Dingledine heads Super-State soccer team

BY BRENT WAGNER / Lincoln Journal Star

Sunday, May 27, 2007 - 12:18:47 am CDT

The phone rang shortly after the evening news. A friend called me after stumbling upon the television highlights from the Lincoln East boys soccer teamπs game against Millard West in this yearπs state tournament.

This friend can count the number of soccer games heπs seen on one hand, and jokes about the amount of scoring in the game. Yet even he was shocked by what that kid in the soccer highlights did.

That kid was Lincoln East senior A.J. Dingledine. What he did was a bicycle kick to score his third goal of the game in a 3-2 first-round tournament win.

A bicycle kick is a spectacular play where a player leaps into the air, falls backward and kicks the ball over his or her head.

Ask those closest to East soccer about Dingledineπs accomplishment and theyπre both surprised and not surprised. Surprised because itπs a rare skill in the game, but not shocked, because Dingledine has been making big-time plays for the Spartans for forever.

Today, Dingledine is honored as the honorary captain of the Journal Star Super-State soccer team. It follows a career where he had a school-record 52 goals as a three-year starter. He is being mentioned as one of the best forwards to ever play high school soccer in Nebraska.

Did the bicycle kick goal in a state tournament game define his career? Hardly. It was, however, a fitting exclamation point for the guy who is a big reason why East played in the last three state finals.

A college soccer player watching from the press box that day called Dingledineπs bicycle kick ≥sick.≤ A recent college player-turned-coach said he would have never thought to attempt such a thing. Indeed, when the bicycle kick went in the goal, remote-control rewind buttons braced for a workout.

The ball had entered play on a throw in, and was crashing around in a mess of legs about 8 yards outside the goal. The ball popped to Dingledineπs feet, but four defenders were within armπs reach.

So Dingledine passed the ball to himself in the air, and kicked it backward over his head while falling onto his back. The ball sailed into the top corner of the net above the outstretched arms of the goalkeeper. With that, a legendary moment was born.

≥Watch how he sets up that goal — it just separated him in my opinion from everybody else,≤ East coach Jeff Hoham said. ≥He knew the only way he was going to get a shot on frame was to turn his back to the goal, play the ball up to himself, and finish with a bike.

≥There are very few kids who would even consider trying that — let alone execute it.≤

Hoham was asked to put in perspective that athletic feat for those who arenπt die-hard soccer fans. Michael Jordan jumping from the free-throw line during a slam dunk contest and Kirk Gibson's home run in the 1988 World Series were two he mentioned.

≥Itπs one of those magical moments that goes down in history as, åWow, did that really happen?π≤ Hoham said.

The coach says it was the first bicycle kick goal in Eastπs storied history. He sent a tape of the goal to EPSN to be considered for high school play of the year. Weeks later, e-mails are still pouring into Hohamπs account from strangers asking about the kid behind that kick.

≥I could coach another 20 years, and maybe never see anything like that again,≤ Hoham said.

Dingledine said the goal has been a hot topic — but heπs remained humble.

≥I was pretty sure there were two or three defenders on my back, and there was really nothing to do except bike it,≤ Dingledine said.

≥I didnπt even know the score was a bicycle kick until I was at midfield, and one of my teammates was like, åDude, do you know you just scored a bicycle kick?π≤

His older brother never scored on a bicycle kick in high school, so Dingledine vowed he would one day. That day finally came, in his final state tournament, and a friend of his brother said it was the sweetest thing heπs ever seen in a high school soccer game.

Still, Dingledine is most proud of what he and his senior teammates accomplished while setting an all-class boys state record for consecutive wins (31), and wining back-to-back state championships.

≥We were the team that started that streak, and made it to the finals again this season when people doubted us,≤ Dingledine said. ≥As a group we achieved more than many people think, and when we get older and look back it will really hit us.≤

Dingledine will now attend Northeastern (Okla.) State University on a soccer scholarship. His name, however, will still be heard on the Lincoln East practice field.

≥As long as Iπm alive and talking about the impact of an individual on a team sport, A.J. Dingledine will be right at the top of my list of discussion topics,≤ Hoham said.

Reach Brent C. Wagner at 473-7431 or bwagner@journalstar.com.