Opinion: Crowd gets credit for soccer win

To the community,

After a mistake late in the second half by our goalkeeper, the LTCC men’s soccer team found themselves down 2-0 with 6:46 seconds left to go in the game. Coyote players lay on the pitch with their hands over their faces in shock that we had let in a second goal, and defeat seemed imminent.

And then something happened.

The crowd started cheering.

Lake Tahoe Community College’s men’s soccer team feeling dejected on Oct. 17. Photos/Provided

I thought to myself on the sidelines, “Wow, that’s a nice gesture since their team is being beat 2-0.” Everyone on the bench and on the field thought the game was most likely over.

And then the crowd go even louder. Coyote howls were echoing throughout the field. I couldn’t believe it — most American sports fans would have started to trickle away, sensing defeat. And yet no one in that crowd moved to leave. Instead, they stood and cheered even louder!

Writing this brings back all the emotion I felt — to think that our fans would stick it out and stay there on the field with the sun setting and the wind blowing, and yet they were there, still cheering on their Coyotes.

And a funny thing happened. The guys started to believe. They started to believe that they were still in the game. I spoke to many of them afterward, who said the turning point in those last few minutes was the crowd.

We scored a goal to make it 2-1.

And then we scored again in the last few minutes to tie the game 2-2. It felt like a victory.

It’s a celebration — with the crowd getting much of the credit.

I have never experienced such a comeback in all my coaching career.

Thank you fans and to LTCC for being there and sticking it out with us. It was an incredible experience.

My quote of the week: While there is still breath in our lungs and blood in our veins, if there is still time on the clock … we believe. We believe we can do the impossible. We believe in a miracle. And we believe that our fans are the greatest in all of college soccer!

With Friday’s tie, the LTCC Coyote men’s team is now No. 1 in the Golden Valley Conference. Playoffs, here we come!

Benjamin “Coach” Wade