Photo courtesy of stevendepolo

Fresh off a one-one tie the game before, Octopi came away last Wednesday with yet another draw, despite leading the scoreboard and dominating the field for most of the game.

Most commentators and critics agree that Octopi’s control of the ball and superiority in both passing and skills should have won the day. It certainly helped them dominate the first half. With a quick goal 5 minutes into the first half by defender Kurt Heinrich, the wind was certainly in the pink team’s sails.

When late-arriving striker John Horn hit the pitch, the Octopi offense went into overdrive. After a later goal by Right Back on the Bench (RBOTB), the team continued to pressure finishing with a beautiful triangle of passing between Horn, defender Matt Kieltyka and midfielder Brenton Walters. The triangle allowed for an opening on left side of RBOTB’s box, which Horn was able to easily exploit for a late goal. The score at the end of the half was 2-1 Octopi. Things were looking good.

In the second half, left and right wingers Kyla Kieltyka and Jessica Pautsch probed effectively against the RBOTB’s weak defence. But the team’s momentum was halted when early in the second half an awkward hand ball in the box gave the RBOTB a free kick that they cranked well into the bottom right corner of keeper David Willinsky’s goal.

Later in the half the team would add another goal from a long ways, but the goal was answered by RBOTB after a spate of miscommunication in Octopi’s box.

Then Octopi’s communication continued to deteriorate as the second half wore on. Passes went to far or not far enough. A indirect kick was muppeted up by Heinrich.

Despite kick moves by midfielder Jenn Tailor and a last minute drive by Heinrich, Horn and Pautsch, the game was not to be won, but only tied.

Photo courtesy of guy schmidt