Wick started well and controlled most of the possession in the first half. There were a few chances for both teams. Our chances to score came from silly fouls resulting in free kicks that we couldn’t put away. Their chances came from a loss of possession which turned into a fast break with some defensive positional errors. The first half ended 0-0.
AOF scored in the first minute of the second half in a defensive disconnection. Then again, off a very severe penalty kick that was awarded to them. At 2-0 down, Gianfranco Fajardo gave us some life with a tremendous individual effort, dribbling by 3 defenders while running parallel to the goal and unleashing a curving 25-yarder that struck the inside of the far post and somehow found its way across the goal line. With about 10 min left, Fajardo was setting up a free kick about 30 yards out. When the ball left his foot, it seemed to be the equalizer, but it struck the bottom of the crossbar, bouncing just on the goal line and spinning back out onto the field. Without VAR technology, we will never know if the goal should have been allowed. Game ended as a 2-1 loss.