
Freddie Braun's Blog #11
November 09, 2009 | Men's Soccer
Nov. 9, 2009
Louisville, Ky. - Do you know someone who will always have your back no matter what happens? I do, and his name is Andre Boudreaux.
This past Friday we all got together and had a team dinner at Martinis. I choose to eat the tasty pollo picatta that consisted of sautéed chicken with lemon butter, artichokes, capers, and tomatoes. Other players went with lasagna that could feed a family of five. They had to box their meal and finish it at home. To end the night, coach decided to take us all out for ice cream at Gelato Gilberto. The team said that I must mention this in the blog. When I tried parking my car next to this restaurant, I had to parallel park to get in. My teammates in the car and the people from the restaurant obviously didn't think I could. I gave it two tries and everyone was staring at me like I was crazy for trying. They were right. Austin Berry said even with a broken leg he could do a better job.
We hosted DePaul on Saturday for the Big East Quarterfinals. Everyone on the team knew that DePaul was out for revenge considering their 6-0 loss to us earlier this season. We started off really strong getting seven corner kicks in the first 15 minutes. The ball seem like it didn't want to go in until the 15th minute. Gerry Chavez recorded his second goal of the season with a nice header crossed by yours truly. Chavez wanted to express his California lifestyle by pretending to be surfing on the ground and giving surfs up to the crowd. I thought it was one of the best celebrations this year.
We continued to pressure DePaul's defense but could not get a second goal even with an eight to one shot advantage by the end of the first half. In the second half, DePaul scored in the 52nd minute tying the game at1-1. Although we were not our best on the night it is these times when a championship team faces diversity and overcomes it. We battled through the second half and two overtimes to try and get the victory. Our best chance came in the second overtime from OT Yanez who struck a volley upper 90 and the keeper made an amazing diving save. When the second overtime ended we had to keep our heads held high and know that we were going to win in the penalty kicks.
In a penalty kick shootout each team chooses five players to shoot. We won the coin toss decided to shoot first. Paolo DelPiccolo went first and came up big with a nice shot left of the keeper. Andre Boudreaux did a great job saving the next shot diving low and to the left. Next was Mark Knight who made his first penalty kick in his college career. DePaul was up and made it. Phil Edginton made a nice shot right of the goal but the keeper made a good guess and saved it. DePaul's next shooter sailed one high creating a chance for us to take the lead. JT Murray stepped up with confidence and struck a nice shot right of the keeper. DePaul's next player made it.
I was the fifth shooter and had a chance to win it all. Andre did an amazing job to give me this opportunity and I had to finish it. I stepped up to the ball and sailed it high over the goal. I fell to my knees in disbelief. Remember when I said someone would have your back no matter what? Andre had my back and saved the next shot to win the game. Thanks dude!
We play this Friday in the BIG EAST semifinals against Notre Dame at West Virginia. The game is set to kick off at 5:30 p.m. and will be televised live on CBS College Sports. If you can't make it to the game be sure to tune in.
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Until the next Kicking it with Freddie, "When a team outgrows individual performance and learns team confidence, excellence becomes a reality" - Joe Paterno
Freddie