Monday Morning Striker – 2008 Match Day 7

Northwest Suburban Soccer League
1st Division

Sting SC vs. Real FC
Unofficial Match Report
Sunday, June 8, 2008
9:45 AM
Vernon Hills, Illinois
Weather:

Starting Lineup:
F Matt Greenhalgh
F Brandon Caputo
M Eric Manos
M Danny Carver
M Rudy Schaser
M Mike Burg
D Keith O'Connell
D Mike Soroosh
D Ben Bartholomay
D Brian Black
GK Kevin McCormick

Reserves:
F Jamelle McCreary
M/D Phil McMaster
M/D Corey Mase
D Jimmy Rosenfeld

Recap:
We had a real opportunity to separate ourselves from the pack and get an early lock on the second place spot with a home game against last place, and winless, Real FC. However, the game started terribly. Not only were we missing Jimmy Rosenfeld for the first half, but our goalkeeper was also absent. With the threat of thunderstorms brewing, the wind picked up and wreaked havoc on our midfield and defense in the first five minutes. Twice we allowed a midfielder to get open on the wing and send a cross into the goal area. Twice the wind blew the ball into the back of the net over the head of our very inexperienced goalkeeper.

We settled in a little bit and Matt Greenhalgh and myself found each other on a couple of occasions early on to no avail. One such occasion left me all alone at the top of the penalty area and I buried the opportunity into the upper corner of the net. Unbelievably, the goal was called back for offside, which I disputed hastily despite the referee being a colleague that I had worked many games with in the past. Several minutes later Jamelle McCreary was pulled down from behind just as he beat the last defender and entered the penalty area. Even the defender got up knowing he had just surrendered a penalty kick, but none was called. Late in the second half we finally got one back as Corey Mase sent a tremendous cross to the back post that an unmarked Phil McMaster headed home.

With the wind at our back in the second half and Jimmy in the net, things looked brighter in the second half. We gave up fewer opportunities in the back and created several chances of our own. Danny Carver continually swung beautiful in-swinging corner kicks into the mixer, but we couldn’t get on the end of any of them. With less than twenty minutes to play, we were the victims of two more horrific missed calls. The first was a clear handball in the box that the referee claimed was unintentional. The defenders arm was outstretched as he dove in an attempt to knock the cross down before it got through to Matt Greenhalgh standing alone at the back post. On the ensuing corner kick, one of our biggest and most physical defenders, Ben Bartholomay was clobbered just as he began to make his run. He’s a man who doesn’t go down easily, and the referee was starring right at it.

I’m not usually one to play a game on poor officiating, and I can’t honestly say that I’m doing that here. We had plenty of chances that we couldn’t finish on our own and the two goals Real FC scored were a result of poor man marking and poor positioning by an inexperienced goalkeeper. However, any one of those three missed penalty kick calls could have drastically swung momentum. We saw this happen on Match Day One when we surrendered a two goal lead and barely managed a tie after a penalty kick was awarded to our opponents.

The bottom line is that the 2-1 loss dropped our record to 2-2-2. It stings a little bit more considering Real FC was in last place entering the match and our two ties could have easily gone the other way as well. A 5-1 record through the first six games was a real possibility, and would have put us in a tie for first, but we squandered it. We’re still in second place, but two teams are sitting behind us with 7 points each and those teams have both played less games. Now the fight begins to get back in the mix and earn that promotion.

Man of the Match: Phil McMaster

Match Day 7 Goals:
Phil McMaster (Corey Mase)

Record: 2-2-2
8 pts. – 2nd Place
GF: 21
GA: 16

2008 Season Totals
Goals:
6 – Danny Carver
5 – Matt Greenhalgh
2 – Jamelle McCreary
2 – John O'Connell
1 – Ben Bartholomay
1 – Brandon Caputo
1 – Mike Burg
1 – Jimmy Rosenfeld
1 – Kevin Stock
1 – Phil McMaster

Assists:
3 – Brandon Caputo
3 – Rudy Schaser
2 – Dan Carver
1 – Mike Burg
1 – Phil McMaster
1 – Jimmy Rosenfeld
1 – Corey Mase