June 23, 2013

Hi Guys,

Today's match was challenging but enjoyable for a number of reasons, not least because Compass rallied twice to come back from behind for a final 2-2 tie with the Taichung Men's All-Star Team. It was also fun to have two potent "old-timers", Ricky and Kurt, both on the pitch with us again. It was such a nostalgic moment that I almost expected to see Seb and Momo there as well.

If our opponents today looked familiar, it's because they were, with a fair number of PE College players from last week filling out the ranks of this team. They were very good, fit, fast and throughout the match riddled our net with shots, which Gary mostly kept out with some great goaltending. However, with our full line-up present, I think we could've beaten this side.

Compass played most of the game with a brand-new midfield line-up of sorts, with Robert, Elliot, Hans, Lukas and Derik all playing center midfield at various points, and Ricky, Calleb, Jacob and Malachi playing the wings. Perhaps it was our unfamiliarity with each other but the Taichung All-Stars quickly got a close-up goal at the 3-minute mark, followed by some other good opportunities. However, at 19 minutes Cesar stold the ball in the middle about 20 yards out, handed it off to the left to Ben, who scored. At 28 minutes, our opponents scored again with a beautiful arcing shot from 25 or more yards out that went into our left corner.

Compass looked much stronger and organized in the second half, aggressively pressuring Taichung All-Stars and keeping the ball in their defensive third for long stretches. To me, it looked like there were tall, skinny Compass guys--Cesar, Ricky, Calleb--scrambling for each ball up there, in addition to Ben, Lukas, Rob and others. As the clock wound down, it looked like Compass was heading to a defeat but, just two minutes from the final whistle, Ben and Lukas totally crunched a defender on the line to the left of the All-Stars' goal, allowing Lukas to tie up the game.

As noted above, we were happy to be joined by Kurt, who played strong, skilled football on defense until he blew out his boots (a pair of Pumas, no less!). This was also a final match for Malachi and Hans for a bit. Malachi, we'll miss having you out with us and will save a place for you when you come back in a few years to replace your over-the-hill dad. Hans, we'll look forward to seeing you very soon when you're next in town.

Good job today, guys!

Doug