Your team had an advantage skill-wise over the other team, but it's not to say it was a HUGE difference. The skill difference between your 2 teams were only 1-2 skill levels apart at most. And you gave up some of that advantage with TIE. And the other guy had home advantage, which resulted in a further boosts for him. End result, you just about edged it. And if I may hazard a guess, did you TIE with enthusiasm 5-8?
On a side note, I did hit enthusiasm 15 before from 11. It was a high 11, nearing 12 so a 33% boosts gave me just under 4 enthusiasm which pushed my enthusiasm to a low 15.