(September 18, 2024) Enid, Oklahoma - Coming off a tough home loss last week, the men had a week off between matches to rest, recover, and regroup. The Bucks travelled to NOC-Enid on Wednesday to take on the Jets at Advance Soccer Complex. Both teams were in the hunt for their first region win of the season.
The start of the game reflected the need of both teams to get some form of positive result from the game. It was a very cagey start as the players reflected on the importance of the game. The opening gambits were full of conservative passing patterns and risk free decisions as each team looked to get a foothold into the game. UARM was very organized and patient in their defending, giving NOC problems as to how to break them down. The Bucks got behind the Jets a few times through Connor Clark (Hebburn, United Kingdom) and Taylor Marange (Nuneaton, England) out wide but were unable to take advantage of the opportunities. The first half was spent mostly in the Bucks half as NOC dominated possession of the ball, but they struggled to break down the Bucks back line.
The second half started with Bucks changing their formation to match up with the NOC system of play, and as a result, the game became a toe-to-toe battle in midfield with neither team refusing to fold as both teams sought to gain control of this prime real estate. The game was a stalemate, which was perfectly fine for the Bucks team who would be happy with a point on the road against for that last post season qualification spot.
It was looking more and more like the game would be decided by a mistake rather than one team creating a goal out of nothing through a piece of skill. As the clock turned to 70 minute, that big mistake happened, and it was the UARM defense who made it. Ebrima Jobe (Memphis, TN) passed the ball back to Oliver Bewell (Toulouse, France) in goal, but instead of clearing, it he tried to control the ball and got caught in possession of the ball by the NOC striker. As the Jets forward was about to score, Bewell dragged him down and gave away a penalty kick. To make matters worse for UARM, Bewell was shown a straight red card. UARM would have to play the rest of the game with one man less than NOC. Brandon McDaniel (McAlester, OK) came on to replace Bewell and almost saved the penalty kick getting his right hand to the shot, but he couldn't push the ball outside the post as it nestled in the corner of the net.
UARM fought to the end and despite only having 10 players managed to create many attacking situations. It was looking more and more that the Bucks would get one last, big chance, and it came in the last minute when Marange robbed the NOC central defender to then bear down on the goal with a real chance to score. However, the central defender fouled Marange just before he could shoot and was given a red card. The foul was just outside the penalty area, and the Bucks were unable to score from the resulting free kick. The NOC player 'took one for the team', sacrificing himself to stop UARM scoring. The final whistle was blown and NEO took the valuable win which UARM did so much to avoid.
Coach Sherry was disappointed for his team. "The team played so well and gave 100% effort in all aspects of the game. It was a tremendous team display to be let down by one instance. I am so sad for the guys who gave everything they had and deserved the win or at least a tie. They didn't deserve to lose this game, and this hurts. We have to focus on the positives and learn from that one mistake as we move forward. Our fate is still in our hands, and we have to believe that we can reach the post season."
The men will now turn their focus to Connors State College on Sunday, September 22nd. Kickoff is at 2 pm at Tapley Park in Mena.
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