Andy Hallikas of Team Subway pours out more electricity than a downed power line when he’s on the soccer field, instructing his teammates there or positioning them here.
But yesterday evening, Hallikas let his performance speak for itself.
Scoring both goals for his team in a 2-1 victory over Taggs, Hallikas felt a huge weight lifted off his shoulders after not scoring in the previous five matches.
He easily could have posted a hat-trick, though, after he failed to convert on not only but two penalty kicks. The second penalty kick was a result of the keeper breaking the line prematurely.
“Thank God I scored those two goals to redeem myself or I would’ve never lived that down,” said Hallikas, a 10-year veteran on the team. “The first time I kind of hit it on top and it shanked left, and the second time I tried to get a better spot on it.
“I took my time and I was thinking bottom left, but I hooked it again.”
Taggs also had its fair share of scoring chances with some creative play-making by the likes of Giat Ruppenstein, who scored on a peculiar shot that was intended as a cross for a teammate.
But Subway’s keeper, Ryan Hampton, made a number of keys saves that kept his team in the game.
“He’s the best keeper in the league by far,” Hallikas said of Hampton. “If we give him two goals, we’ll always win.”
In the first half, a spectacular stop by Hampton caused a break in the midfield that found Hallikas break through and left alone down the left side.
It was here where the images of his two failed attempts crept back into his mind. With his heart pounding, his muscles aching, and his mind racing, Hallikas contemplated his next move.
Time holds still in a situation like this for any athlete, in any sport, in any level. Be it a David Beckham creeping up for a penalty kick against Portugal in front of an audience of millions or to a Andy Hallikas playing in front of no one except the eyes of his teammates.
The pressure of such a circumstance can affect an athlete’s play as it did with Beckham, who stretched his shot high and missed a penalty shot earlier in the Euro 2004 tournament to France.
Or it can be forgotten, as in the case with Hallikas.
After some indecision, Hallikas jostled and then deked and came up with a chip-like shot from 10 yards out that froze Taggs’ keeper Kai Winkler, who was moving the opposite direction.
“I try to play the same way no matter what. I go hard all the time,” said Hallikas. “I have only one gear and that’s hard, fast, and straight forward.”
Following his second goal, a header that deflected off a Taggs’ defender, chants of soccer phenom Ruud van Nistelrooy came from his teammates.
It was fitting because Subway’s uniform colours match that of the Netherlands, who defeated Latvia in the Euro Cup with the help of Nistelrooy’s two goals—one of which also was a header.
Last night’s lifted Subway into first place in the division with five wins in six games while Taggs sits close to the bottom with four losses.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
