Mom sprints to tackle toddler who ran onto the field during Major League Soccer game

An Ohio toddler displayed some impressive speed at a Major League Soccer game last weekend by sprinting out onto the field in the middle of the action. Two-year-old Zaydek Carpenter of Moscow, Ohio, dashed onto the north half of the field at TQL Stadium on Saturday night in the second half of FC Cincinnati face off against Orlando City FC. However, even more impressive was the toddler's mom, Morgan Tucker, who kicked into high gear as soon as she realized her son was orchestrating a pitch invasion after sliding under a fence. Speaking to Good Morning America, she revealed that it was Zaydek's first soccer game.

"I literally looked away for one second and saw he was under the fence and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh,'" Tucker said. "I had to jump over the gate and then sprinted after him." The mother-son duo were guests of Tucker's employer and was sitting in club seats on the sidelines, she explained. Zaydek made a break for it about 70 minutes into the game when his mom turned her head for one second just as all the players were running to the other side of the field.

Although many viewers missed the exciting moment during the live action of the match, videos and photos of the event have grown in interest since the contest ended. A video shared by the Major Soccer League Twitter account shows Tucker sprinting onto the field and sliding in order to tackle Zaydek and take him back to their seats. "When I slid and tackled him, I did not feel any pain but the next day I was sore for sure," said Tucker, describing her actions at the moment as "pure adrenaline." "I was so scared he was going to get hit in the head with a soccer ball."

Fortunately, both Tucker and Zaydek made it off the field without any injuries and without interrupting the game which ultimately ended as a 1-1 draw. "When I got him back over the fence I said, ‘What were you doing?,’ and he said, ‘Mom, soccer ball,'" Tucker said. "He was really into the game and when the [players] would go to the other side of the field, he was not happy, so he wanted them to be there with him. He was just running after them. He was just laughing and had no idea what he did."

Tucker revealed that she and Zaydek received cheers from the crowd while running off the field after the toddler's little escapade. "Everyone was screaming and cheering and I knew they were not cheering for the game. My face was as red as a tomato," she said. Gushing about her son, Tucker said that Zaydek is a "very active kid" who started walking at seven months and now loves playing soccer. She hopes his passion for the sport will continue as he grows up—without being put on display in the middle of a pro soccer game between teams he's not a part of.

"I want him to meet the FC team now and kick a ball with them," she said, adding that Zaydek was given the game ball on Saturday after the game. "That would be so cool."  Enquirer staff photographer Sam Greene reported in a tweet that both mom and son ended up having a great time at the game once the dust settled on the pitch invasion.