KENTWOOD, Mich. - Liquid Football (8-2-2) beat BiH Grand Rapids (3-8-1) 4-3 in comeback fashion to wrap up their successful inaugural season Saturday afternoon.
The motto for Saturday’s game was “Embrace The Circus.” Coming into the game Saturday, Liquid Football knew they would be without half their team due to them playing for Hamtramck City FC in a big Yemeni tournament in Nashville, where they would eventually be crowned champions. Liquid would also be without George Chomakov because he was suspended due to an accumulation of yellow cards.
In the grand scheme of things, It wasn’t the biggest deal in the world, considering Liquid Football had already clinched second place. They still had enough players to field a team, including subs, until Bosh Tanyi got called up to Detroit City FC, and the Muthana brothers got called into work. Next thing you know, only 11 players were left.
Liquid Football staff to the rescue. The staff are registered just like players, so they got all kitted up and were ready to play if needed for the game. Which is precisely what happened.
When the game started, Liquid Football seemed sluggish and was punished for it by getting three goals scored on them. All the same way. A long ball is played over the top, and a BiH attacker runs onto it and scored. 3-0 BiH at halftime.
After a few words of encouragement and adjustments from Coach Javi Bautista, Liquid Football came out of halftime looking like a completely different team.
Early in the second half, defender Ali Alhalmi found himself in space on a broken play and ran down the wing with the ball. He crossed it to Aram Shabo, who cut inside and finished it far post to make it 3-1 BiH.
Later in the game, Beni Tanyi received a pass from Coach Bautista, who had subbed himself into the game. Tanyi dribbled the keeper to make it 3-2 BiH.
A few moments later, Cyrus Saydee was fouled n the box, which earned Liquid Football a penalty kick. Beni Tanyi stepped up and converted to tie the game.
In the 80th minute, Liquid Football began subbing on their staff. Karar Alwashah, the Strength and Conditioning coach at left-back, Jimmy Halmhuber, the Head of Communications, subbed on for the right wing, and Braian Mendoza, Director of Gameday Operations, came on as the left wing.
With the staff on the field, They completed the comeback. After Liquid put together a string of passes, the ball got to Tanyi inside the box. His shot beat the keeper, which made it 4-3 Liquid Football, giving Tanyi a hat trick.
Liquid Football survived the last-gasp effort from BiH and held on for the win. Liquid Football ended the season with a nine-game unbeaten run. It was a great way to end a great season for the first-year team.
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