O'Fallon Flames Archives

11.20.05 : Goal With :05 Remaining Ends Disappointing Doubleheader For Flames

The Flames hosted the Webster Groves Griffins and Florissant United in a doubleheader at the Crematorium Sunday.

The first match against Matt Morice and the Webster Groves Griffins was a battle of midfield possesion and near misses on both sides. O'Fallon came close on 3 or 4 opportunities throughout the match, but the better chances came from the visiting Griffins, hitting the post three times during regulation. Overtime surprisingly saw things open up a bit but neither side could find the back of the net and the match ended in a "sister-kissing" 0-0 draw. "Our defense played well today, but if you don't score you can't win." manager Jeff Drake said after the match. "Hopefully we can build on this for our next match with Florissant later today."

Drake did not have to wait long as Tim Boone and the Florissant United stood ready to go. Four minutes in to the match it looked like Drake was right and the Flames had built on their previous match. A quick run through the left side of the midfield and a quick strike caught the United keeper by surprise and the Flames went up 1-0. But the lead would not last long. Two minutes later Florissant got behind the Flames defense and ripped a shot past a diving Flames keeper to tie the match at 1. During the second half Florissant kept good posession and the Flames goalkeeper kept O'Fallon in the match with no fewer than 5 huge saves. But it was just a matter of time before United broke through. And time was definitely the key. With a mere 5 seconds to go in regulation, Florissant worked the ball in on the left wing, set up a quick touch and fired a blistering shot over the outstretched metal arms of the keeper to the far post giving Florissant the 2-1 win. "We scored first, and that was promising." Drake said. "Deep down I knew we had to play better without the ball if we were going be successful today. But allowing the goal as time expired was a big let-down."