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Luke Spradlin-Vogelsang puts three fingers on display — one for each goal he scored on Saturday.
Day of firsts: First goal, first hat trick for 9-year-old
FROSTBURG — The day was not set up to be one of a first of anything for Luke Spradlin-Vogelsang. The 9-year-old Frostburg resident and Beall Elementary School fourth-grader woke up Saturday morning like any other weekend morning.
Only, this time, it was game day.
It was the second game of Luke’s third season of outdoor soccer under the Frostburg Rangers AYSO umbrella. He also completed his first indoor season at the Riverside YMCA in Cumberland during the 2021-22 winter league.
Luke, who enjoys Bluey, YouTube, disc golf, soccer and math, was getting ready for what was to be approximately his 32nd match.
What a match it was.
The aspiring goalkeeper started the match on defense for the first of four 12-minute, 30-second quarters. At intermission, the coach moved him to goalie. Luke, who tires easily but especially under a hot sun — like the one shining down on Field 6 at Glendening Park this particular morning — was already red-faced and sweaty.
In the third quarter, though, Luke was assigned a striker position and, in the fourth quarter, he was moved to midfield. Over the final 25 minutes of the contest, Luke booted in his first goal of the season — and of his young soccer career. Later in the fourth, he kicked in two more goals, including one from roughly 10 yards out when no one wearing team’s gray jersey was around to get him out of a jam with two defenders, to help put the finishing touches on his team’s convincing shut-out victory.
The Storms — yes, there is a an “s” there, as voted on by the players themselves — improved to 2-0 on the season as Luke led the way with three goals. Three other players — Logan, Noah and Charlie — added two goals apiece.
Luke said his coach congratulated him on his “hat trick” as he left the field. It was a compliment, but “I didn’t know what that was,” Luke said.
Luke’s aspired to play primarily goalie over the past two years. Now, though, “I think I wanna play offense more … but then I’ll have to do more running, and then I’ll have to rest, and I can’t do other things.”
The times he had the ball were exciting, he said.
“Defense and goalie were boring,” Luke said. “I didn’t do anything.”
The Storms offense kept the ball on the opponent’s side of the field for much of the day. Even on the rare occasion that they neared the goal, Luke and others stepped up to take pressure of the team’s goalie.
The hat trick and the dominant win had Luke thinking about working harder.
“They run too fast,” he said of teammates Logan, Taylor and Noah. “I’m not gonna get in shape like them. I’ll try to, but I’m probably not gonna be able to.”
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