Sunday saw another 20K steps in the books with plenty of adventures. When the day began at midnight, I was at the Bushwick club Silo to see drum n bass producer Reaper throw down for 90+ minutes. Moon Lvnding got comped with the AAA bands, so we peeked into the green room after the show, but with everyone celebrating, it wasn't such a great time to ask questions.
Instead, we just slipped out a few minutes early as the closer took the DJ decks for the last hour until 4am. With all the dancing plus our walk home, I got into bed at 5am 9K steps to the good.
Sometimes, the NYC subway has the perfect little poem up in the wall, so I stopped for a photo on my commute to Manhattan for the Chelsea big match at 11.30am. Thank goodness for the late start! I had to join the New York Blues at The Football Factory for the battle against our North London rivals, Arsenal.
After an unsatisfying Chelsea 1-1 draw at home, I prepared for the second leg of my Sunday soccer doubleheader. Gotham FC, New York's NWSL team (women soccer), prepared to defend last year's championship with its first-ever home playoff game.
The commute to our MLS stadium in Harrison, NJ wasn't too bad. I was able to hop on the NJ PATH train just a block from The Football Factory. After a 45-minute ride that involved one train transfer, I finished up my walk to the stadium in 10 minutes and got to the lower stands just in time for the 3pm kickoff.
The first half lacked a goal, while our home team dominated control of the ball for large parts of the first half against Portland. The game sprang to life with Gotham grabbing a goal off a free kick midway through the half, only to have Portland tie the game 5 minutes later with a free kick goal of their own.
The stadium is not only the home to Gotham FC, but also the NY Red Bulls, the men's MLS team. There are fun street art displays throughout the stadium, so I had to share a few of the best murals. Gotham kept pressing for a home winner late on and finally made the breakthrough from open play during the 96th minute in injury time. The crowd went wild, the players went wild, there's just nothing like watching your team score a late winning goal surrounded by like-minded fans. Oh yeah, we also set a new Gotham FC attendance record. We made history and also came away with a late 2-1. Victory.
It felt good to wander around a new stadium (to me) and watch everyone enjoy the big playoff contest. The vibes were great, and so many parents brought their daughters out to the game, which is very encouraging from soccer in the US. Even better was walking away with a clutch playoff win after a long weekend of action.
On my way to breaking 20k steps on Saturday & Sunday, we went to two club shows doing coverage for Moon Lvnding, a friendsgiving, and dual-state soccer doubleheader. Thank goodnsss I have Monday off from school to catch up on rest. It is sorely needed. Until next time...
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