A Miracle on Turf

Pictured Left to Right: Griffin Bathras, Mark Nobilio, Garrett Weiss, Hayden Toth, Abe Hammat, C. Max Bachmann

Nearly forty years ago, the United States Men's Hockey team beat the Soviet Union in an upset deemed the "Miracle on Ice." It has been referred to by many as the greatest underdog story in American sports history. . . until Monday night when Brazzers FC took down Reds to win the Soccerdome II Division 2 consolation bracket championship after going winless for over sixteen games.

The road to victory was a long one for Brazzers FC, a team made up of primarily ex-soccer player freshman at Anne Arundel Community College looking to play for fun throughout the year.

The team assembled initially under the name AS Wolves and played their first season in Soccerdome's Division 1 in the Fall of 2018, finishing with an 0-8 record and an early postseason exit.

Relegated to Division 2, the newly minted Brazzers FC fired manager Mark Nobilio (functioning as a player-coach) and entered league-play looking to reverse their horrid form. Unfortunately, the bad results continued to pile up. As defender C. Max Bachmann shared, "We were awful. Every time we feel confident we can win a game, the opposing team scores three in a row."

This early humiliation was only compounded by the gruesome injury to starting goalkeeper Clifford Jamieson, who after sustaining a nasty blow to the face in the first game was declared to be unfit for the rest of the season. Notably, Jamieson's goals-allowed to minutes played ratio was the most favorable on the team. Garrett Weiss stepped into the goalkeeper role in his stead, proving to be very capable at the position.

Brazzers FC had an extremely concerning defensive problem, finishing the season with a pain-inducing -37 goal differential. To put that statistic into layman's terms, we conceded 76 goals while only scoring 39.

The team was talented, there was no denying that. With a solid attacking force of Abe Hammat and Griffin Bathras and supporting midfielder Hayden Toth bossing in the opposing half, Brazzers FC had little trouble scoring goals. Suber-sub, Mark Nobilio offered scoring off the bench to further strengthen the core. Defensively however, the team was shambolic -- at times there was no one back to stop counter-attacks besides new goalkeeper, Garrett Weiss.

The team finished the regular season a disappointing 0-8, similar to the previous season. Although morale was low heading into the postseason, there remained a sense of hope and optimism. Numerous members of the team including Hammat, Weiss, and flex-player Luke Guy entered what they called "Zero Dark Thirty mode" in anticipation for the playoffs.

Unexpectedly, Zero Dark Thirty mode worked, and Brazzers FC started to click just in time for their first round match-up against 1-seed Las Chivas, a team that had beaten Brazzers FC 15-4 just weeks earlier.

Brazzers FC came out guns blazing, jumping out to any early 2-0 lead. A lead they would never relinquish. Consistent play from both the attackers and defenders and loan players Keaton Bathras and Drew Betch, plus an absolute beauty of a goal from Toth ensured that the team would win 5-3, and win their first ever game.

The team was ecstatic. Bachmann even tweeted that Brazzers FC were "CHAMPIONS OF SOCCERDOME II D2," a statement that was false, as the team still had one more game to win in order earn that distinction. The upset was celebrated across the world, but Brazzers FC wasn't content. They wanted the championship or nothing.

April 29, the team showed up ready for war. Facing REDS, a team Brazzers FC had only lost to by one earlier in the season, the players knew that could win.

And win they did, although slaughter may be a more appropriate term. The final score was 13-8, and it certainly could have been more. It was again another well-balanced performance from the squad which included on-loan player Maxim Murphy and Ryan Muldoon. Nobilio and Hammat delivered blow-after-blow en route to hat-tricks.

It had happened, Brazzers FC were champions. From the bottom to the top. The players had earned it.

It especially meant a lot to ex-manager Mark Nobilio.

On the play of the team, Nobilio remarked, "It took us awhile, but we finally became a team...and now we're ready to take the division by storm in the next session." On his personal play he added, "I've been struggling with injuries and haven't been myself the last few seasons. But to see all my hard work come into fruition felt genuinely good.

Who knows what the future holds for Brazzers FC. A return to the league in the summer session seems likely. What is known, however, is that no matter what happens this team will always be special. They will forever be known as the players who pulled off what Bachmann has fashioned the "Miracle on Turf."

I asked Jamieson to describe the season, although he only appeared on the team briefly, What he had to say summed up the campaign perfectly.

"While I was only with Brazzers FC for 1.1 games this season, I was honored to be a part of this underdog team. I'm pretty shocked we won the championship after so many losses -- the team definitely gave it their all and kept going. I suppose we lost a lot of battles but won the war. Brazzers has a great energy and pretty hilarious sense of humor. I was a terrible goalkeeper but my teammates didn't stop encouraging me. They deserved this win, for sure -- well, maybe not for sure, we screwed around a lot but nevermind that."

They did screw around quite a bit, but it didn't stop them from their ultimate goal: winning the championship, and giving underdogs around the world just a glimpse of what they could do.