Workdaze beats Survey FC in final after a sensationally coming from three goals down

In a dramatic final between Workdaze and Survey FC, the Workdaze team won the men's division 3 for the first time after a penalty shoot-out despite being 3 goals behind their opponents during regular game time.

Before the game, Workdaze's chances to win the final looked very promising. They never lost a game to Survey FC before with a record of 5 wins and 1 tie. Even the fans on the Workdaze side dominated in the arena, since several co-workers came out to watch the final (btw, thanks to Dave, Clay, Dave, Lisa, Ned, and Michael and his kids Fiona and Julia for coming out!). However, nobody on the Workdaze team imagined that this final would be so thrilling and such a hard win.

The opponent Survey FC showed up very strong. They had a few players we haven't seen before, and they played their best performance so far in a game against Workdaze.
Survey FC played a solid defense and took their chance by focusing on fast counter-attacks. That caused a lot of trouble in the Workdaze defense in the first half. On the other side, Workdaze's game in the first half was too hectic. The team had more possession of the ball, but was too nervous to score. As a result, Survey FC got on the scoreboard first. Joe equalized the score for Workdaze shortly after. But Survey FC managed to score 2 more goals in the first half,
resulting in a 3-1 lead for Survey FC.

In halftime, the Workdaze team analyzed the flaws and looked forward to do it better in the second half. But a few minutes later, Survey FC scored again, and it looked like Workdaze had no chance coming back from this 1-4 defeat. But Workdaze's performance changed dramatically. Jon was the first to score the 2-4 with a strong shot from the penalty box after a pass from Armin, inspiring the rest of the team.

Now, the Workdaze team got back into their game. The Workdaze defense around Kevin, Seamus and Jon was now robust as usual. Joe stayed on the field most of the time and led one attack after the other. But also the subs did a great job coming into the game for only a few minutes to give everything they got. Luiz and Salva gave the defenders the necessary breaks, while Attila, Mark, and Tim supported the offense and midfield with their restless runs whenever they were on the field.

In the next 10 minutes, Survey's goalkeeper saw 2 more goals in his net. Thomas deflected a long shot from Frank just enough to get it into the net for the 3-4, and Armin scored the 4-4 assisted by Joe. Workdaze's recovery was complete. At this point, both Workdaze team and fans were on fire, and there were still several minutes left in the game. The Workdaze team kept on dominating the game, had several shots on goal, but no luck. Survey FC on the other side remained dangerous and forced Workdaze's goalie Kevin to some great saves.

After regular time the score was still 4-4 and so it went to extra time of 5 minutes. The game continued as it ended in regular time. Workdaze dominated, Survey FC had several counter attacks. But none of the teams got on the score board again.

So, it had to be decided in penalty shoot-out. The shoot-out started with a short delay, because player/coach Thomas tried to put himself in goal for Kevin for the penalty shoot-out, since Kevin had no experience in that so far. But after several minutes of discussion with the officials, it was clear that the league rules would not allow that. At the end, Kevin would be the much better choice for Workdaze anyways.

The penalty shoot-out finally started. And again, it did not look good for Workdaze in the beginning. Thomas was the first one to shoot for Workdaze, but his shot in the right lower corner was blocked by a great save from the Survey goalie. On the other side, the first Survey shooter scored and Survey was up again 1-0. After that, it was Frank's turn and he scored the 1-1 equalizer for Workdaze. Then, it was the time of the Workdaze goalie Kevin to save the day for Workdaze. While Armin and Jon scored their penalties for Workdaze, Kevin saved all next 3 shots from Survey FC. After his last save, hero Kevin did not realize that the game was over until both players and fans ran on the field.

This long, tough game finally had a happy end for Workdaze. Both fans and players were delighted at the unexpected comeback, which made the first win of the division even sweeter.

PS
See the blog entry below for the statistics of the final and the full season.

