Cincinnati came out full of enthusiasm and spirit to take it to Milwaukee. Playing the game on a High School pitch did not help matters for both teams as they fought to keep the ball in play.
The Rampage had the early advantage on ball possession for about the first 15 minutes of the half. The Hawks however played a great counter attack and put the Rampage in their end of the field. With the ball loose about 20 yards out from goal, Marcel Matis cracked a netter that made one shiver. With the Hawks up 1-0 both teams fought desparately to try and put another in the net. The 1st half eventually ended at 1-0 with the Hawks in the lead.
The 2nd half started and the Hawks it seemed were trying to protect the lead and not thinking attack. The Rampage struck quickly with a goal by Takawira in the 48th minute. The Rampage kept the pressure on and kept the Hawks at bay. In the 64th minute, Reti put in a beautiful cross to Takawira and he easily slotted it home giving the visitors a 2-1 advantage. This goal seemed to get to the Hawks as they stepped up a notch and started taking the game to the Rampage. In the 68th minute Sean Rockey fed a pass to Degand and he quickly knotted the score up at 2-2. We now had a new game. Both teams kept making drives at goal but with no success for the rest of the 2nd half. Towards the end of the half the frustration was building forcing the referee to issue 3 cautions in the last 5 minutes.
On to overtime!! The Hawks desparately wanting a win came right at the Rampage. The Hawks with their spirit providing the needed assist scored in the 98th minute with a goal by Byaruhanga.
The Hawks start to season on the positive side of the ledger with a 3-2 well-earned victory over the Rampage. The Hawks are now saying, NEXT.....................
1 2 OT
RIVERHAWKS 1 1 2 (17' 68' 98' )
RAMPAGE 0 2 0 (48' 64' )
SHOTS SAVES FOULS OFFSIDE CAUTIONS-EJECT
RIVERHAWKS 16 7 8 1 1 0
RAMPAGE 16 3 12 2 2 0
