View from the 18: Week 13

This was a tough game. Despite starting with only 9 players, against the top team in our division, our team showed a lot of heart. The odds were stacked against us, and the score line reflects just how challenging this match was. 

Even though we ended up losing, it’s important to recognize the determination and effort the team put in under such difficult circumstances. The focus now will be on regrouping, learning from this experience, and coming back stronger in the next game. 

Thank you to Bryan Lefebvre from our Wolves OT6 for playing keeper for us in this game.

FORZA WOLVES !

Our ‘Player of the Game‘ was Isaiah who’s display of resilience
 was inspiring!

Westboro started the game with an attacking approach, attempting to break through Dundas’s defense by attacking from the wings in pursuit of goals.

The match ended 3-0 after 90 minutes, keeping our Westboro Wolves in the championship hunt and within one point of the top of the table. The highly anticipated match between the two top teams, our Wolves and Fitzroy, will take place in Week 14. We hope to get one step closer to a divisional Championship.

Congratulations to our Players of the Game, Farbod and Hossein.

This brought me back to 2005. I’m in our hotel room in Taipei, Taiwan. Watching the Champions League final between AC Milan and Liverpool. The Italians, who were the favourites, they built up a commanding 3-0 lead going into the second half. I was ready to celebrate. But not so fast. The Reds stormed back to tie this game. I was in shock! Liverpool’s keeper, Dudek outshone AC Milan’s Dida in PKs, 3-2. I was thinking, are we going to allow these Eagles from Carleton Place (who play RUGBY-style SOCCER) to fly all-the-way back to tie tonight’s game and make our road to a Championship that much harder?

NOT TONIGHT!

The end-result is what we set out to accomplish.  But the job isn’t done yet and we need to stay resolute, determined, and unwavering.

We thank Alonso Gartner and Jameson Bevington for the bountiful post-game bevies. And we award Alonso the prize for the longest goodbye. He said I’m leaving and was still seen 30 minutes later. 

Part of our Club mantra is that we are more than just a team, we are family. I see this more and more every year. Some of our older players have witnessed several of you grow from children into men, and now, fathers.

I am extremely grateful for all the sacrifices made by all of you, every week.  

To Chris McMahon for always being first to the field and putting up the net and to our sideline supporters … we THANK YOU once again for cheering us on!

Anthony made a couple of crucial saves. One early in the first half and another in the second that, as it turns out, helped secure us this victory. His celebratory song was ‘Walking On a Dream‘ by Empire of the Sun!

Our post-match included a lovely chicken feast and cold bevies by our very own veteran, Kevin Beyer. Thank you, KB!

Our ‘Players of the Game’ were  Francis “the Brick-wall” Breault and Hakim “the Dream” Tamimount.

At the start of the second half, the Leopards scored an own goal that was credited to Helio Cruz. Shortly after, our Mahamadou Samake scored his first goal of the season, giving the Wolves some breathing room with a 4-1 lead. However, a fast break from the Leopards narrowed the difference to 2 goals. Yet, another good combination in attack turned into a goal thanks to Q. Vuniqi.

Despite the 5-2 lead, the next 10 mins was all Leopards. They scored their third goal of the match and further pressure. Following a good combination, one of their forwards was alone against Bryan. He would have scored if Kevin Ridgway, our Wolves MR4 call-up, hadn’t come out of nowhere to block the play. He got injured and as a precaution, he would not return for the remainder of the game. Kevin’s action was not in vain and it gave the OT6 the motivation needed to finish strong. Our Wolves Vincent Wienecke and Q. Vuniqi scored towards the end of the match to give the Wolves OT6 the victory.

Despite the final score, this was not an easy match as our Wolves had to adjust players in different lines to compensate for the absences caused by injuries and August holidays. With 3 games to go, our Wolves remain in first place and their next match will be against the OASC Lynwood Red Star.

We honour our ‘Players of the Game’ Ada, Kevin, and Helio for their contributions towards our victory!

The second half started largely the same and Oscar Arrieta finished a nice move that put us up 2-0 and seemingly in control of the game.  Simmering under the surface, however, was the red mist, and OSU took full advantage by getting under our skin and pulling us off our game.  A funny bounce led to a first goal and seemed to throw us off our game completely as we started playing their game.  Within 10 minutes our 2-0 lead was a 3-2 deficit with about 15 minutes left to play.

If that was the low point, the upside is that we responded well to this challenge, got our heads back in the game, and applied an enormous amount of pressure on their goal.  That pressure led to a tying penalty from Bill McIntyre and a late winner almost followed.  Unfortunately, time ran out on us and we had to settle for a draw.

While the result was not what we wanted, pulling back the draw was important as it kept our destiny in our own hands.  We need to win out our last three games, but if we do, we will walk away with the season trophy.

Now, for the real highlights of the night.  Fabrizio and Roberto Smilovich brought an excellent choice of cold bevies. As if this was not enough, Domenic Mafrici then pulls out a bunch of home-made sandwiches plus BIG bags of chips (more laps for everyone!) and everything else was forgotten.

Our ‘Player of the Game’ honours probably should have gone to the after-game spread… but the men of the match (Oscar and Alonso) were deserving of their recognition!