Unfortunately, we came up a bit short. Everyone played an incredible game. We had a number of opportunities but in the end it didn't work out. I'm really proud of the way we all came together these last 3 games after an up and down session.
The recap for those who weren't there. D4 was tough as usual. They got off to the early 1:0 lead. But we came back on a free kick into the zone and off the wall that Frank handled beauty for the header 1:1. D4 went up 2:1, but Frank had another on a close-in move around our old friend Kenny "roids" D4 keeper to tie it 2:2 right before the half. Everyone was dead tired at the half.
The second half was close. Rick called the game since it was Monday, and he called it very tight and fair. We had a number of direct kicks in the D4 zone that we couldn't connect on. We also had a number of shots that were nearly there, or hit the post. We got a bad bounce on a hand ball call right outside our box that D4 put in to go up 3:2 with about 10 minutes to play. The rest of the half we tried to equalize, but couldn't get it done. We nearly had a last second goal to force another playoff overtime with D4. Dave and Saul were on the break, and Dave got the ball to Saul with the D4 keeper completely out of the goal. The ball was just a bit behind Saul who needed only to get enough on the ball to roll it a few feet, but couldn't get enough of his foot on it. The D4 keeper recovered and saved it. With only a minute or so remaining we couldn't get another opportunity.
Again, great effort. We proved we can still play with anyone in the league!
-jon
David's Viewpoint:
For those who did not see the game, you should know that this was the first time I saw us obviously outplay D4. It helped to have a ref who called them for using their arms, but we got to that point because we hustled and outplayed them.
If it wasn’t for a 2 min span of playing 4 v 4 (each team with a one man off 2 min penalty) in which D4 had control, I would say that we owned 80% of the 2nd half. Unfortunately, owning it and scoring are not the same, as we did not score in the 2nd half. Come to think of it, we scored only 1 goal in the 2nd half against the Turbins … that was a Mercy Rule issue, but nonetheless I would say that losing many players including our top scorer(s) turned this session into a transition session. We need to score, and recently against weak goalies we are scoring more than twice.
As for Saúl’s apology, none needed. Every game we get chances that we do not put away. In this game alone, I was right in front of the goal and hit the top post in the first half, MarkJ also hit the post, and I recall countless other good opportunities (like a nice off-the-corner wall pass (by Dan? during the first half) to Geoff, which we had seen Geoff nail during warmup the previous game). If we scored 1 of 4 chances, we would have had 4 or 5 goals.
We played a great game and I know I’m hungry now for next session, eager for rematches against D-4 and Happy Feet, and continued dominance of the others.
David
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