INDEPENDENTS CUP 4 PLAYOFFS
Written By: Walker Sun and Ellen Bolabore
GROUP RESULTS
GROUP F:
Mareibat 4–3 Drawkland
United States of Devonta 0–0 Omerica
Drawkland 2–0 Omerica
Mareibat 3–2 United States of Devonta
United States of Devonta 1–2 Drawkland
Omerica 0–0 Mareibat
GROUP TABLE. Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Mareibat 3 2 1 0 7 5 +2 7 Q
2 Drawkland 3 2 0 1 7 5 +2 6 Q
3 Omerica 3 0 2 1 0 2 −2 2
4 United States of Devonta 3 0 1 2 3 5 −2 1
PLAYOFF RESULTS
Alright, kids, it's time to start actually caring about the Independents Cup. Why, you may ask? Well, Drawkland is finally not screwing the pooch when it comes to the knockout rounds! You may think like, what's the point? After all, nobody cares about the Independents Cup, you'd say.
But you should.
Here's the deal. Schottia and Bonesea are the only nations who've ever won this tournament, out of 3 editions. Guess who didn't enter this edition of the Cup? Bonesea. Guess who just got upset in a penalty shootout in the quarterfinals? Schottia. Guess who's the number 3 independent team in the multiverse, and therefore, the de facto number 1 team in the Independents Cup at this point? Drawkland. Your girls.
You better book some tickets real quick.
vs OTAKUVERSE
The first round of the playoffs contained a lot of stress and anxiety for fans everywhere who bothered to tune in. After all, Drawkland has pretty much always flamed out in the Round of 16 here. Okay, the sample size may not be that large, but on average you'd expect Drawkland to flame out here. The Kick Corps isn't known for being all too clutch in the playoffs, and they've been known to falter to the easiest of opposition. Example: MD1, losing 4-3 to Mareibat. This match with Otakuverse could either go really well ... or really badly.
Otakuverse, as a nation, is pretty unknown. Surprisingly, they're a fellow Sonnelian nation, even though they're kinda under the radar. You know the type. The kind that sounds sorta familiar and you see them on a map once and you're like "oh yeah they exist I guess." Their nation is pretty much exclusively asian, high-tech, and a little raunchy. Their team, while it doesn't have a roster, is populated by a pretty consistent spread of short, skinny dudes.
After fluking into a win against Mercedini, the Otakus lost to Tinhampton and beat their group's punching bag Fungsland in order to advance to the next stage. This was fortunate for us, as they were a barely-qualified 1st-seed team and we were a highly qualified second seed, giving us an easy first round opponent. This game should work out fine.
The good news about starting the playoffs against a decidedly subpar team is that you can start a less-than-full strength lineup to rest your starters for better games. The first to score in the match was Jackie Crawford. In the 32nd minute, she took a pass from Leea May and shot it into the goal in one quick, compact, and deadly motion. The small crowd in Ashley Road mostly erupted into cheers, and Drawkland was up 1-0. It had taken them a little while to really get rolling, clearly, but at this point most of us expected the team to go off on those Otaku scrubs and end it. But that never came. The squad on the field, which was mainly comprised of the bench/reserve players, was evidently starting to get winded. We expected them to put the foot on the gas and roll to the victory, but they just couldn't pull it out.
Soon after halftime, the Otakus managed to break through the internationally inexperienced defense (well, minus Seon-Yann Slater, who merely got overwhelmed at the point of attack). They brought in the whole house, so to speak, overwhelming the defensive anchor Slater and pushing past Collins and and Tracy, who were only getting their second international cap in this match. They managed to shoot one past Savannah Everett, and the deed was done, tying the match at 1-all.
Despite having pretty much the entire second half to try and get a goal to break the tie, the Kick Corps suffered as they had in the first half - they simple couldn't get rolling. Perhaps blame it on the inexperience of the squad as a whole and its chemistry. This is one of the first times Michael Starre has ever fielded an entirely backup squad to start the match, with even stalwarts like Arrowsword and Ellzidan warming the benches. It definitely showed too, but Starre was apparently too stubborn to try putting in the stars to end the match mercifully.
