OUAZ Athletics

PHYSICAL MATCH PLAYS TO A TIE

8/28/2023 11:13:00 PM

In the movie Field of Dreams there is a line that goes "Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, sometimes it rains."  Well, in soccer you can very easily change "rains" to "you tie".  That was the case on Monday, August 28 when the OUAZ Spirit came from three goals down to tie finish in a tie at 4-4 against Park Gilbert at Spirit Field.

"We showed character to come back," head coach David Stockton said post-match.  "I'm super proud of the guys to come back and get the tie."

Park (0-2-1) jumped out on top with a goal in the 14th minute.  Just about ten minutes later, OUAZ was the beneficiary of an own goal to tie the match at 1-all.

In the 36th minute, Simon Puchner scored a goal just seconds after OUAZ (2-0-1) was stopped on a point blank shot to take a 2-1 lead heading into halftime.

Then the second half came.  It was looking like the Buccaneers might be able to get their first victory over OUAZ in the all-time series.

Park scored twice more to make it 4-1 with 14:23 remaining in the contest.  The morale in the stands at Spirit Field was not very high.

Then Jamaine Turner scored his second goal of the season off a Thomas Monayer pass, just 22 seconds later to make it 4-2 and the morale started to increase.

Some 75 seconds later, Turner shot and the rebound went to Ethan Naiberg who knocked it past the keeper for his first goal of the season and a 4-3 deficit.  The morale was gaining ground quickly.

After the restart, the Spirit saw an opening and got the ball to Tom Cohen.  Cohen was puled down in the box and was awarded a penalty kick.  He stepped up, with the crowd in full throat, and kicked it past the keeper who had guessed correctly but was just tardy.

It was a physical fixture as there were 20 total fouls and 14 cards issued by the referee.

The team will be back on the pitch on Thursday, August 31st when Eastern Oregon University comes to Spirit Field.  Tickets can be purchased on the Hometown Ticket app or by clicking here.