Third straight comeback tie concludes winless month
May 28, 2011
A month ago, April ended on a three-game winning and shutout streak. Everything seemed possible. Today, Metro played its last game in the winless month of May. Everything seems questionable. Oh, sure, it was a third straight comeback draw, this time a 1:1 result in Vancouver. But with even more players due to miss multiple games, one can only guess what kind of results June will bring.
"Clever" Hans Backe had to use his giant brain to shuffle today's lineup. Stephen Keel came in at central defense, Carlos Mendes shifted to right back, Jan Gunnar Solli to right midfield, Joel Lindpere to the middle, Juan Agudelo to the left, and Dwayne De Rosario made the start upfront.
Vancouver's goal came in the 24th minute on a penalty kick. Mendes supposedly fouled Camillo in the penalty area; in reality, the Brazilian flew into the air and dropped to the ground after a slight touch. Greg Sutton almost saved the spot kick, but Eric Hassli's shot just eluded the hand of Metro's brobdingnagan goalkeeper.
Metro battled back ten minutes later. Roy Miller's cross found Solli just outside the box. The Norwegian took a touch and then found Luke Rodgers, who bulldozed his way towards the middle of the penalty area. The bald Englishman made good once again, slamming the ball home. It was his fifth of the season and the second straight game-tying tally.
After the exchange of goals, neither team could produce many quality chances. Sutton came up with a huge kick save on Hassli, and a Joel Lindpere blast sailed just high. And then, in the 70th minute, Metro got more bad news, when Carlos Mendes had to leave with an injury. Matt Kassel made his professional debut, replacing the fallen captain (Teemu Tainio took over the armband). Austin da Luz also made his league debut (he previously only played in an Open Cup game).
Kassel had Metro's best chance the rest of the way, placing a perfectly positioned ball into the upper corner, only to be denied by the goalkeeper. At the end, the 1:1 draw against an expansion team was the deserving result... And who knows how destitute the month of June will be.
Lineup: Sutton, Miller, Ream, Keel, Mendes, Tainio, Agudelo, Solli, Lindpere, Rodgers, De Rosario. Subs: da Luz, Kassel, Hertzog.
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