Saturday, 5/04/2003    
Procaps - Kelly's Pub
     3               6
Goals: Gregor, Pavel, Steve

          The season is over … but we fought and did not make it easy for Kelly’s Pub.  We were missing our captain a lot but he was not the reason why we lost.  The score does not show it, but the game was pretty even and we had plenty of chances.  We started very well, Gregor (the best player in the league) opened the game with beautiful goal.  Then we started having problems with Kelly’s number 9 who was keeping our defensemen busy.  Kelly’s pub managed to score 3 quick goals but we came back and Pavel’s individual action made the game more interesting.  Although their forwards were very dangerous and managed to lead the game 5:2 a quick goal from Steven gave us hope. Every time they scored some goals we were able to come back, that was the most positive part of the game. Now we know that we can play (and beat) anybody. We had a chance to get really close to tying the game but Pavel hit the post (instead of  empty net) and instead of 4:5 they scored the last goal and made the final score 3:6.
           Special thanks to Shirish who managed to attend the game and perform very well as usual.
 

That was a tough game against Air Canada that went down to the wire.  They opened the scoring in the first half with a screened shot that Shirish didn’t see until it was too late.  We had a few good chances throughout the first half but couldn’t beat the Air Canada keeper (or his goal posts).  In the second half we tied the game with a nice lob from Osei that sailed just over the keepers` hands.  Unfortunately they kept coming and got the game winner soon after.  We will have to step up our play next game if we are to stand a chance against Kelly’s Pub next Saturday.  They will be tough opponents but if we play our patient and tough game I know we can wear them down.  The playoff schedule has not been finalized yet but keep checking the site and we will post it as soon as possible. 
 

So far so good!  We simply destroyed Protel today in a 7-0 blowout on Saturday and clinched a playoff spot.  We owned this match from the first minutes on and played with complete confidence.  It shows that our team has really pulled together and everyone is playing at the top of their games.  There were some excellent passing plays by our team up front.  Our defense kept up with a fast Protel offense and forced them to shoot mainly from the perimeter.  The midfield was as good as ours too.  Gregor had four goals, as well as singles from Nabil, Mike and myself.  Shirish managed to maintain his first shutout of the season.  Once again there was some excellent communication on the field and good positioning.  The real challenge will be to keep up this level of play against tougher teams like Air Canada and our first round rivals. 
 

Saturday, 15/03/2003
Procaps - Ericsson 1
     3             0
Goals: 2x Gregor, John

We took another step toward clinching a playoff berth today in relatively easy 3-0 win over Ericsson 1.  Although we had only two spares, we still managed to out-hustle our opponents and consistently mobbed their offensive runs.  There was some great two-way play from our midfielders, notably Romain.  John opened the scoring early in the game and Gregor (22 goals and counting) added a pair in the second half.  We clearly controlled the play for most of the game and had a lot of quality scoring chances that we couldn’t capitalize on.  There were a couple of scares when we gave up two free kicks just outside the crease in the second half but aside from these we didn’t give them much to work with.  It shows that we are feeling the playoffs nearing as players were blocking a lot of shots and making a lot of aggressive tackles.  There was some good intensity and communication out there guys.  Let’s keep it going.  
 

Good news, we picked up an easy victory against F.C. Europa.  We are officially in 8^th  (the last playoff position) as of today.   They managed to keep it a close game through the first half by only allowing one goal from Gregor.  Their forwards were limited to only a few desperate shots, many of which had to be retrieved from the upper viewing gallery.   In the second half we settled down to finish them off.  Gregor popped in a couple more and Steve and Romain had one apiece.  Long balls played against us throughout the game were routinely picked up by our defense which had their forwards under control.  F.C. Europa managed a lucky goal on a failed clearing attempt after some confusion following a free kick.  Bruno was robbed of a deserved shut out yet again.  Next week, at 3:00,  we have a really big match against our old enemies, Provigo.  I hope most of us can make it out for this game. 
 

That was an unlucky game boys.  HMC Apollon got a lot of breaks in front of our net in the 3-2 game.  For all the chances we had it’s really too bad we didn’t get a couple of lucky bounces ourselves.  I would estimate we had at least 3 times as many chances as they did but the ball just wasn’t going in.   Honorable mentions to our goalie Shirish who snagged up every ball that came near him, keep up the good work.  Mike had an excellent game and a nice goal and it was good to see Gregor christen his new boots with a point as well.  Overall everyone played well.  Our next game is against F.C. Europa (1-0-13) at 11:00 AM.   Let’s keep up our fighting spirit up and let’s see if we can win this next one with a mercy-rule decision!