Fredericksburg Outgunns Clarets
The Gunners Matt Lacey Keeps Cary's Zack Schilawski At Bay(photo credit to Suz Kitsteiner)
The FC Fredericksburg Gunners got off to a great start to their 3rd season on Saturday by scoring a late penalty kick and defeating the Cary Clarets 3-2 at Fredericksburg Academy. The penalty was the result of a wild sequence of events.
With the game tied at 2-2 in the 80th minute, a Gunners shot had beaten Clarets goalkeeper Brooks Haggerty, and the ball had seemingly crossed the goaline before being cleared by a Clarets defender. The ball was played straight to one of the Gunners, who fired the shot into what was an open net, but the ball was clearly handled by a Clarets defender. After a brief discussion between the referee and linesman, a penalty was awarded to Fredericksburg, but amazingly, no card was show to the Cary player. The rules state that a clear goal-scoring opportunity denied results in a red card.
Regardless, Gunners Co-Captain Tennant McVea stepped up and calmly slotted the ball into the lower right corner of the net, giving the Gunners a 3-2 lead.
Despite being the first game for both teams, the pace of the match was fast and exciting for the fans in attendance. Cary grabbed the lead on a nice goal by Clarets Captain Zack Schilawski, who took a pass from the wing, made a left lateral run across the box, then fired the ball into the lower right corner past 'keeper Ken Manahan.
Fredericksburg got the equalizer just minutes later when a brilliant through ball from Co-Captain Matt Lacey sprung Shaka Bagura on a breakway. Bagura showed great composure in dribbling around Haggerty and putting the ball into the open net.
The Gunners took the lead in the 36th minute after a brilliant free kick by Lacey. He knocked his shot just over the wall in front of him and into the upper right corner, giving the 'keeper no chance at all to make the save.
"I've been practicing all year," said Lacey. "The ball was really flying today and I struck it well. I thought we were dangerous all day on corners and set pieces. I think we'll be able to do that all season hopefully!"
The Clarets drew level in the 40th after a line-drive corner was full-volleyed by Cary's El-Hadj Cisse. The ball was struck so cleanly that Manahan couldn't even react by the time the ball hit the net.
The 2nd half saw numerous chances at both ends before McVea's penalty sealed the win.
"We had a bunch of new guys in the back," said McVea after the game. "It's going to take a wee bit of time to get the partnership going, but we got the win and at the end of the day, that's what counts."
Despite having only two brief training sessions before their first game, Gunners Head Coach Cristian Neagu was pleased with the team's overall performance.
"I thought we were a little shaky in the back in the first half, but I was really happy in the 2nd. we were much more organized. We still don't have our full roster of players, so this was a great start against a really good team."
Other Notes
USL2 - So my early season predictions are a bit out of whack right now. Richmond loses their 1st of the year to Bermuda 1-0, while Wilmington destroys Charlotte 6-3. Looking at the results of the other matches from the weekend, the predictions from coaches and players that this will be the most competitive in the history of the league seems spot on.
Washington Capitals - If they can find a way to lose a game, this team can do it. Despite having leads on multiple occasions during the past 3 games, they've lost all 3 and find themselves in a serious hold going into Pittsburgh tonight. for some reason, even though they are pretty down, I think Bourdreau will get enough out of them to force a game 7 on Wednesday. For that game, I have no prediction.
Actually, that's all I've got. Was in travel for work last week in Phoenix (despite Walsh's claims that I was partying last week...I was, but it was after training, I assure you) and didn't get to see much other than the Champions League games during my lunch breaks (good timing on those, huh?)
Walsh will be back later in the week with his distorted view on things...
The FC Fredericksburg Gunners got off to a great start to their 3rd season on Saturday by scoring a late penalty kick and defeating the Cary Clarets 3-2 at Fredericksburg Academy. The penalty was the result of a wild sequence of events.
With the game tied at 2-2 in the 80th minute, a Gunners shot had beaten Clarets goalkeeper Brooks Haggerty, and the ball had seemingly crossed the goaline before being cleared by a Clarets defender. The ball was played straight to one of the Gunners, who fired the shot into what was an open net, but the ball was clearly handled by a Clarets defender. After a brief discussion between the referee and linesman, a penalty was awarded to Fredericksburg, but amazingly, no card was show to the Cary player. The rules state that a clear goal-scoring opportunity denied results in a red card.
Regardless, Gunners Co-Captain Tennant McVea stepped up and calmly slotted the ball into the lower right corner of the net, giving the Gunners a 3-2 lead.
Despite being the first game for both teams, the pace of the match was fast and exciting for the fans in attendance. Cary grabbed the lead on a nice goal by Clarets Captain Zack Schilawski, who took a pass from the wing, made a left lateral run across the box, then fired the ball into the lower right corner past 'keeper Ken Manahan.
Fredericksburg got the equalizer just minutes later when a brilliant through ball from Co-Captain Matt Lacey sprung Shaka Bagura on a breakway. Bagura showed great composure in dribbling around Haggerty and putting the ball into the open net.
The Gunners took the lead in the 36th minute after a brilliant free kick by Lacey. He knocked his shot just over the wall in front of him and into the upper right corner, giving the 'keeper no chance at all to make the save.
"I've been practicing all year," said Lacey. "The ball was really flying today and I struck it well. I thought we were dangerous all day on corners and set pieces. I think we'll be able to do that all season hopefully!"
The Clarets drew level in the 40th after a line-drive corner was full-volleyed by Cary's El-Hadj Cisse. The ball was struck so cleanly that Manahan couldn't even react by the time the ball hit the net.
The 2nd half saw numerous chances at both ends before McVea's penalty sealed the win.
"We had a bunch of new guys in the back," said McVea after the game. "It's going to take a wee bit of time to get the partnership going, but we got the win and at the end of the day, that's what counts."
Despite having only two brief training sessions before their first game, Gunners Head Coach Cristian Neagu was pleased with the team's overall performance.
"I thought we were a little shaky in the back in the first half, but I was really happy in the 2nd. we were much more organized. We still don't have our full roster of players, so this was a great start against a really good team."
Other Notes
USL2 - So my early season predictions are a bit out of whack right now. Richmond loses their 1st of the year to Bermuda 1-0, while Wilmington destroys Charlotte 6-3. Looking at the results of the other matches from the weekend, the predictions from coaches and players that this will be the most competitive in the history of the league seems spot on.
Washington Capitals - If they can find a way to lose a game, this team can do it. Despite having leads on multiple occasions during the past 3 games, they've lost all 3 and find themselves in a serious hold going into Pittsburgh tonight. for some reason, even though they are pretty down, I think Bourdreau will get enough out of them to force a game 7 on Wednesday. For that game, I have no prediction.
Actually, that's all I've got. Was in travel for work last week in Phoenix (despite Walsh's claims that I was partying last week...I was, but it was after training, I assure you) and didn't get to see much other than the Champions League games during my lunch breaks (good timing on those, huh?)
Walsh will be back later in the week with his distorted view on things...
posted by Bushman @ 7:00 AM
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