London vs IC2s (A) - 20/01/2025

BLWP 10 - 05 IC2s

To kick off the new year the mighty LUSL London trecked once again to Ethos to go up against Imperial’s second team. Due to it being January and no one wanting to get out of bed or leave the house, we had only 8 players for this match, our smallest team yet. This made me a little bit nervous but we had some strong players on our side and a shiny new goalie: Tadpole Peter. Before the match, their captain came to check with me that it would be okay for them to break LUSL regulations and only play two women because they were short on players (they had more than us), so I had to assert dominance early and tell him no, that would not be okay. Psychological advantage won. One of their players, Francessco, then came up to me and told me that we’re a fun team to play and when I said thanks he said oh but not because you’re good. Mind games all over the place. 

1st quarter

Unsure of how the match was going to play out, nerves were high and I was anxious to start and get a feel for what IC2s were bringing to the table this year. We won the swim off and got stuck in with Tadpole Hugo in the starting seven for the first time! We got loads of shots on target in this quarter and scored three goals: a penalty from Snailfish, a goal for me and a goal for Ceviche (her first LUSL goal of the season!). We were helped by their goalie who repeatedly came out of goal, missed a shot and left their goal undefended. Tadpole Peter had some great saves, some nice passes and brought good vibes, proving himself worthy of a spot on our awesome team. This quarter finished 3-3, leaving us slightly surprised and cautiously optimistic. 

2nd quarter

The second quarter went swimmingly, we put up a strong defense and had quick attacks. As Tadpole Peter correctly observed, we were outswimming them by miles. In this quarter Snailfish scored two more goals - one penalty and one normal – which fulfilled his deal with Francessco that they would each only score three goals (how kind), so he was pretty useless going forward. In pit it was captain vs captain and it would be fair to say that I had the better of our encounters and he decided to sub out quite quickly but not before I swam past him and scored. Tadpole Chris did amazingly in this quarter, playing almost the entire thing and keeping up with his player on the wing the whole way. This quarter saw FaLaLa start to get a little frustrated as she took shot after shot and narrowly missed them all. We conceded zero and reached half time with a score of 6-3! 

3rd quarter

Feeling good about our chances, but wary of following our pattern of losing control in the second half, we gave it our all in this quarter with everyone bringing amazing energy to the attack, despite having only one substitute. Incidor showed us that she can do more than just swim fast, embracing her role as driver and bringing passion and aggression to marking, driving and shooting in a way I have never seen before. Ceviche also took on the position of driver and scored yet another goal! She was instrumental in our success in this match. I scored one more goal and then FaLaLa finally broke her duck and whacked one of her shots in the back of the net! We were all very pleased for her and relieved to be spared the Greek wrath. Tadpole Hugo continued to show us unprecedented speed and stamina and this quarter very satisfyingly ended 9-4, with Francessco also maxing out his 3 allowed goals. 

4th quarter

In the final stretch the cohesion of the team and the strong attack and defense continued. Each team scored one more goal, bringing me up to one goal per quarter and just as we were ready to retire, happy and accomplished, Snailfish went to defend a particularly forceful shot and dislocated his shoulder – he wasn’t getting as much attention as he’d have liked. He had to swim to the side one-armed and Chris had to play out the last couple of minutes of the match in his place. We finished strong with a score of 10-5 to The London.

We hope to see Snailfish return to play soon and no doubt we will given his complete disregard for medical advice and lack of belief in rest and recovery.  

In this match Ceviche, FaLaLa, Incidor and I showed the other team what Barts women are capable of, mounting attack after attack with amazing teamwork and counters, giving us goals from a range of players. Snailfish kept the other team’s strongest player under control for us. Tadpoles Hugo and Chris both played more than they ever have before and did it well too, shaping up to be strong wingers. Tadpole Peter played his first Barts match and was honestly a fantastic and much needed goalie. I am truly so proud of everyone that came and gave their all, the teamwork was the best we’ve had so far and there wasn't a single person there that we could have done it without. I think this was my favourite match this season and we all left in high spirits to travel home together. 

Player of the Match:

A tough choice because I really could give it to anyone but it has to be Ceviche for her work as wing and driver, her stamina and her two amazing goals.  

DOD:

FaLaLa for missing nine out of ten shots that she had one-on-one against the goalie – at least she got there in the end. 

Goals:  

FaLaLa – 1 

Snailfish – 3 

Ick-thys – 4 

Ceviche – 2