2025-11-16, 03:18 PM - Word count:
Fresh off a 4-1 loss to AS Paris in the second match of the season, we were heading back home to play against Seoul Mythic FC. With the new promotion-relegation structure incoming at the end of the season, every match would be critical to get an all-important spot on the top half of the division this year, and we really couldn't afford to fall behind in the first half of the season.
The match against Seoul got off to a typical slow start with both teams just figuring out each other's styles, which was still a good sign after we went down 0-2 to AS Paris in the first five minutes of the previous match. In the 31st minute, the deadlock was finally broken from an unexpected source. A Seoul player fired a pass across the box that eluded the attacking player but ended up on the foot of Thomas Schwarte, who couldn't corral the ball as it bounced into hi own net. Scoring an own goal is one of the worst feelings in sports, and we wanted to get the goal back as quickly as possible so he wouldn't have to dwell on it for too long.
In the 36th minute, we'd managed to get a free kick opportunity and Tank Denstro lined up to take it. He played a quick back-and-forth passing play with new rookie Robbie Schuurmans and I broke for the net, making sure not to outrun David Doug II before the pass came my way. I was wide open and quickly put a shot on goal as soon as the ball reached me, and the goalie could only partially deflect the shot as it found the top corner of the net for the tying goal. It was my first goal of the season, and now that it was out of the way I could let go of some of the nerves about living up to my strong rookie performance from last season.
We traded goals with Seoul as the match continued on, taking a 2-2 tie into the 84th minute. Off a corner kick, Thomas Schwarte got the ball passed back to him and he made a nice move near the goal before burying the go-ahead marker, perfectly avenging his own goal early in the match. Deep into injury time, he then helped strike the dagger by setting up Berit Skovgaard for a goal to make it 4-2 off another corner kick.
A few weeks later, we were in another match against last-place Athenai FC. We jumped out to an early lead dominating the pace of play and were soon up 3-0 off the back of two penalty-kick goals from Tank Denstro. Athenai got one back right before halftime, but we were firmly in control with just a little over 45 minutes of soccer left to play today. After a couple of yellow cards were issued in the start of the second half, one to each team, we were back in possession in the 55th minute. Jay Cue Jr. got a play started off a free kick, getting the ball to Schuurmans who passed off to Matt Turk. Turk passed the ball to me and I circled around the outside, taking advantage of something of a pick from Thomas Schwarte to get me some free space up the side. I got around the outside of the Athenai defender and fired off a solid shot, but it was blocked away by the goalkeeper Yuri Satoshi.
In the 77th minute, I had an even better chance to get my second goal of the season when Matt Turk got the ball to me wide open in the box. I turned and fired, but Satoshi robbed me again, deflecting the shot from point-blank range into the corner to keep me off the scoresheet. On the very next play, though, Thomas Schwarte repeated the assist from the previous match by launching a corner that Berit Skovgaard headed into the corner of the net to put us up 4-1. Athenai scored two quick goals when we took our foot off the gas, but we managed to hold on to the lead and close out a 4-3 victory. It wasn't pretty, but we were off to a 3-1 start to the year and looking confident to continue the path towards staying in the top minors division.
The match against Seoul got off to a typical slow start with both teams just figuring out each other's styles, which was still a good sign after we went down 0-2 to AS Paris in the first five minutes of the previous match. In the 31st minute, the deadlock was finally broken from an unexpected source. A Seoul player fired a pass across the box that eluded the attacking player but ended up on the foot of Thomas Schwarte, who couldn't corral the ball as it bounced into hi own net. Scoring an own goal is one of the worst feelings in sports, and we wanted to get the goal back as quickly as possible so he wouldn't have to dwell on it for too long.
In the 36th minute, we'd managed to get a free kick opportunity and Tank Denstro lined up to take it. He played a quick back-and-forth passing play with new rookie Robbie Schuurmans and I broke for the net, making sure not to outrun David Doug II before the pass came my way. I was wide open and quickly put a shot on goal as soon as the ball reached me, and the goalie could only partially deflect the shot as it found the top corner of the net for the tying goal. It was my first goal of the season, and now that it was out of the way I could let go of some of the nerves about living up to my strong rookie performance from last season.
We traded goals with Seoul as the match continued on, taking a 2-2 tie into the 84th minute. Off a corner kick, Thomas Schwarte got the ball passed back to him and he made a nice move near the goal before burying the go-ahead marker, perfectly avenging his own goal early in the match. Deep into injury time, he then helped strike the dagger by setting up Berit Skovgaard for a goal to make it 4-2 off another corner kick.
A few weeks later, we were in another match against last-place Athenai FC. We jumped out to an early lead dominating the pace of play and were soon up 3-0 off the back of two penalty-kick goals from Tank Denstro. Athenai got one back right before halftime, but we were firmly in control with just a little over 45 minutes of soccer left to play today. After a couple of yellow cards were issued in the start of the second half, one to each team, we were back in possession in the 55th minute. Jay Cue Jr. got a play started off a free kick, getting the ball to Schuurmans who passed off to Matt Turk. Turk passed the ball to me and I circled around the outside, taking advantage of something of a pick from Thomas Schwarte to get me some free space up the side. I got around the outside of the Athenai defender and fired off a solid shot, but it was blocked away by the goalkeeper Yuri Satoshi.
In the 77th minute, I had an even better chance to get my second goal of the season when Matt Turk got the ball to me wide open in the box. I turned and fired, but Satoshi robbed me again, deflecting the shot from point-blank range into the corner to keep me off the scoresheet. On the very next play, though, Thomas Schwarte repeated the assist from the previous match by launching a corner that Berit Skovgaard headed into the corner of the net to put us up 4-1. Athenai scored two quick goals when we took our foot off the gas, but we managed to hold on to the lead and close out a 4-3 victory. It wasn't pretty, but we were off to a 3-1 start to the year and looking confident to continue the path towards staying in the top minors division.
<center><img src='https://i.imgur.com/X6cSRMC.jpeg' border='0' alt='user posted image' /></center><br><center>Sig by Pandar</center>
![[Image: lisfor-3.png]](https://i.postimg.cc/sDzJYqYM/lisfor-3.png)