In the press interview after the game, Starre affirmed that this was to force the backups to play better as a team and finish the match themselves. "I want them to understand how much work it takes to excel at this level," he said, "Bringing in Madison or the Elf would've probably brought us a victory sooner or easier but I don't want to raise a team bailed out by a few talented individuals. Sooner or later these backup players may be the starters and there will be nobody else to bail them out. If we're going to progress beyond our current situation of playing mediocre in small tournaments and simply holding our breaths in the World Cup group stage, we need to be a more mature and responsible team. I hope this match made our ladies realize this."
Strong words, eh? Anyway, after a tense 45 minutes, the regular time ended and the match was forced to go to Extra Time, the scoreboard still showing 1-1. While Otakuverse is technically a Sonnelian team .... it would be hella hard to support them if they beat us and went on in the playoffs. We needed to end this. We needed to win the game.
For this game, the hero was one that you'd find a little unlikely. Kaitlyn Axelson, the backup Center Mid, is the backup who gets perhaps the least playing time. Playing second fiddle to an immortal elf who's spent at least 60% of her life playing and mastering the sport is a real tough position to be in. Whenever she got playing time it was generally out of position on the wings, which isn't her strength. She's always been a center anchor, and her run captaining the Kayo Queens this last season really proved her worth at this.
But despite her lack of experience at the international level in her true position, despite her physically smaller stature (for a Drawkian), she made herself known in this match. And the biggest example of that would be her scoring the match-winning goal in extra time. After a great slide tackle turnover by Seon-Yann Slater, the field quickly began to reverse, and the Corps ran the other way on a breakaway. With the larger size and longer legs of the players, our Drawkians easily scaled the field in seemingly moments. Kaitlyn Axelson received the ball off a pass, and despite the usual plan to dump the ball off to a striker for a better read, Axelson saw an opening in the defense and exploited it quickly. She reared back and fired the ball in, the sudden shot catching the Otaku keeper off guard and sending the ball into the net.
The Drawkian crowd in attendance was already hopping and getting louder as the Corps had gotten the turnover, and when the ball hit the net they exploded. This was 13 minutes into the first extra time period, and the Corps were able to lock up the defense and cruise into the win. And thus for the first time in 4 years, Drawkland was on to the Independents Cup Quarterfinals.
vs EAST VORMSI
Coming off the high of actually advancing in the Independents Cup, the team was definitely favored to win against East Vormsi. The Puffins, as the cold islands' team is called, stayed stride for stride with Abanhfleft in the group stage, drawing them on day 1 and winning their next 2 games to grab the second qualification spot in the group. East Vormsi is technically a subsidiary of Schottia, and their players can play for the Schottic NT for the World Cup and such, but decided to enter this IC as a nation to round out numbers. And for their players to actually get playing time rather than rotting on the star-studded Schottic bench.
This game was a must-win. With Drawkland taking out Otakuverse themselves and Juvencus tragically losing to Mercedini by one penalty kick in the first round, Drawkland is the last Sonnelian nation remaining in the Independents Cup. Not only for regional pride, but for just our own pride. In a tournament as sparse as the Independents Cup, it's a wonder our best performance was losing in the Quarterfinals. Of all the 8 names in the Quarterfinals, East Vormsi's was definitely the least heralded. If it were being heralded at all, that is.
For the first time in this cup, the Corps had to travel out of the familiar confines of New Belfast in order to play their match. This time they'd be playing at Dyerton, the Handon stadium which houses Port Sebastian. Among the neatly arranged townhouses and such, the Corps found a home in a hotel near the stadium, and got settled. They weren't gonna squander this chance for greatness. At the very least they could make their first semifinal appearance and have the honor of being assblasted by Schottia, right?
Well, the ladies were gonna give us a show.
The first half of the match was an absolutely rollicking ride. The gameplan here was clearly to leave defense on the backburner and take lots of chances at goals and turnovers. If there was one fault of the Otakuverse match, it was that it was pretty much played too safe. It was full of likely less-confident reserve players, to be fair, but the simple fact remains that the match could've gone much smoother than a 1-2 extra time win. The lineup of this match was mixed, with Savannah Everett at keeper, Slater at CB with Warren and Pack at the back wings. Similarly, Axelson took the CM spot again, but with the normal starts Talla and Thompson at her flanks. The Corps strikers Madison and Archer were in, with Savage and Synder playing the wings. Basically, an evenly-split mix between starters and bench players, to increase confidence while also retaining power.
