Cavalier Fans Cheer to Cover Sound of Thunder, Continue the Game

An encroaching thunderstorm had Woodson fans screaming at West Potomac rivals and officials five minutes before the end of the first half of last night's soccer game.

The Woodson Cavaliers established a 3-0 lead over the visiting West Potomac Wolverines before a heavy downpour led to the game's suspension. Knowing completion of halftime would mean the end their season, the Wolverines were more than happy to get off the field with 4:22 remaining. The Cavaliers, however, were intent on finishing the first half and advancing, and the controversy erupted before the skies in a bizarre night in high school sports.

Woodson led from the beginning, as sophomore forward Cassidy Mercier slotted the opener past captain goalkeeper Caroline Kelly in the seventh minute. The Cavaliers' attack picked up right where it left off in Thursday’s 7-0 drubbing of Edison, scoring two more goals in the next 10 minutes. In an unbelievable coincidence, Emily Halstead and Elizabeth Gaski both scored in the minutes of the game that matched their jersey numbers, Halstead in the 12th minute and Gaski in the 17th.

As strange as that realization was, it had nothing on what was soon to come, as ominous clouds began to roll in and the skies darkened. A small boisterous Woodson, mostly lead by a few students, began roaring at every play. As the crowd got louder, so did the Woodson bench. But when the uproars started to come at when the ball was out of play, it became clear.

The Cavalier faithful had decided to cheer at each slow rumble of oncoming thunder to mask the noise and keep officials from calling the game.

It is hard to say if such a simple plan was successful, or whether the referees, like the Cavaliers, wanted to get through the first half knowing that reaching the halftime mark would make the score official whether or not the second half was played.

Seeing what looked to be a violent storm closing in, the West Potomac fans became livid, screaming that their kids be taken off the field and put out of harm's way. West Potomac coach Garrett Hubbard joined his parents demanding the girls be taken off the field. While the thunder-induced cheers kept the game going an extra 10 minutes, and the rain had yet to begin, the referees had no choice as lighting showed on the horizon.

The teams remained under awnings for the next hour, over half of which was filled with torrential downpour. When the storm looked to have passed, both sides went back out on the pitch to warm up. With steam rising from the ground and not a drop falling from the sky, the fans filtered back out into the stands, and it appeared a winner would be declared after all.

However, having seen the tempers flare at the prolonged continuation of the first half, Woodson officials took every precaution, watching the storm trail south, and putting another 30-minute delay on each small bolt of lighting that looked to be far gone.

One fan said no one besides these officials seemed worried about the weather’s current affect on safety, as everyone sat back in W.T. Woodson’s massive metal bleachers. Some parents were complaining that the game should go on. One parent even presented an iPhone showing the current storm radar as proof that the skies had cleared.

Although the Lady Cavaliers will retain their 3-goal advantage with only 44 minutes and 22 seconds to play, one can only hope mother nature doesn’t affect their ability to turn around and play another regional match without a day of preparation. And to think, they were less than 5 minutes away.