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SOL QUALIFIES FOR US OPEN CUP
May 14, 2005
A 4-0 victory by Chico over the
Albuquerque Asylum moves Sol into the second NPSL qualifying spot for the US
Open Cup. Sol will
play in the Region IV Championship tournament
next weekend in Sacramento.
Games are Friday, May 20 at 5:00 PM vs. the Titanes (California North);
Saturday at 11:00 AM vs. Sacramento Knights; and Saturday at 5:00 PM vs. the
Northern Nevada Aces. The championship game will be Sunday at
9:00 AM, with the top teams from each of two flights competing for the
title.
On a NPSL third
place tiebreaker by goal differential, the Sacramento Knights, will also
play in the tournament, replacing a southern California team, Deportivo
Jalisco, who dropped out.
Because of
the open cup, Sol's scheduled league home game vs. the Chico Rooks must be
postponed. Sol plays tonight at 7:00 vs. the Salinas Valley Samba at
Salinas.
After 2-1 Away Loss Sol is
Looking Forward to Open Cup Tournament
May 15, 2005
Salinas
Samba handed Sonoma County Sol their second defeat Saturday night with a
95th minute goal, denying Sol sole possession of first place in the National
Premier Soccer League Western Division. For Salinas the win avenges a May
6th 2-0 defeat by Sol at Piner High School and ties the two teams at the top
of the League.
Salinas opened the scoring early when a pass going wide was deflected into
the net by a Samba player who was on the ground on the goal line, behind Sol
goalkeeper Eric Kronberg and the rest of the defense. Loud Sol protests that
the player was offside went unheeded by the officials. Minutes later, Sol
forward David Briceno scored a beautiful volley shot burying the ball in the
back of the net to tie the game. The game moved from end to end for the
remainder of the half, with Sol missing at least two opportunities to score
when the Samba goal keeper was pulled out of position leaving a vacant goal.
The second half started the same way, but Samba exerted greater pressure.
After a second yellow card for defender
Michael
Briceno, Sol played the remainder of the game a man down and the last 20
minutes of regular time were spent with Sol largely trying to defend for the
tie. Sol survived 90 minutes with Kronberg making several big saves when the
fourth official told coach Dave Shaffer that 3 minutes of extra time were
being added. Unfortunately the field referee’s watch ran slow. In the 95th
minute, Sol defender Brett Cook made a sliding tackle that deflected the
ball toward the goal. Kronberg made a diving save, but the ball bounced back
out into play and was buried in the goal by a Samba player. Less than a
minute later time was called.
Next weekend, Sol takes a break from League play to compete in the USASA
Region IV Tournament in Sacramento.
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