Last Sunday, La Tocadita survived another end of season scare to survive the drop to WISL's 2nd division with a passionate and energized performance that has become the hallmark of this team. With everything on the line, the players of La Toca arrived in Germantown prepared to fight to the death, knowing full well that nothing short of a victory over rival AC Hellas would prevent the team from falling from the fabled 1st Division.

Taking full advantage of the beautiful pitch and perfect weather, La Toca began the game in rare fashion, creating opportunity after opportunity but unfortunately unable to convert its chances into a goal. Patience paid off eventually, however, when Chino, a ubiquitous figure throughout the game, was able to latch onto a loose ball and place a powerful shot in the upper corner from within the 18-yard box. With Jacob and Carlitos consistently stymieing the AC Hellas attack, La Toca's midfield found plenty of space and time within which to control the ball. A mere 10 minutes after scoring, Chino would once again play a part in a La Toca goal, when he setup Joe with a through ball, which the forward was able to chip over the oncoming goalkeeper for a 2-0 lead! Although, the score line would not change before halftime, La Toca's players awed the crowd with some beautiful passes, near misses, and a rock solid defense.

The second half, however, proved to be a whole new ball game. Inexplicably, the skill displayed by La Tocadita in the first half could not be found in the second half. AC Hellas began to dominate the game, even after La Toca brought back several starters who had taken a breather. Although La Toca created a number of chances, AC Hellas kept La Toca on it its heels and was eventually able to capitalize on an inability to clear the ball. With the score at 2-1, every La Toca player knew what a catastrophe a second goal would be. Though tired and frustrated, every La Toca player plowed on through sheer heart, epitomized by the courageous goal-line clearance by Maxi. Victory seemed achieved after 90 minutes of play, but the devil still had one card up his sleeve as the linesman raised his flag to signal what he believed to be a handball in the box by a La Toca player. Disregarding the vehement La Toca protests, the ref signaled for a penalty kick with hardly any time left in the game. This, despite the fact that the ball had simply brushed Zeq's shoulder off a Pancho clearance!! Nevertheless, the Gods were with our beloved team and proved the referees error as Patrick made a beautiful save on the penalty, pushing the ball to his left and then cutting off the angle for a follow up shot which an AC Hellas player somehow managed to shoot wide. With that, the ref blew for time! La Toca had preserved it's place in the top division.

El Gringo Joe