So I got back to NAAC for a soccer game between D’Evelyn High School and Ralston Valley after another spring snow storm.  I was excited to shoot the Jaguars from D’Evelyn again because I was hoping to see the Jaguar player who flips to throw the ball in, but there was way too much snow on the sidelines to give her room for that.  I was also really excited to shoot Ralston Valley again to see Ralston Valley’s freshman sensation Alyssa Kaiser play.  She is such a talent on the field and when she has the ball, it honestly reminds me of how current Duke Blue Devil Kelly Cobb played when she was in Alaska playing for Chugiak High School.

But my excitement to shoot D’Evelyn quickly faded.  During the National Anthem, with the fans all standing and being quiet, and the Ralston Valley team standing, facing the flag, the D’Evelyn team spent the entire anthem laughing, joking and talking.  I even heard their coach tell them to be quiet, but to no avail.  Please, show some respect.  Be quiet for the 2 or 3 minutes.  And then, during the game, I could not believe the amount of negative chatter coming from the fans, mainly D’Evelyn fans, but enough from the RV fans too that the Mustang’s coach asked the parents to not say anything if it was not positive.  Did not stop the D’Evelyn fans though.

It was a game that was similar to the D’Evelyn game I had shot earlier in the season against Wheat Ridge, where the whole game, Wheat Ridge maintained control of the ball and the game, but D’Evelyn scored out of no where to win.  In this game, Ralston Valley had the clear advantage on the field.

It just appeared that D’Evelyn was going to have a tough time all game with the Mustangs, and Ralston Valley had a lot of opportunities to get on the board first, but they could not find the back of the net at all in the first half.

But the Mustangs also held the D’Evelyn Jaguars scoreless in the first half, so going into the second half, everything was even.  When the second half started, Ralston Valley kept up the pressure on the Jaguars.

However, again, out of nowhere, D’Evelyn found the back of the net to take a 2nd half 1-0 lead over the home team Mustangs.  The Mustangs came back with a few scoring chances, but were unable to tie the game up when D’Evelyn blasted another ball into the goal to take a 2-0 lead.

Time was running out for the Mustangs.  But while they were struggling to find the goal, I was having a great game.  There was a lot of action taking place right in front of me.  I set up at midfield because the grass was just too saturated by the melting snow, and this gave me a good opportunity to catch both teams offenses and defenses, and potentially grab some good header shots, like the one above.

What drives me crazy is the fact that I can come out to NAAC for a soccer game, or over to any of the high schools for a baseball game, get some great sharp shots (it is real tough to weed the shoot down to the 250ish shots for MaxPreps), but then I go to Dick’s Sporting Goods Park for a Rapids game, and struggle with autofocus all game long.  I just don’t get it.

But regardless, I really enjoy shooting Ralston Valley, it was too bad that they had to suffer a loss, but D’Evelyn did find the back of the goal where as the Mustangs just could not do it.

To view and purchase more photos from this game, please visit MaxPreps.