The game that would be king, Part I

On an unseasonably pleasant February night in Winter Park Florida, the sport that has taken not only a backseat to football, but more accurately has resided in the trunk of the high school sports popularity vehicle, took center stage in a big way last evening. Mark your calendar folks; February 9th 2007, soccer made its appearance in Central Florida, and the “other” football had to take a step to the side.

Perhaps two steps, now that I think about it.

It was a tale of two high schools, galaxies apart socially, and was the perfect setting for the tortoise to stand toe to toe with the hare. Winter Park High School is part of a northern suburb of Orlando, a city replete with multi-million dollar mansions, upscale yuppie-style restaurants and boutiques, and interior design firms and home fashion stores on virtually every corner. Mercedes Benz autos and monstrous SUV’s dominate the roads, and everything about the city speaks of wealth and opulence. Art festivals and an open farmer’s market are a staple of Winter Park. Indeed – as is often the case – those not-so-well-off live remarkably close to those with money to burn, but the city goes out of its way to ensure that side of town goes relatively unnoticed.

The opponent for the game was Lyman High School, located on the working class side of the town of Longwood, about 10 miles north of Winter Park. Longwood itself is a nice little place with its own share of well-to-do residents, but most of them send their kids to different schools. Lyman’s location speaks to its very nature: A vast industrial park across the street from the front entrance and a dog track across the street on the other side. As a matter of fact, the high school’s mascot and nickname is “The Greyhounds”, taking their cue from their neighbor. Lyman’s parking lot has no Mercedes or BMW’s, and the family vehicles are SUV’s and mini-van’s made by Chevrolet and Ford. For years Lyman was looked down upon socially and academically without justifiable reason. In time, the school obtained magnet status by initiating and staffing their “Institute of Engineering”, which has started to bring a cross-section of different kids into the school, making it more balanced socially, and certainly more competitive academically.

Athletically, Winter Park had the better pedigree. No stranger to post season success, this very team had advanced to the state final four just last year. They were accustomed to long winning streaks and a high place in the yearly district and conference standings.

Lyman on the other hand, had spent the decade prior to this year finding nothing but heartbreak in the playoffs. In 7 of the previous 10 years, they had capitulated in the very first round, many of those times ending their season far sooner than the talent on the field would have led you to believe possible.

In the 2006-2007 season though, things looked different for Lyman. They went through their conference - thought by most to be the toughest in the entire state – without a loss. There were 5 ties, but ties are still better than losses. As the season progressed into the playoffs, Lyman was taking on an air of confidence and solidarity among its coaching staff and players that was noticeable to both Lyman and opposing fans alike. Prior to games and during breaks in the action, the entire team would huddle on the sideline, arm-in-arm in a show of unity and strength. There seemed to be no distinction between the players on the field and the players on the bench. They were one team with one goal: victory every time they took the field.

Each school won its district championship, though by different means. Winter Park, not surprisingly, rolled through their tournament without breaking a sweat. Lyman had to get mud under their fingernails in each game they played. A hard fought win over rival Lake Mary High, followed by a dramatic last minute goal against Lake Brantley for the district championship.

The regional championship tournament was more of the same. Winter Park winning its two games leading up to the regional final, 4-1 and 3-1. Lyman again had to rely on last minute heroics to notch a 3-2 win over local Apopka High, with the decisive goal scored with 52.2 seconds remaining in the contest. Two games in a row, Lyman had refused to go down, playing as hard in the last minute as they did in the first. One interesting side note about Lyman’s two regional tournament games - they were both played at Lyman stadium, and drew in excess of 400 fans each game. In Florida, football rules and no one is even in second place. A normal regular season soccer game will have about 65 fans at it; perhaps double that for a rivalry game. Four hundred plus twice in a row was the high school soccer equivalent to filling the Orange Bowl on a Fall Saturday for a Miami Hurricane’s game. With Lyman now advancing farther than they ever had before, the prospects for an even larger crowd at the regional championship game loomed more likely as the championship approached.

The time had arrived, and the stage was set. As David laced up his cleats and looked over at Goliath, it wasn’t fear he had in his eyes; it was desire.