Cheering on Fire & Ice in 2022 WPSL Action

This afternoon, I drove to Althoff Catholic High School in Belleville, Illinois. Fire & Ice WPSL, a team in the Women's Premier Soccer League, was hosting Central Illinois United in Fire & Ice's second match of the season. (Last night, Fire & Ice defeated Iowa Raptors FC 4-1 at home.) I came by myself, wearing a St. Louligans shirt and carrying a Fire & Ice scarf commemorating their 2017 WPSL Championship.

I found a seat in the grandstand about 15 minutes before kickoff. From the get-go, Fire & Ice had the run of play, constantly attacking Central Illinois United. These efforts paid off with two first half goals and the home side led 2-0 at the interval.

The second half saw more of the same, with Fire & Ice scoring again six minutes into the half. A fourth goal later on iced the 4-0 win, and Fire & Ice was 2-0 on the season.

Just after the game ended, I stayed for a few minutes showing my support for them by raising my Fire & Ice scarf in salute as the players walked off the field.

Fire & Ice is on the road next weekend for two games, then play their two remaining home games on the 18th and 19th of June. They are worth your support.

Later.

Links to Entities Mentioned in this Post:

Althoff Catholic High School: Althoff Catholic | Belleville, IL

Fire & Ice Soccer Academy: Fire & Ice Soccer Academy (fireandicesoccer.com)

Women's Premier Soccer League: Home | Women's Premier Soccer League (wpslsoccer.com)

Central Illinois United: Central Illinois United

St. Louligans: Saint Louligans – Supporting Soccer in the St. Louis Area – St. Louligans – Supporting St. Louis Soccer (stlouligans.com)

 

Rainy and Sunny Soccer Weekend

Last Saturday evening (1 June), I drove out to World Wide Technology Soccer Park (https://www.saintlouisfc.com/SOCCERPARK) for the USL Championship (https://www.uslsoccer.com/usl-championship) match between Saint Louis FC (https://www.saintlouisfc.com/) and Memphis 901 FC (https://www.memphis901fc.com/). The night began as usual at the St. Louligans (http://stlouligans.com/) tailgate, which had bratwurst and beans for dinner and for which money was collected for Playing for Pride (https://www.playingforpride.org/), which supports Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transaction, and Queer or Questioning (LGBTQ) rights.

Some players of Fire & Ice WPSL (https://www.fireandicesoccer.com/page/show/4693840-fire-and-ice-wpsl), a club in the Women's Premier Soccer League (WPSL) (https://www.wpslsoccer.com/), and head coach Lindsay Eversmeyer were at the tailgate. The team was there to promote their season, which began the next day. (More on this later in the post.)

I marched with the St. Louligans into the stadium for the match and we were settled in ready to go, when the match was postponed just before kickoff. Lightning was detected in the vicinity of the stadium, so we were ordered to evacuate the metal seats and take shelter in the tented Budweiser Biergarten (https://www.saintlouisfc.com/biergarten) to ride out the storm. We were there for just over two hours when word came that the match was postponed and will be rescheduled at a later date.

During the delay, we were watching Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final between the St. Louis Blues (https://www.nhl.com/blues) and the Boston Bruins. We were disappointed as the Blues lost this game, 7-2; however, a 4-2 win two nights later evened the best-of-seven Final at two wins apiece.

The weather was much better the next day, when I traveled to Althoff Catholic High School (http://www.althoffcatholic.org/) in Belleville for Fire & Ice's season opening match against FC Wichita. A number of fellow St. Louligans were also there to support the home side.

The teams traded first half goals, then Fire & Ice scored in the second half to win the match 2-1. It was a very nice time in the sunshine.

After the match, I shopped for cargo shorts at two shops in the Belleville and Fairview Heights area. I found two pair that should work for me.

Later.

Witnessing Soccer in St. Louis and Russia

A week ago yesterday (9 June), I went to Althoff Catholic High School (http://www.althoffcatholic.org/) to watch Fire and Ice SC (http://www.fireandicesc.com/) play its home opener against Des Moines Menace. Fire and Ice--the defending Women's Premier Soccer League (https://www.wpslsoccer.com/)--ran out 3-0 winners. It was my first time at Althoff for anything, but I was able to find the place easily.

Four nights later, I was back at Althoff to see Fire and Ice play crosstown rivals St. Louis Lions Women's Team (http://www.stllionswpsl.com/). This match ended in a scoreless draw. I and several others from the St. Louligans (http://stlouligans.com/) were on hand to show support for these two local teams.

Last Thursday (14 June) marked the start of the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia (https://www.fifa.com/worldcup/). I am able to follow the matches on Fox television (https://www.fox.com/) and on the FIFA app.

Yesterday afternooon, I went to a housewarming party in Wentzville, at the new home of two friends from work, Alex Breuer and Tessie Wietbrock. It was a very nice time there, seeing the house and chatting with Alex, Tessie, and other friends of theirs--including a few Enterprise (https://www.enterprise.com/en/home.html) colleagues.

I could not stay at this party much, as I had to head to World Wide Technology Soccer Park (https://www.saintlouisfc.com/SOCCERPARK) for the United Soccer League (https://www.uslsoccer.com/) match between Saint Louis FC (https://www.saintlouisfc.com/) and Real Monarchs SLC. After enjoying dinner at the St. Louligans tailgate, I marched with other St. Louligans into Toyota Stadium for the match. Despite a strong effort by the home side, Real Monarchs--the USL Western Conference leaders--ran out 1-0 winners. This match was played with the heat index just above 100 degrees F (38 degrees C). Fortunately, I kept myself well hydrated that day.

Today, I went to Brasilia Restaurant (https://www.brasiliastl.com/) in south St. Louis for lunch and a watch party for Brazil's World Cup match against Switzerland. Quite a few others were there with me as we saw the match on TV. Over feijoada, I saw Brazil take an early lead, only to give up a goal early in the second half and settle for a 1-1 draw. Not the result Brazil and its supporters wanted.

Later