Right up top, I acknowledge that I'm riffing off a previous post without quote/tagging because this is a sentiment that often gets voiced in the mainstream. I am addressing that general sentiment, not a specific poster. They just happened to be the one who inspired these thoughts.
For my part, I was glad to see Dylan Amonte rip her FU goal at the end. She took a lot of abuse out on the field during the course of the game. She'll have plenty of bumps and bruises to show for it. Meaghan Tyrrell recently shared on The Meg Show about a particular game with Boston College where she said she was
tattooed after it was over with all the physical abuse she took.
This was
not a pleasant game. Izzy Scane's gestures on her last goal spoke volumes of the bad blood that had come to a boil by game's end during yesterday's grudge match.
I'm glad when players get a little FU revenge at the end of a game like that. It obviously has the desired affect of aggravating the opponent and their fan base. BC's Belle Smith at the end of the Loyola quarterfinal in 2022. Hailey Rhatigan at the end of the '23 final versus Boston College. And Dylan Amonte last night.
Players are human. Sometimes they want to get the last word in for themselves or their teammates or both by sticking a goal with less than a minute left. I don't care who does it and I don't care what their rationale is for doing it--whether one of my favorite teams does it, or it's done to one of my favorite teams.
I'm sure every year, every team out there scores goals in less-than-a-minute-left garbage time. Does it make a difference if they were FU goals? Does it make a difference if the team just wanted the bench players/frosh to get on the scoresheet? What constitutes poor sportsmanship in that instance exactly?
Again--as I say--I don't care either way. You'll never read me complaining about it. It's between the players/coaches and only adds to the drama of the rematch, should one ever occur. As former Virginia Tech goaltender Angie Benson often says,
our sport is too soft. She references instances like complaining about FU goals as evidence. I am in full agreement with her. Plus--if a team doesn't like FU goals, or garbage time goals, then they should do everything in their power to stop them. Stuffing an FU goal attempt I imagine would be immensely satisfying, and one thing, at
least, for the defeated team to hang their hat on in the aftermath of a tough loss. You don't think Stella Harrison or the defenders around her would have occasion to jeer back at Amonte had Harrison made the save last night? How about Shea Dolce had she stymied Rhatigan? Or Lauren Spence on Belle Smith?
