It’s a pretty rare feat for a soccer goalie to score a goal.
In fact, keepers in the celebrated Premier League put less than one per cent of goals in the opposing team’s net every year.
Bearing witness to such a once-in-a-lifetime event is the kind of memorable sports moment that will be talked about for years to come … especially if you’re the guy who pulled it off.
“I just kind of booted it,” recalled Gray Benjamin, who plays for the Cochrane Cobras soccer team. “The wind took it a little further than I thought. All of a sudden I turned around and everyone was cheering.”
The inconceivable goal took place late last month, as the Cochrane High School soccer team battled the Bow Valley Bobcats for bronze at the Alberta Schools Athletic Association zone championships at Rangers Field.
Cobras coach Carolyn McLeod said as the tournament began, the team’s starter goalie became ill and the backup keeper, in Grade 9, felt the pressure of such high-level competition. So she made a decision to ask Benjamin – who had been in net a bit in club soccer and was a hockey netminder in the past – if he would be willing to step up, and step in.
“He hadn’t even played goal all season,” she said.
Benjamin put on the gloves and pushed through three matches, winning two and losing one to put the Cobras in the bronze medal game against the Bobcats.
The wind was blowing hard that day, and sporadic pelting rain forced stoppages and sent some spectators running for their cars.
The Cobras were down 4-2 when the weather broke – and Benjamin caught a fairly typical shot. Then, as goalies do, he hoofed the ball as far as he could down the pitch. But this time, the wind caught hold of it.
It bounced once and sailed over players’ heads. When it bounced again, it flew over Bobcat goalie Austin Johnson – and right into Bow Valley’s net.
The stunned crowd and players from both teams paused for a moment, then the Cobras erupted in cheers.
“It just kept going … I thought it was nuts,” remembered Benjamin’s teammate Danny de Bruin, who was one of the first to run up to the goalie in celebration. “My mouth dropped. My arms went up. It’s just something that you don’t expect (a goalie) to do.”
“It was the perfect storm,” recalled McLeod.
“We were kind of getting down,” said Benjamin himself. “I think that goal kind of boosted the team.”
While the moment was a thrill for Benjamin, it’s not the first time he has beaten the odds: the teen wasn’t even expected to play sports after being diagnosed with an aggressive form of leukemia when he was an infant. He overcame years of treatment and is now in remission. As for the match, even though the Cobras went on to lose 5-4 in overtime, Benjamin sees the positives.
“There’s really not anything that can get me down,” he said. “Cancer’s pretty bad … keep your head up.”
McLeod agreed that the soccer loss pales in comparison to the thrill of having such a great story to tell.
“That was the cool part,” she said. “What do you remember? Well, you remember that.”
