Orangemen vs FC Valpo May 2015

On a warm night the Orangemen faced off against FC Valpo at the South Run Complex.  After installing the nets, turning on the lights and paying the ref, it was time to get down to business.  Orangemen were wearing orange and FC Valpo were wearing light blue.

In goal for the Orangemen was Gene.  Karl, Greg, and John H were on-board as full-backs.  Coach was recently back from flight requalification at Tyndall.  With Tedd away, Mooch started Bryan in midfield.  Jose came as Bryan’s visitor.  Mauricio and Alfredo started in midfield, leaving Mooch and Wil to start up top.  Matt would come just at kick-offf and would have to wait a few before stepping on as a stopper.

Within minutes FC Valpo scored an amazingly soft goal...culminating in a run down the left side, a ball cross low and slow across the goalmouth, with Walter P running in from the right for a simple tap in.  Mooch has switched the defense to our two sweeper formation, one which we haven’t used in a while.

As the first half continued, it was clear that FC Valpo was getting the better of us...a severe lack of passing allowed Valpo to pressure in our end and take shot after shot..  A lack of passing up top and through the midfield inhibited us from putting any type of offense together.  We had several set pieces right in front of Valpos’ goal which all fell flat.

Valpo’s third goal came just minutes before the end of the first half, a ball with hit the post and as Gene closed for it, bounced off him and back into the net.  A very soft goal but one which sent the Orangemen to the locker room fairly dejected.

On Wil’s insistence, Mooch moved Bryan to striker with him and Mooch trading off and stepping into the holding midfield position.  Almost immediately Bryan was making an impact up top.  His speed enabled him to blast by the defenders with the ball.  Wil was constantly playing the ball over the top to Bryan who would run onto to it and then go one on one with the keeper.  His first goal game on his third run.  As the keeper came out Bryan easily chipped it over him into the far right side netting.  His second goal, however, he was on the right, and Mauricio played to ball up to him.  From outside side corner of the box, Bryan turned on the ball, and struck a rocket to the far left corner of the net.  The Orangemen had pulled two back.  Bryan’s hattrick game on just another break away run.  The Orangemen were even.  

Then a series of unfortunate events befell the Orangemen.  With only one Sub Mooch was trying to make sure we rotated through the positions to give everyone a breather…  However, an injury, or how should I say, a fantastic defensive block, by Coach, resulted in his removal from the pitch and the dry heaves behind the bleachers.  His challenge to shut down a Valop shot resulted in him receiving a line-drive directly to his family heirlooms dropping him to the deck like a lifeless g-suit discarded post flight and lying on the ops room floor.  The ref called for a stop in action and when Pete regained his feet to hobble off the pitch where he assumed the aforementioned dry heave position behind the bleachers.  Maurico stepped in to play stopper.  In the last 5 minutes of the game, John H came out of the back to break up a play just outside the box,  Unfortunately the ref judged John to have put more of his foot on the striker then the ball and awarded John a yellow card for breaking up the play.  With less than 5 minutes to go, John would have to sit the yellow card suspension and the rest of the game.  With no other subs Coach had to catch his breath an hobble back onto the field.  

With two minutes to go it looked like the Orangemen could hold the tie.  A ball came looping into the box and Karl ran onto it in the center of the box.  I assess Karl would but the outside of his right boot to the ball to clear it, but instead, believing Wil was close by him, let the ball bounce and run in behind.  Wil, who was behind him, was thinking more about the 8 ouch Heinichen's out in his cooler for after the game, then the danger.  A Valpo player sprinted in behind, collected the ball, drove into the box and scored.  Valop went up 3 to 4 and it looked like it was over.

The Orangemen had a surge of adrenaline as the kicked off.  The ball came forward and Mooch had a play on it.  He won the ball from a defender who was giving him fits, due to his speed all game… but lost the handle on it… The ball dropped back a yard and as Mooch turned for it he saw Alfredo charging in to take a shot.  Mooch stepped to the side and Alfredo struck the ball from 22 yards out toward the goal.  The keeper scrambled backward and the shot curled into to the tippy top right corner of the net.  Goooaaaaaall!  Alfredo had scored in the last 30 second of the game saving a well played second half and a 4 to 4 tie for the match.

Nice return to form Orangemen!  You always know you did well if Mooch is inspired enough on a Sunday morning to right down the notes!!  We then enjoyed the refreshments Wil brought for our post game enjoyment to talk about the game and Mooch's new ride (pictured top).  We also talked about what we are going to do with both Coach and John H, our entire central defending staff, leaving in about a month.

The Last Five Games...All In One!

The Last Five Games

I’m now thinking back at least 5 games but it’s hard to remember.  Sorry for the delay for my avid readership...

Away against Arlington

On April 18th we played Arlington in an early match at Virginia Highlands.  Jim Lister showed up to the match and Jim Landoll made a guest visit as a spectator all the way down from Leesburg.  We had a good day.  We crushed Arlington by a score of 9 to 4 and what was special on the day, at least for one Orangemen, was a hat-trick.   That individual will go nameless. But the recall is pretty clear in at least this writer's mind...it went something like this…  

First goal.  Alfredo crosses the ball in from the right, the scorer is coming in from the top of the box.  The cross drops short and a defender rises to head it clear.  The ball is too high, so it  skims off the top of his head, it continues across the top of the box into the path of the scorers run. He catches it with his left thigh and it drops majestically into  the path of his run.  He touches  it once forward, running straight through the defensive line into the box. He lowers his head, and gets his left knee over the ball, and strikes it hard, keeping it straight and low beating the diving keeper on his right.

