Basil’s Cory Wickline and Omega’s Zach Roschi and Kenneth Johnson go for the header.
Basil battles Omega, forces an overtime stalemate
Basilean and Omega played to a scoreless tie on Friday night, but the game was not without some of the usual drama that interleague play brings.
Goalkeeping was a huge key for both teams in this game, which was evidenced by the zeros posted on the scoreboard.
John Romig, Basilean’s goalkeeper, made the save of the night when he backpedaled and punched a long shot from Omega’s Curtis Taylor just over the crossbar.
“It was really hard to stay focused the whole game because I didn’t see a lot of action, and it was really important for me not to get lulled to sleep,” John said. “When I saw shots, I was ready and came up with the saves.”
Omega’s Duane Anderson was just as valuable for his team, and he came up with a very similar save to the one Basilean’s goalkeeper made.
Standing on his line and facing a free kick from about 20 yards out, Duane jumped and was just able to get a touch on the ball, keeping it from going into the net.
“Defense made it easy,” Duane said. “I didn’t have to make many saves because of the great defense I have in front of me, but when I had the opportunity, I gutted it out and made the saves.”
Basil did make some offensive adjustments in this contest after a few weeks of disappointing offensive outputs.
Cory Wickline, who usually lines up on defense, played what the Eagles call the point man.
“My role was not to score but to distribute, stay in the middle, and pass out to the sides,” said Cory. “It worked a few times tonight, but we weren’t able to do it the best tonight; hopefully we can continue to get better with it this season.”
Using this strategy, the Eagles generated more offense than the Lions. Neither team was able to capitalize on opportunities.
Both Basil and Omega are seeking to establish themselves as dominant forces within their respective leagues.
With the tie, Omega technically remains undefeated.
