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Fuego wins (in a tie) By Joe Zavala Ashland Daily Tidings All Alex Christlieb could do was run like crazy and hope for a miracle. When the miracle flew off the golden foot of Matias Albanell, Christlieb knew exactly what to do. "As soon as he played that ball, I just started drooling," said Christlieb, face drenched with sweat, eyes dancing. "I knew I couldn't miss it. I hit it, I closed my eyes once, I blinked, and then it was in. After that, it was just - I don't know - everything was like a blur until I got up from the dog pile." Southern Oregon Fuego fullback Davy Grantland (4) takes out Cascade's Taylor McCool in Saturday's third annual Firecracker game at Phillips Field in Ashland. Fuego overcame a 2-0 deficit to tie the game on a last-minute header by Alex Christlieb. Medford Mail Tribune/ANDREW MARIMAN Christlieb headed in Albanell's 40-yard far-post cross in the 88th minute Saturday night, scoring on soccer's version of a Hail Mary to give the Southern Oregon Fuego a 2-2 come-from-behind tie with the semi-professional Cascade Surge in the third annual Firecracker game. After the ball sailed into the upper-left portion of the net, igniting a great roar from the crowd at Phillips Field, Christlieb pulled up his shirt and bolted toward the Fuego sideline in spontaneous jubilation. There he was mobbed by teammates, suddenly and unexpectedly thrust together by the following twist: In the previous 225 minutes against the Surge, a count spanning 2 1/2 games, Fuego had been outscored by the Salem-based club 16-0. But in the last 43 1/2 minutes Fuego had scored two in a row. Surprisingly, under the pile, as the public address announcer blared, "goooooal, goooooal, goooooal," and the shock waves of the moment reverberated throughout the jam packed stadium, Fuego's remarkable turnaround was the furthest thing from Christlieb's mind. "I couldn't breath," he said. "I was all out of air from yelling." About three minutes later the officials blew their whistles, signaling the end of the game and solidifying Fuego's first-ever successful result against a semi-pro squad. "Surprised, no," beamed Fuego coach Thierry Chouard, who sprinted down the sideline, arms raised in celebration, following Christlieb's goal. "Two months ago, I would have said, 'unthinkable,' but seriously, the past two weeks the team was much more serene. We started to � come together. There was a bit of frustration at halftime because we were playing very well at first, then they scored those two goals, but they came back from that. They came back to play really hard and they just stuck with it the whole time. "No, not surprised, really happy." After a back-and-forth start, Cascade scored in the 19th and 44th minutes to take a 2-0 lead into the break. It looked like another Surge blowout was in the works, but Chouard and Southern Oregon team captain Iman Siadat made a few key adjustments that proved crucial. Fuego came out more aggressive in the second half, taking more chances in an attempt to finally break the Surge's stingy defense. That effort paid off in the 58th minute, when former Ashland High star Scott Beaver took a pass at the top of the box from Mike Kuchman, turned, and ripped home a bullet that just cleared the outstretched arms of Cascade's leaping goalkeeper, Rizard Gorski. "(Kuchman) passed it to the outside of me, straight through," said Beaver, who'll be entering his sophomore year at Division III Macalester College in St. Paul, Minn., in the fall. "I felt like the goalie was starting to lean to the far post, and so I knocked it up high and to the near post." The goal was extra special coming at home. "Born and raised in Ashland, you know," Beaver added, "got to represent for my hometown." The shot was Fuego's third of eight in the second half, following a three-shot first half. The Surge out-shot Fuego 16-11 overall and had three more corner kicks (8-5), but lost the possession battle in the second half. In the 62nd minute, Fuego defender Matt Sharp was awarded a penalty kick after being pulled down in the box. The crowd rose, anticipating the equalizer, but Gorski dove and deflected wide Sharp's right-side worm-burner, allowing his team to retain the lead. Both teams failed to finish off multiple attacks in the 20 minutes leading up to Christlieb's goal. Fuego goalkeeper Dave Kaufman, who made six saves in the first half alone, blocked a shot in the 81st minute, and a Fuego breakaway was shot down by a defender's come-from-behind boot out of bounds in the 84th. One and a half minutes of game time and about two minutes of stoppage time followed Christlieb's score, and both teams had chances to win the game. The best of those opportunities was thwarted when Kaufman caught a point-blank flick at the goal line. Moments later, the game was called. After the final whistle blew, fans poured onto the field to congratulate Fuego, the Rogue Valley's premier men's soccer club that officials hope will gain semi-pro status within two years. The solid performance over a team from the Premier Development League, players and coaches believe, will only help that cause. "Well, you know, they've been trying to go semi-pro for a while now and showing that we can compete with teams like this is definitely a major step in getting to that level," Beaver said. Chouard agreed. "It's just one of those things you can mark with gold letters," he said. "It's our first big result, really. It's going to make the players believe that they can go up to the next level. We need to add a few better players, a few top-level players, but as a team, now we know that we can play up there." "It brings us up to a whole other level, just a whole new realization," added Christlieb. "We can play with anybody, we just have to find it in ourselves." LINKS: DAILY TIDINGS: Main | News | Sports | Obituaries | Opinion | Columnists | AP News | Subscribe | Archives | Weather | Classifieds | Contact Us | Privacy REVELS: Main | Calendar | Dining | Movies | T.V. OTHER: Road Cams Copyright 2003 Ashland Daily Tidings 541.482.3456. 1661 Siskiyou Blvd., Ashland, OR 97520. 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