Stats after Game 10 (final): Workdaze - Survey FC 7-5

Stats of Game 10 (final):

Result: Workdaze - Survey FC 4-4 (1-3) after extra time, 3-1 in penalty shoot-out
Players: Armin, Attila, Joe, Jon, Frank, Kevin J, Luiz, Mark, Salva, Seamus, Thomas, Tim
Goals: Armin (1), Joe (1), Jon (1), Thomas (1)
Assists: Armin (1), Frank (1), Joe (1)
Penalties: none

Penalty shoot-out:

Season Stats:

Aneel's game report of the semi-final

Aneel Bhusri, co-founder and president of Workday, attended the semi-final. Here is his game report:

Team Workday,

As most of you know, we have a company soccer team called Workdaze. This past Monday, I had the pleasure to watch our team play in the league semifinals in San Ramon. In a very competitive and intense game, the Workdaze team bested their opponents by a score of 6-2.

Some highlights of the victory:

*Joe “Thunderfoot” Korngiebel scored 3 of the 6 goals. 1 on a great pass from Thomas Schwarz, 2 unassisted. Joe played soccer in college, and could probably return to soccer if web services and SOA end up being fads.

*Workdaze player/coach Thomas “Jurgen Klinsmann” Schwarz had 2 assists and 1 goal. And in a demonstration of pure toughness, Thomas even blocked a shot with his face!

*Frank “Pele” Law dazzled the fans (and his opponents) with amazing ball handling and passing skills. Frank is really a pretty awesome player.

*Jon “The Enforcer” Ruggiero brought hockey to the soccer field. Turns out our resident OMS genius is a former hockey player and has a penchant for running opposing players into the wall. As you might guess, Jon plays defense and is very good.

*Exciting goals by Armin Taghinia and Attila Bukta and superb goal tending by Kevin Jarvis, the lone non-soccer player who was somehow talked into playing goalie.

And great play by everyone else, including Luiz De Oliviera, Salva Maiorano, Seamus Donahue (fresh off a flight from Ireland), Mark Jaynes and Tim Akramy.

Please join me in wishing good luck to the Workdaze team as they prepare for the league championship game tonight. The team email address is workdaze@workday.com.


Aneel

Statistics after Game 9 (semi-final): Workdaze - D4 6-2 (3-1)

Stats of Game 9 (semi-final):

Result: Workdaze - D4 6-2 (3-1)
Players: Armin, Attila, Joe, Jon, Frank, Kevin J, Luiz, Mark, Salva, Seamus, Thomas, Tim
Goals: Joe (3), Armin (1), Attila (1), Thomas (1)
Assists: Thomas (2), Luiz (1)
Penalties: none

Season Stats:

Finals Bound

For the 3rd straight season Workdaze captured the #2 seed in the 4-team tournament. Tension was in the air before the semi-final against D4. Workdaze was without a top striker in Ralf, and Seamus was hampered with 'jet-lag' (hungover) after a week in Ireland.

The pace was quick from the outset as D4 tried to impose their style of play. Workdaze was able to get on the board first when 'Roid Rage' Keeper was blue carded for a tackle on a breakaway and Joe scored on the resulting free-kick.

The game was closely contended until Armin blasted a beautiful tight-angled goal in the upper part of the net. Workdaze controlled the game from that point. 'We (D4) hold the ball for a few seconds, and they immediately have a guy dropping back on us' a Workdaze defender overheard 'Red Socks' Striker say to a teammate.

D4 was clearly frustrated and tired in the second half. Said Tony '25%' Striker in an on-field conversation with a Workdaze defender 'These (D4) guys suck'. To which the defender replied, 'But you've had some unlucky breaks'. 'No, they just suck' Tony stated.

Things got a little chippy at the very end, as 'Red Socks' Striker took out Jon in the Workdaze defensive zone. Frank immediately told Jon to stand down, which he did. However, Frank decided to get into it himself by calling 'Red' an a$$. That set off some argument as the final buzzer sounded.

Next up, the finals and Survey FC.

Workdaze (6:2) D4