CCHS Boys soccer coach Gary Anderson, the NFL hall of fame nominee, called it the most thrilling moment of his sports career. Striker Henrik Rathjan of Germany called it the biggest goal of his life.
CCHS Boys soccer coach Gary Anderson, the NFL hall of fame nominee, called it the most thrilling moment of his sports career. Striker Henrik Rathjan of Germany called it the biggest goal of his life.
One must forgive the hyperbole, however, the emotions were at fever point after the CCHS Crusaders defeated the Bow Valley Bobcats 4-3 in extra time to capture the zone banner for the second year in a row, and fifth in the past eight seasons.
“It was incredible. Given all the things in my athletic career, I was never as excited as I was at zones last year. I told the boys today if we won the final, we would beat that - and we did,” Anderson said.
Henrik Rathjan, the German exchange student with the golden boot, scored the game winner on a penalty kick, sending a rocket into the left corner of the net with less than two minutes to go in extra time.
Rathjan, 16, isn't a starter for the Crusaders, but is a penalty kick specialist. All four of his goals this season have come from penalty kicks.
“I don't know what to say, it's amazing. I never believed I could ever score the final penalty. My heart went down somewhere in my stomach. It was insane,” Rathjan said.
Prior to the penalty kick, Canmore had four glorious chances to end the match, sending two balls off the crossbar, and missing two more chances at the side of the net. The missed chances were excruciatingly close, and set up several strong counters from the Bobcats. However, when Rathjan was given a chance to go to the line, he didn't hesitate to take the shot.
“I saw the ball behind the goal, someone screamed my name, and I was like, ‘yeah, I'm going to hit that penalty, man.' ”
Anderson said he had a good feeling about Rathjan's final shot, based on his years as a soccer fanatic.
“Henrik is very calm. He's not even one of our starting players, but you put him on the penalty spot, and there is something about world soccer - no one can beat the Germans in a shootout. That's the history of soccer,” Anderson said.
The game proved to be one of the best in Millennium Field history, as the two evenly matched sides traded excellent scoring chances in a highly entertaining game - one which had a taste of vengeance. On Friday (June 3) in round robin play, the Bobcats handed the Crusaders their first loss in more than two years, shocking the home club 2-1. It proved to be the wakeup call Canmore needed. They calmed down on the second day of the Zones tournament, played a perfect match against Cochrane, winning 4-1 over their 2015 rivals, and girded themselves for another shot at Bobcats.
Canmore jumped out to a commanding 2-0 lead on the strength of two goals by striker Ty Godfrey. Carrying the play, the Crusaders held a definitive possession advantage, and peppered the Cochrane team with quality scoring chances. But the Bobcats capitalized upon their chances, and knotted the game at 2-2 late in the first half.
In the second half, Canmore capitalized on its first penalty kick of the game, and appeared to suck any momentum from the Bobcats side. However the talented visiting team launched an unrelenting attack and forced Canmore to give up two penalty kicks of their own. Crusaders goaltender Riley Millar read the first perfectly, but his luck ran out on the second attempt. Overtime loomed like a thunderhead over the field, as the tension was ratcheted up to a new level.
Playing on home field in front of a large crowd of friends and family, they knew they would have to dig deep to secure the win.
“For our boys it was a bit of a wakeup call given the fact we haven't played anyone of that level all year,” Anderson said. “(The Bobcats) don't have any weaknesses, they were fantastically coached and really organized with a lot of sportsmanship. That is how we want our boys to play.”
Canmore controlled the play for much of overtime, however the Bobcats were still able to launch several strong attacks, challenging the defence mightily. With every missed chance, the crowd swooned, but the Crusaders refused to lose face. Finally, after panic in the Bobcats end, a wild shot and a whistle, Rathjan broke the tension with his ace shot.
“Zones tournaments are a bit like running a marathon. It becomes who is mentally stronger. I think we were a little bit fitter and controlled the play. When you look at the game, we deserved to win,” Anderson said. “We couldn't be prouder of this group of guys.”
The school will raise the banner, and the season isn't officially over until the team fulfills a tradition at the Anderson household. At the beginning of every season, Anderson has the team over for a barbecue, serving up hot dogs and burgers. He tells them if they win zones, those burgers will turn into steaks. Anderson now has a lot of grilling to do.
“No more hot dogs or burgers, just nice, big, juicy steaks at the barbecue next week,” Anderson said.