And boy did that mix deliver. The slightly-defensive side of the Puffins was clearly not prepared for the Drawkian onslaught that seems to pop up every now and again. The scoring started quickly. 5 minutes in, Iana Synder opened up the scoring with a strike from a steep angle close to the back line. Her shot barely curved around Marko Hillar and Lena Grabuste of East Vormsi to get into the net. The crowd hadn't even finished its initial cheering roar from the start of the match before they erupted into celebration. The Drawkians rocked the small stadium, but the small Vormsish crowd wouldn't be put down for long.
By the 15th minute, the match was tied up again. Kaija Koppel, one of the best players on the Puffins (she plays for a Nepharim club), managed to skirt through the defense. She exploited a small gap in the coverage between Slater and Pack and managed to get it through the fingers of Everett to score. The match wasn't even a quarter through and it was already tied one apiece. One thing was for sure, this match was going to be an absolute onslaught.
This prediction remained true. Despite many shots on the goal, the keepers remained relatively true. Tackles and turnovers were abounding everywhere, bad passes leading to opportunities on both sides. A particularly bad pass from Thompson back to Warren was intercepted mid-flight by Koppel, who ran into the box trying to take a shot. However, she made a quick skitter move to pass it sideways to Benkè Oulonagawi, the other actually professional striker on the team. Oulonagawi was wide open and easily redirected the ball into the goal to but East Vormsi up, 1-2. The Drawkian crowd was predictably speechless, being bested by these upstarts, but they wouldn't be upset for long.
By minute 30, the Corps was on an onslaught of the Vormsi goal, 4 players in and immediately around the box and another 4 in a very close vicinity. The ball crossed around back and forth, the Vormsi defense trying their best to clear out the ball. The Corps wouldn't have any of it, the more satellite players chasing out the ball and booting it back into the mix. It was off of one of those boots, off the foot of Axelson, which came right into the center of the goal. Kazia Savage was at the edge of the box, and as Axelson's deep pass spun away from the mess in front of the goal, Savage jumped at the back line to knock the ball back onto the pitch with a header. The ball flew forward and right to Rebecca Talla, who headed it herself right into the goal for the tying score.
Merely 7 minutes later, the Drawkian attack was back in the face of the Puffin defense, trying to get a tiebreaking score to hopefully have a lead going into halftime. Rico Hemnes of East Vormsi, the team captain, got ahold of the ball and simply walloped the thing across the field, clearing it past the midfield and towards the Drawkian goal. On a breakaway, Cynthia Pack was on an island against Kaija Koppel. Slater and Warren ran to try and catch up in time to put up worthwhile defense, but Koppel simply dribbled between the legs of Pack to send the ball past Everett and into the net. Just like that, the score is 2-3 East Vormsi lead.
Luckily, the Drawkians managed to answer just before half. Despite the half waning down, the Corps was not interesting in bleeding the clock, determined to make a stand to have an even halftime score. And that they did. The tactics switched to a mad passing game, several strikers in the box madly pushing the ball between each other, waiting for a defensive player to make a mistake and leave the net open. Juris Balodis went for a tackle on a pass from Savage to Archer, and totally whiffed. This left Corrie Archer wide open, and she took no hesitation in firing the ball to the back corner of the net. 3-3 read the scoreboard, and a few moments later play ceased for halftime.
Drawkland wasn't going to be playing a back-and-forth rollercoaster ride forever though. Halftime adjustments were made, and boy did they show. Right out of the gate, the Corps got the ball and immediately swarmed into the goal, a completely unabashed 9-10 player crush into the box. The Puffins were taken aback, and couldn't get in position quick enough to stop it. Corrie Archer, fresh off scoring the tiemaking goal, received a pass from Madison to score the tiebreaking goal, less than a minute into the second half. 4-3 Drawkland.
