Nathan Mollat / Daily Journal Skyline’s Oscar Rodriguez, left, and Cañada’s Emilio Esparza battle for control of the ball.

Both coaches are correct. Cañada played well enough to win while Skyline did just enough to forge a 1-1 tie Tuesday afternoon in Redwood City.

“It was well played on both sides. Both teams created opportunities,” Linke said. “It was two evenly matched teams.”

Make no mistake, Skyline (0-2-2 Coast Conference, 4-4-3 overall) deserved the tie, considering the Trojans were sending wave after wave at the Colts’ goal over the final 25 minutes of the game, finally breaking through with about three minutes left to play. The Trojans earned a corner kick and Gino Pavone crossed the ball into the goal box. Somehow, Ernesto Garcia snuck by several — taller — Cañada defenders, rose up and headed the ball over a stunned Cañada goalkeeper.

“In the second half, we missed several good chances to put the game away,” said Cañada coach Ruedi Graf. “I sensed they might have a chance to sneak one in. It seemed like they wanted it more in the second half.”

Cañada (2-0-1, 5-3-1), indeed, had several great scoring opportunities to extend its 1-0 lead. The Colts out-shot the Trojans 9-6 in the second half, with five of them on goal. Midway through the second half, Cañada’s Jonathan Cauich sent a perfect cross into the 6-yard goal box. Several of his Colts teammates crashed the net, but no one managed to get a foot on it to re-direct the ball on goal. With about 10 minutes left, Angel Pumacayo won a ball along the end line and shook off a tackle. He made a perfect cross to Jesus Castaneda, who was unmarked 8 yards from goal. His shot, however, was blasted 20 feet over the top of the goal.

Linke knew his team had escaped a couple of bullets.

“They could have put it (the game) away and then we would be battling for two goals,” Linke said. “We had to push more guys forward. We had better possession pushing forward, creating better opportunities.”

Cañada was at a tactical disadvantage. Usually, the Colts display a lot of individual skill on the ball. That was lacking Tuesday as the Colts used a more direct approach to attack the Skyline goal. There was not a lot of dancing on the ball by the Colts. More often than not, it was one or two passes and then a long ball over the top. Graf said both his playmakers — midfielders Joseph Torres and Emilio Esparza — were hurt during the game.

“That changed our style a little bit,” Graf said.

While Skyline controlled the second half, it was Cañada that controlled the action in the first half. Skyline spent most of the opening 45 minutes firing from long range while the Colts made several forays into the Skyline penalty box. Cañada nearly took a 1-0 lead when Torres blistered a shot from 40 yards out that was tipped over the crossbar by the Skyline goalkeeper.

Fifteen minutes later, Cañada scored that elusive first goal. Cauich, who made an overlapping run from his right fullback position, sent a cross into the Skyline penalty box. He found Castaneda, who deftly flicked the ball into the far left corner of the net with his head for a 1-0 lead in the 29th minute.

“For us, it feels like a loss,” Graf said. “If you want to beat teams, you have to score more than one goal.”