(October 8, 2023) Miami, Oklahoma - With just four games left in their regular season, the Bucks are still fighting for a berth to the Region II Championship game. On Sunday, the men travelled to Miami, OK to take on the NEO Norsemen. The Bucks beat the Norse earlier this season at home, 4-3.
Two mistakes in the first half gave NEO two goals in the half in which UARM dominated. A misplaced defensive wall was wrongly set up which led to the first goal, and UARM left their left side exposed for the second goal. UARM had many opportunities to score in the first half but couldn't finish, and the half time break was spent with a lot of frustration as to how the game was going. UARM knew they were in the game and kept believing. The men were rewarded with a goal in the 55th minute when Mohammed Sadiki (Casablanca, Morocco) scored from his free kick way out on the right wing over the goalkeepers head. Just as UARM pushed for the goal their play deserved, the game was turned on it's head when Luca Fasan (Genova, Italy) received a second yellow card for an innocuous foul and had to be ejected. Going down to 10 men was a huge challenge for UARM and as a result, NEO was able to take advantage of having the extra player with two further goals to win 4-1 over the Bucks.
After the match, Coach Sherry stated, "The guys dominated the game in many parts of it but just didn't have that killer touch in front of goal. The way this season has been going was summed up in this game with us creating a lot of chances and not putting them away, whilst making mistakes at the back which the opposition finish with regularity. Even with 10 men, we were very competitive and could have scored which reflects how much we were in this game. I feel for the guys but we have to pick ourselves up and keep fighting until the end."
The men return home on Wednesday for a match against NOC-Enid at Tapley Park. Kickoff is scheduled for 4 pm.
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