And suddenly, the Drawkian defense seemed to lock up. The Puffins were now faced with a seemingly impenetrable defense, opposite to what they'd come to expect in the first half. The mistakes they'd come to expect and exploit 3 times in the first half were now no longer happening. The dream of defeating a Top 20 World Cup side and making their way to an Independents Cup semifinal was slowly crashing down around them. It became just that, a dream. The Kick Corps began playing a much more conservative game, still making shots at turnovers and box crushes but making them less often and less populated. The next time they really went for it was in the 67th minute, with Corrie Archer once again making a shot into the goal to secure herself her first international hat trick.
By then the score was 5-3 and everyone knew how this match would turn out. The Drawkian crowd grew louder and louder every passing minute closer to the final whistle. The last goal of the match, scored by Mandy Thompson thanks to a mistake by Jena Ozoliņš defending her too close and being juked around, was merely met with slightly louder cheers. The match finally ended 10 minutes later, and the crowd went wild. The poor minority of East Vormsi fans went home disappointed. At least their ride home wasn't too much of a trip.
PREDICTIONS
Soon after the Drawkland-East Vormsi match began, the Schottia-Alpine Union match concluded. The Kick Corps and fans in Schottia didn't know it until after they left the stadium, but the Schottic juggernaut had fallen, a tragic 0-3 penalty shootout ending their IC run. There would be no repeat. No third title. Now the field is wide open. With Free Republics, Mercedini, and Alpine Union still alive, there's certainly a reputable final at hand no matter the semifinal results.
Of course, with Schottia gone, Drawkland is the de facto best team left in the tournament. While they're only ranked 20th in the world by World Cup standards, that's a huge advantage in Independents Cup standards. Mercedini is only ranked 39th, and Free Republics isn't far behind at 46th. Alpine Union sits at a mere 82nd, and as Drawkland's semifinal opponent, there's an opportunity for a big win.
You may think that since the Alpine Union technically contains part of Great Caledonia and North Hybernia, who were Drawkland's bogeyman nation for their first cycle, that this would be a bad mark. But this couldn't be further from the truth. Drawkland defeated the evil GC&NH in the 3rd place playoff of the Baptism of Fire (I'll never say it enough, but DEATH TO AMNAREI-ASUD)! Therefore, Alpine Union has zero superstitious power over the Kick Corps. All you can look at now is hard facts. Drawkland is clearly the better team compared to Alpine Union. It's no contest. I mean, sure, you'd say that about Schottia too, and Alpine Union beat them, but I'm considering that a complete fluke. In fact, I'd wager that the Schottia loss was actually divine intervention to bring a title to Drawkland. It's just the most obvious conclusion.
On the other side of the bracket we have Mercedini versus Free Republics. While they're pretty closely ranked World Cup-wise, I'd say Mercedini has the definite advantage. They've looked as in-form as ever this tournament, and against a squad like the Free Republics', they should have an unchallenging if not easy path to get to the final. Our prediction is heavily favoring the Golden Eagles.
If we lose or Mercedini lose and we end up facing Free Republics, there's some more superstition at hand. While we should have no problem wiping the floor with the Republican squad, the only time we've faced Free Republics was in a third-place playoff in our first tournament, the Global Cup of Soccer. We lost 0-2. But if things turn out like they did against Great Caledonia and North Hybernia, i.e., a team we lost to the GCoS that we go on to defeat later and put the demons to rest, then we have no problem.
If we make the final and face Mercedini, which is entirely possible, I honestly don't know how things will work out. While Drawkland has the stronger side who's achieved lots of success in the World Cup spheres, Mercedini is a pretty scary team to face. They're all in form, and have been dispatching teams left and right. We've faced them twice in friendlies, drawing 2-2 at home and losing 3-1 away. However, the only team to beat them this tournament is Otakuverse, who we've beat. So by that logic, we have silverware in our future.
Whatever the situation is between Mercedini and Free Republics, it just depends on our face-off against the Alpine Union. God, all of Luminitia, and Margaret willing, we should be on the way to an Independents Cup final. All we have to do is our job. You got this, ladies. On Corps indeed.