Second goal.  The ball, again comes diagonally in from the right, low and on the ground to Alfredo. The striker screams for Alfredo to play it through to him.  Everyone closes on Alfredo but he doesn't touch the ball.  Instead he lets it roll straight through his legs to me.  The striker steps back as it rolls in with his left foot drawing it back from the defense about one yard.  He strikes it perfectly with his right boot, curling it up and across the box toward the upper right corner of the goal.  It follows the exact path of his strike, curling just above the gloves of the jumping keeper into the top corner.  The absolutely sweetest feeling when a ball behaves exactly like as he planned. 

Third goal.  Last minute of the game Dan beats the left fullback and carries the ball to the goal line.  The scorer come just behind him running into the center of the box screaming for him to touch it back to the 18.  He still has time to touch it back, but goes it alone to the keeper.  But the striker continues his run.  Dan strikes at goal, but shanks the ball.  He misses the goal and the keeper and the ball comes rolling across the goal heading for the end line behind the far post.  Since the striker continued his run, and everyone closed on Dan because he was clearly taking a shot, He is alone as he reaches the far post.  But by the time he is on the  ball it is wide of the post.  Instead of trying to strike it in with his left foot at a fairly impossible angle, he draws it backward with his left...opening up the angle...and as the hordes of defenders adjust and come charging at him he takes his time, making sure to hit it hard and low with his right foot, beating three defenders and the goalkeeper as they dive at his feet.  Hat Trick...

At home against Fairfax FC

The following week the favor was repaid as Fairfax FC crushed us by a similar score line...perhaps 3 for us and 9 for them.  Fairfax showed up with 9 players and we had 11 so we provided them one player to even out the sides and we played 10 v 10.  Mooch played first half with Fairfax and Alfredo played second half. Mauricio played keeper due to Gene vacation duties overseas.

Away against Braddock Road

The next week we played away and took on Braddock Road. Numbers were short but Braddock grabbed on player from Sterling and took us on with 10.  We were right at 11.  This time Bryan took his turn in goal with Gene being away.  Q also played his second game with us and did well.  I don’t remember the score but with Bryan’s speed coming out of the goal I think it was a pretty even game...not many goals were scored on either side.  I think the final was 1 to 1.  Braddock served up a cooler of beer after the game…Wil also made perhaps his final Orangemen appearance before returning to Boliva to raise his cattle.

Away against Springfield

Mooch did not attend and Tedd took care of managing the game.  He reports, “Decent game tonight, although we lost 5-4 or so.  Q gets honors with two goals.  John H, however kept us in the game with his usual unsung hero sweeping and Matt had a solid time at stopper.  The rest of us, Gene, Karl, Greg, Alfredo, Mauricio, Peter, Bryan, and Johnnie (second half guest that Peter recruited from their sideline).  Bryan owes Fairfax County $ for a rocket he hit square in the post - must have bent it!

And then from text Peter reported the following...slightly different take on the game…”I scored huge powerful upper right corner that even the ref gave me a high five...the shot was a game change to some degree...we were losing 3 to 1 (Q scored) then it was 3 to 2(i scored) then 3 to 3matt i think scored) then 4 to 3 (them) , then tied 4 to 4(they had a own goal).  Peter also gave a lot of credit to Q who he said played very well.

At Home Against Vienna Metros

Final score 2 to 4.  David (Metros Manager) played full game with us...and another one of their players, Karl in first have and Craig in second half, were necessary for us to field 11 on the pitch.  Not sure where Bryan and Mauricio we absent. Peter came in from Baltimore to play.  It was a very well played match...the score doesn’t quite reflect.  The Metros first goal was soft, as Gene thought it was over, and practically ducked his head to get out of the way, thinking it was going high.  It wasn’t, it went straight in.  There other three goals were fairly solid.  But we scored two and had some great pressure in their end most of the game.  Defensively with John H and Matt in the center we were really putting up a fight.  John H was sprinting after ball after ball and making the intercept.

Matt was charging forward with Josh coming out of central Midfield.  And David from the Metros was putting in a full shift.  Opportunities came from multiple corner kicks...but the goals game from a cross Alfredo up in that was headed off the line back to me where  I'm in the center of the box.  The ball is arching out from the left hand side of the goal line and drops right in front of me.  I swept it with my left foot, all cleats to a very open right side of the goal  Low towards the far right post.  My first thought is  I swept it wide but the gods were smiling and it caught the inside of the right post and slipped into the net.

Second goal came late in the game, the ball was played to David’s feet who controlled it and kept the defense to his back.  He turned and played to to Josh who was in the box and still on side.  He played it perfectly into the left post for number two.  

Although we only scored two we have numerous opportunities that had the gods been smiling on us, could easily have turned the game our way.  It was a fun match.