The University of Toronto’s Scarborough campus men’s soccer team, The United, faced off against downtown’s Chestnut B squad Saturday afternoon at Varsity Field.
Chestnut defender Rob Liddell sent a corner kick into United’s net to seal the 2-2 draw.
“It was a good game,” Liddell said. “Everyone did really well. We gave 110 per cent and it was really fun.”
United centre midfielder Nav Chahal felt loose and confident before the match. Fun was the main objective of the game.
“With our intense practices, I feel we’ll do well,” Chahal said.
United were hungry for another win while the Chestnuts were thirsty for redemption.
Sami Elsebae, third-year head coach of the United, wanted to see a repeat of the scoreline the team wrote against Chestnut’s A squad.
“Last week we beat them 1-0. We’re more focused on our speed and counter attacking,” Elsebae said.
United defender Meisam Rahemi-Pour was also positive going into the match.
“Right now what I see is that everyone is ready and we’re going to have fun,” Rahemi-Pour said.
Chestnut goalkeeper Mikhael Lamont showed his true sportsmanship by offering praise to the Scarborough team.
“We respect them, we have to play our best defence,” he said. “It’s football, everyday anything can happen.”
Chestnut club secretary Bassem Baddour said he felt confident about what the team learned from the previous week’s loss.
“We have a good team, it’s going to be a tough game but we have a good game plan,” Baddour said.
He went on to agree that the Chestnuts are known for their physicality, while the United are known for speed.
The game plan turned out to be a matchup in speed to equalize the playing field.
Chestnut struck fast and hard seizing the first goal.
The United were able to gain some focus and sent two accurate kicks reaching their target with Rahemi-Pour’s shot sneaking past Chestnut’s goalkeeper.
By the time the first half came to an end, coach Elsebae was ready to remind the United of some fundamentals.
“Put the pressure on, offensively we need more shots,” he said.
“Let’s focus on accuracy, we want to be on target, that’s what puts goals in the net!”
The United took their coach’s words to heart and were able to launch into high gear.
Christian Dima scored a fast strike, gaining the United another point on the way to the draw.