It's never a good sign when your keeper shows up with a Tim Horton's coffee cup, a baseball cap and no gloves.
That's exactly the predicament Lilwat7uhl found them themselves in against Dyer Straits on Sunday (Oct. 3) during week four of action in the Howe Sound Men's Soccer League (HSMSL).
Despite lacking hand protection, Johnson Narcisse, the man between the posts, managed to stave off Dyer Straits - at least for one half. The teams were knotted at zero after the half but the floodgates opened in the second half as the Dyer Straits scored five unanswered goals to win 5-0.
According to Narcisse, it was a simple matter of arithmetic.
"It all came down to a numbers game," he said, noting that Lilwat7uhl only had eight players and lost one in the second half due to injury. "The first half was pretty good for us but we were missing too many guys."
Istvan Richter led the charge for the Dyer Straits, notching a hat trick with Jason Patchell and player/coach Dave Harrison also scoring.
Harrison said his team picked up their game in the second half.
"We started really slow and I don't think we took them seriously enough," he said.
"In the second half, we spread the field out more instead of just playing down the middle and it worked. Our ball movement really improved from last week and we're passing a lot better."
After coaching in the first half, Harrison threw on the Dyer Straits jersey and contributed to the cause, scoring a goal on a penalty kick.
"It was easily the best goal of the season," he joked.
With the win, Dyer Straits remains in third, sporting a record of two wins, one loss and one draw.
Lilwat7uhl's record falls to one win and two losses with the defeat.
The HSMSL's other early game saw Galileo continue their undefeated run by crushing Zephyr 17-1.
Cristian Oreamuno continued to be a goal-scoring machine, tallying four times in the win. Kevin Schellenberg had a second straight hat trick, while Lawrence Gauthier, Gary O'Neil, Marco Pavonski and Robbie Nahanee all had a pair.
Greg Joseph and Adrian Oreamuno added singles. Joel Groen scored the lone goal for Zephyr.
The noon game saw Khalsa win their third straight game, shutting out the Ellis Moving Eagles 3-0.
It's been a rough start to the year for defending champion, the Eagles, who have zero wins, two losses and one draw to start the year.
Khalsa remains in second behind Galileo. Scoring for Khalsa were Bruno Freitas, Gurpreet Rai and Nevin Binning.
With the Thanksgiving weekend approaching, the HSMSL will take a week off and return on Sunday, Oct. 17.
Games scheduled are Zephyr vs. Dyer Straits, Ellis Moving Eagles vs. Lilwat7uhl and, in a battle for first place in the league, Galileo takes on Khalsa.
For the full HSMSL standings and scoring leaders, check out the scoreboard page in The Chief.
