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It's been a few days since our victory over Marquette and I have just stopped celebrating. Shortly after the win came my birthday and all the revelry surrounding such an occasion. On Friday, I stated through social media that all I wanted for my birthday was the Milwaukee Cup. We got it and, my teammates will all agree, it feels so, so sweet. I actually got a lot more thanks to the generosity of jubilant Panthers, friends and family (via airmail). It was the perfect weekend.
Our start to the game was perfect, too. As goalscorer Declan Rodriguez ran to the crowd, who cheered and yelled in giddy disbelief at the earliness of our opening goal, I turned to look at the clock - frozen dead on the one minute mark. It was a relief to go ahead and settled everybody's nerves. However, having lost in the final second last year, we knew the contest was still young at that point and indeed Marquette got back into it soon after, levelling the score. Ultimately, there was no last-gasp drama though, as our game-winner was scored in the 27th minute by senior debutant Austin Toth.
In his previous three years playing at DePaul, A.To confessed to me, he only managed one goal. So to score in the headline fixture on our regular-season schedule was something pretty special. It was a sweet-struck finish which was celebrated by the left back wheeling away towards the bench, where he singled out Dustin Ashley. It turned out he'd borrowed Dustin's boots to play in and they had evidently brought him a goalscoring touch. It remains to be seen what footwear he'll stride out in next week!
The rest of the game was spent preserving our lead, with nobody more involved than another debutant - goalkeeper Liam Anderson. His saves, along with resolute defending from everyone out there, won us the match.
Another contibuting factor was the support from the record 3,312 spectators crammed around the field. I have heard several reports from those in the bleachers of how rowdy and crowded their viewing experiences were. Each of their suportive voices drove us on throughout the game and made the occasion something truly memorable to be a part of. I'd love to see the stands so full every week - having big numbers boosts our team's performance and the status of the program. Hopefully our victorious display will bring many of them back this weekend for the Panther Invitational.
When the final whistle eventually blew, many of the fans stormed onto the field. Us players were swallowed, lost somewhere inside the Panther stampede. What peaked out of the horde though, risen as high as Robbie Boyd's little arms could manage and glinting under the Engelmann lights was the Milwaukee Cup: Grand, shiny and ours for at least the next twelve months. Happy days.
