. But as I stated earlier we don’t like things to come easy. We had 4-5 more decent chances to finish but couldn’t put it away. Then disaster struck with 6 minutes left in regulation…….Hall played a ball into someone’s feet who played a nice give and go back to Hall. 1v1 with Hall and he slotted it lower left. If I wanted to be super harsh on myself I could have came out quicker and made myself bigger…but it was a great play on their part. Celtic has so much skill that all they really need is one chance and they took it. 1-1 with about 5 minutes left in regulation.

Nothing happened in the last 6 minutes and OT came. Unlike last week vs FC Yemen this OT went 2-15 minute halves and a decent amount of action. They had a few corners that I gobbled up, we had a few free kicks that were cleared away. Ball was down in our corner and Noah Rougeux and Brenner were face to face in an argument. Brenner leans in and ever so slightly puts his forehead against Noah’s. Yes it was subtle and not a legit headbutt, but you definitely can’t make contact with another players head in that way. Especially right in front of the AR. AR called the Center over and after a short discussion, Brenner was shown red with roughly 5 minutes left in the second OT.

Celtic still got the free kick for a foul earlier in that same play and won a corner off it. Off that corner (I think), Butcher powered a header on goal which I made a great save on. Ball ricocheted off me and also hit Duncan standing on the post and fell right back to me, luck was on our side. And for all those people who don’t put a guy on the front and back post…..that’s why I ALWAYS do.

Off to PK’s, something we did just 7 days ago. Shooters stayed the same.

Celtic goal 1-0
Queenston goal 1-1
Celtic miss high over the bar 1-1
Queenston goal 2-1
Celtic goal 2-2
Queenston goal 3-2
Celtic saved by myself! 3-2
Queenston miss high over the bar 3-2
Celtic goal 3-3

Up steps Suitor. 7 days ago he slotted the winner against FC Yemen after getting heckled the whole game. After he scored that goal he celebrated by running down the sideline, including running directly by me……The sophomore to be at St. Lawrence steps up to take the 5th pk. He makes no mistake yet again. All of Lewiston erupts in joy and Queenston moves on to the Tehel Cup final.

My phone was being used by a friend to live tweet from the @QueenstonFC account. I hope the 60 tweets were enough to keep all the fans who couldn’t make it updated on the game. I get my phone back and discovered that Yemen Elite had also won in PK’s vs BUSS. A rematch of the Championship division semifinal awaits us on Thursday. One thing must be said, there is no love lost between these two teams. This should be a thriller. Queenston is this close to silverware for the 2nd time (Final loss vs Wolfpack two summers ago) and we want it bad.

Yemen Elite vs Queenston will most likely take place at Nichols on August 7th at 630 pm. Bring your popcorn.

Now brings the semifinal vs Rush on Sunday at Walden Pond.

#AllHailQueenston