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Defense Leads Sol to 1-0 Win Over Samba
June 4, 2005 In the 1993 movie “Groundhog Day,”
Bill Murray’s character relives February 2nd over and over again
in a sort of Twilight Zone of repetition. Last Friday was June 3rd,
but it definitely had a “Groundhog Day” feel to it as the Sonoma County Sol
faced the Salinas Samba for the fourth time in less than a month. What is
more, the last two meetings ended with Samba scoring last minute goals to
either defeat or tie Sol in regular time. Sol’s mission this day was to
change this game’s ending.
Sol came out with aggressiveness and
power dominating the field of play, but still had trouble finishing. The
final score was much closer than the run of play would indicate. The defense
did a great job of anchoring the team, absorbing Samba’s attack and limiting
Samba to only 3 shots in the first half. By contrast, Sol was able to work
the ball forward effectively getting 9 first half shots. Goalie
Eric
Kronberg had to make only one save in the first half, but the Samba goalie
had only three, reflecting Sol’s inability to find the goal mouth.
The same was true in the second
half, when Samba got off five shots while Sol had 13. Sol finished only
well enough to win the game when in the eighty third minute a free kick
taken by Steven Browne from close in rattled around in front of the goal
until Sol forward Trevor Hurst finished on an assist from
Justin Diener. End
result: a 1-0 win for Sol.
The defense continues to gel and
work well together. Starting this game were
Michael Briceno,
Steve Purdy,
CJ Sigler and
Justin Delacruz. Delacruz made a great overlapping run up
Sol’s left side, beating a defender with a nifty step over move, only to
shoot low and wide left of the goal. Purdy’s smooth and skillful style and
ability to tackle the ball without fouling, combined with Sigler’s height
and heart and Briceno’s pure strength make a very tough defense to
penetrate. Justin Diener and
Scott Preckwinkle also contributed to the
shutout. Goalie Eric Kronberg ended up with 5 saves to 10 for the Samba
keeper.
The two teenagers,
Miguel Santoyo
and Trevor Hurst continue to play very skillful and effective soccer. Hurst
was particularly dangerous coming off the bench to drive the Samba defense
crazy with his one on one dribbling skills.
The win leaves Sol 3-1 on the season
against Samba…all hard fought and close encounters.
After two home games this weekend
with the Albuquerque Asylum and the Chico Rooks, on Wednesday, June 15, at
7:00 PM, Sol will host a first round game of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup,
playing the winner of the June 8th qualifier in Salem Oregon
between the Cascade Surge (PDL) and (yes) the Salinas Valley Samba.
Groundhog Day repeats on June 18th when Sol travels to Salinas
for one last regular season game against Samba.
Home
Game Friday
Battle for First Place in NPSL
June 2, 2005
Sol (6-2-1) will meet
Salinas Valley Samba (6-1-1) at Ernie Nevers Field in Santa Rosa,
Friday June 3 at 7:00 PM. The two teams are tied for first place
with 19 points in league play. Sol defeated Samba 2-0 at home on May
6, while Salinas won their home game against Sol 2-1 on May 14. The
teams also played for the USASA Region IV Championship in Sacramento
on May 22, when Sol won in PKs after a 1-1 tie.
Fans are invited to come out Friday night to see some great soccer
and support the home team.
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