Parkview’s recent swing through Jefferson City offered a little something for everyone. The weather was cold, cool and warm. The competition was weak, challenging and tough. In addition, fans saw lots of goals scored, a Viking shutout, trains galore and an amazing soccer ball/hot chocolate incident.
PHS faced off against PHS Friday night–Parkview vs. Pacific High School. It quickly became obvious that Parkview should not only win the game but win big. With most of the action occuring on Pacific’s end of the field, the Vikings won 7-0 in a game where the most exciting “play” actually took place on the bleachers.
As temperatures dropped, fans were enjoying an extra-tall cup of hot chocolate available from the concession stand. One Pacific mom sat blowing on her steaming, just-purchased cup when spectators watched one of those classic, “slow-motion” scenes unfold before their eyes that they were helpless to prevent.
A miss-kicked ball sailed off the foot of a Pacific player, spun high in the air and took dead-aim at the unsuspecting mom. Because she was looking down at her cocoa, she did not see the approaching ball that landed squarely on her lap and bounced up, directly under her cup. The contents then exploded onto the woman’s face and blouse. Fans’ immediate concern that the hot liquid would burn her skin gave way to relief and sympathy as she indicated she was okay, but now dripping with cooling, sticky chocolate. Like any good parent, however, she stayed and cheered for her struggling team!
The game against Smith-Cotton High (from Sedalia) kicked off Saturday morning with temperatures in the 40s. While fans sat protecting their coffee and hot chocolate, Parkview took control of the game and went into halftime with a comfortable 3-0 lead. However “down” Smith-Cotton may have seemed, the team never considered itself “out” and proceeded to make things interesting by narrowing the PHS lead to 3-2. Fans then sat through a classic, second-half nail-biter while the Vikings held onto their win.
Against Helias High at 3 p.m., the Vikings faced a mid-fielder who will be playing for Marquette University next fall. His size and speed, combined with the talents of Helias’ 11 additional seniors, challenged the Vikings throughout the game. Helias scored one unanswered goal in each half while Parkview battled to even things up. Despite two great, PHS scoring opportunities, Helias went home with a 2-0 win over the Vikings.
Wonderful shot of the boys, the train, oh yeah, and Coach Nurnberg waving.