2nd Corinthians - Cucuy FC 3:2 (1:1)

Tough game, since we played a good team and started and ended the game with only 9 players. So a big thanks to all who committed and showed up. We really did not have a bunch of options, so we put David K. up front, Hintz in center mid, and everyone else on defense, trying to counter attack or put a long pass on David K. Corinthians pushed hard, but we got a few chances here and there. Our first shot came from Hintz, who did a turn on the left side after a pass from Brent I think, which flew in the long corner, hit the post and went in. Seriously, kind of unbelievable that we went up 1:0 at this point.  After that Corinthians pushed us even harder, but the defense stood firm. Schluni (we should start calling him Stonewall-Schluni) frustrated the Corinthians time and time again, and if he missed one we still got Kyle in goal who saved them left and right.  David K. could have increased to 2:0 after a free kick, but the Corinthians keeper did an amazing save on David's shot.  With less than a minute to play, we got caught after losing the ball in a counter attack, and Corinthians tied the game with a header. Completely open, the guy could pick a corner and Kyle had a hand on this one as well but could not keep it out.

After a half-time break that seemed shorter than usual, we kept playing our keep-it-tight-in-back-and-hope-DavidK-can-do-somthing-up-front tactic, which went well for about 25 minutes.  We hustled like crazy, putting a leg or foot in front of every shot, and Kyle had several super saves. But at some point people started getting a little tired, and the constant rotation on the Corinthians side started to pay off for them. We got caught on a counter attack and the guy with the Huggies did not leave a chance for Kyle. Nick was marking that guy for most of the game, and except for that shot he pretty much shut him down the whole game, which was an amazing feat. Then Corinthians got their third, after Kyle deflected a shot and a Corinthians player just ticked it in. It looked like we had run out of luck but we did not let up, and got a few chances to score. One was pretty cool after Davidko ran circles around 4 defenders and then passed it to Brent, who, amazingly, was left unmarked, but missed the target. Then Davidko got fouled right outside the box on the left side, Hintz faked a shot to the right, and I put in the upper left corner. That gave us some hope, but in the end it stayed at 3:2. Disappointing that we lost, but pretty amazing how much of a fight we gave them with 9 players.

So this finishes up our summer season, not a bad record with 8 and 2, and plus 32 goals. If you see Hintz pat him on the back since he finished the season as the top scorer, I think a first since he started playing with us.

Goals: Hintz, Eddy
MVP: Kyle

Blades Give Cucuy a Close Shave

Cucuy FC: Blades FC  3:2 (1:2)

Maybe our previous win against Vanguard had us feeling a little too confident about our game on the pitch.  Before the game even started we knew we should beat Blades.  Their average player age is probably 15-20 years more than Vanguard.  However, this was not the story of the first half.

The experience of Blades was shown in patience with the ball and movement through the mid field.  Both teams were producing opportunities from the start of the game, but ours were more counter-attack style, and theirs were more possession based.  About 15 minutes into the first half one of their offensive pushes resulted in a slow trickling ball a couple yards outside of the 18 and one of their players gave it a quality strike.  No spin, knuckling in all directions, and it found its way just under the cross bar.  Definitely a tough one from Kyle to anticipate and get his hands on. 

The goal didn’t seem to phase us as we all still knew we should win the game, and we clearly believed it too.  We kicked it up a gear and started producing more opportunities up top.  David K. got sent in on 3 or 4 break-aways but every time their keeper cut the angle down nicely and David couldn’t find either of the corners for the tying goal.  The play was still pretty even through the first half, until Blades made a nice progression down the left side of the field and managed to connect a few passes together inside the box and trickled another one in for a 2-0 lead.  I think that one stunned us quite a bit as we did not expect to find ourselves down 2-0 before tying the game.  Regardless, we continued to play as though we weren’t going to lose the game.

Finally before the end of the first half, one of plays down the right side of the field materialized into a goal.  Scott got sent in (basically alone again) on a nice through ball from [Justin?], but once again the keeper managed to cut the angle down and make the stop.  However, fortunately for us this time the ball bounced in the direction of David K. and he put it away with authority.  The half ended 2-1, and I think we were happy to just be back within 1 goal before taking a rest.

The game completely changed in the second half.  This is where the age of Blades probably became a factor.  We had all the momentum.  It felt like we spent the first 30 minutes of the half on their side relentlessly attacking the net.  The tying goal came on a play from Karol down the right side.  He beat the defender to the base line and played the 45 degree pass back to Hintzki about penalty spot height.  Hintzki found the bottom right corner of the net on a one timer.

We knew the job wasn’t done and pushed until we took the lead.  The go ahead goal finally came on a great header from Patrick off of a corner kick from Karol.  A big weight was taken off our shoulders after that 3^rd goal fell and we held out the remaining time for the 3-2 win.

-Hintzki

Goals: David K., Dave H., Patrick

MVP: Scott