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AAARRRRGGGGHHHHHH!!!
Sol Goes Down in Penalty Kicks To Samba
In Open Cup Competition
June 15, 2005 Sol fans are
recovering from a temporary bout of depression as the Salinas Samba ousted
their team from the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup competition Wednesday night at
Ernie Nevers Field. The game ended regulation at 1-1, but each team added a
goal in overtime to put the contest into penalty kicks where Samba prevailed
6-5.
The game started with a strong first half for the Sol.
In the second minute,
Steven Browne opened up with a shot on a ball laid off
nicely by Trevor Hurst. Unfortunately, with a clear shot, the ball
ricocheted off woodwork. The midfield for Sol took over the game for much
of the first half as
Brad Yuska,
Chris Daly and
Tyler Hurst combined for
some very attractive soccer and a huge advantage in shots…14-1. Later in
the half,
Michael Briceno
took a hard, driving, dipping shot from 40 yards
out that banged off the upper “v” of the left side of the goal post.
Defenders Justin Diener,
CJ Sigler,
Justin Delacruz and Briceno once again did an outstanding
job of protecting the goal as goal keeper
Eric Kronberg
was not required to
make a save in the first half. In spite of the attractiveness of the play
and the number of chances, the net remained unstretched at the end of the
first period.
The Samba rallied while Sol sagged in the second half
as the shot count went to 8 for Samba as opposed to 5 for Sol. But finally
in the 58th minute, Brad Yuska received a deflected ball off of a
Samba defender from outside the 18 yard line and one touched a pass to
Trevor Hurst on the left side who stepped over the ball and left footed a
shot far post for the first goal of the night. The goal was truly a thing of
beauty for the Sol fans. Samba did not take this lying down and reenergized
their attack. Samba pinged a couple of shots off the Sol goal post but were
wide of their make. Sol reacted by playing long ball attack just like Samba
rather than trying to kill the half with possession.
With the clock reading “90” the referee signaled 4
minutes of injury time which history has proven an eternity with the Samba
team. Twice before against Sol has Samba risen to life in the last minute
of play and Wednesday was to be a repeat performance. At minute 93, Samba
substitute David French was dribbling down his right side toward the goal
when he made a quick 180 degree turn and shot the ball far post for a goal
past what seemed a forest of Sol defenders. How the shot was not blocked is
inexplicable, but the goal was scored. One minute later, the whistle blew,
the score was 1-1 and two 15 minute overtime periods would be played.
The first period of overtime resulted in no score, but
shortly before the end of period 2, Tyler Hurst was fouled in the penalty
area setting up a penalty kick opportunity that was finished by defender CS
Sigler. Again, all Sol needed to do was possess the ball and kill the game,
but they could not hold on to the ball under the re-lentless Samba
pressure. Finally, Samba defender Chris Dessemer sent a long high ball
arching into the right upper “v” dropping behind keeper Kronberg. In the
celebration, Dessemer pulled off his sweaty shirt and tossed it to the
referee who promptly showed Dessemer the red card. Dessemer will pay quite a
price, potentially missing the game against the Sounders, for mishandling
his laundry. Overtime ends 2-2.
Penalty kicks had to settle it and the Sol kickers were
good, but the Samba kickers were better. All five of both Samba and Sol
kickers made their shots past their opposing goal keepers. When it reached
sudden death at kicker #6, midfielder Chris Daly set up a shot that Samba
goalie Matterazi was able to save with his foot while diving the other
direction. Kronberg could not pull out the matching save and the game was
over at 6-5 in favor of Samba.
Soccer fans in Santa Rosa were treated to an
outstanding game even if the result was not favorable to us. Sol played
very well, with attractive soccer and many scoring opportunities. With FIFA
rules in place, Sol was limited to 4 substitutions which did not allow use
of its tremendous depth. Even still, if the game had a more reasonable
amount of injury time, Sol would have won. If overtime had been golden
goal, Sol would have won. But Samba must be admired as they did not have a
lead at any time in the game until their last penalty kick and yet they came
away with the win.
The team and their fans need to get over it quickly as
there is still a league championship and National Cup Tournament to win.
The last opportunity to play Samba in regular season will come on Saturday
when Sol travels to Salinas to a 7 PM game. This will be their sixth
meeting of the year. Sol players and fans are to be forgiven in wondering
if there are any other teams that the team will ever play.
The answer is yes as, in the next weekend, the team
travels to Las Vegas to play the Strikers. Their only previous meeting was
in Santa Rosa on April 15th, Sol’s season opener. That game
ended in a 1-1 tie. Since then, the Strikers have struggled to a 2-8-3
record and last place in the NPSL Western Division. While they have scored
17 goals (compared to 19 by Sol) in the League season, they have allowed 39
goals (compared to 7 for Sol).
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