On a rain soaked Haskell Field, the hosts were looking to continue their momentum from strong games against Medfield and Natick. Unfortunately, the visiting squad from Duxbury had other ideas.
Sudbury started off with some strong pressure up front led by newly converted to striker Eugene K. After creating several quality chances, he finally converted on a nice pass from Carl R., made a few defenders miss and pushed the ball past the visiting keeper for a 1-0 lead.
Duxbury replied with continued pressure of their own, especially in the midfield as a number of positional breakdowns happened for the hosts. The visitors finally converted off a corner kick rebound after a terrific save by Mark B. to tie the game. The teams went into halftime with the game knotted at 1-1.
The visitors struck first in the second half again capitalizing on some miscues by Sudbury, yours truly in particular. Two goals within the first 15 minutes of the second half gave the visitors command of the game. Sudbury struck back to make it 3-2, this time with Eugene B. taking a nice feed from Jeff Q. and putting it into the back of the net, invigorating the hosts.
Craig B., Eric B., Eugene K. and Eugene B. continued to apply pressure in the Duxbury end and the hosts looked to have a golden chance to knot the game when Erik D. launched a ball deep over the heads of the Duxbury defenders where Eugene K. outran them all and was all alone on a breakaway - until the referee blew the play offsides. It was a difficult decision and one that the league faces often with only one referee. The call took much of the wind out of the Sudbury sails however and Duxbury smartly brought the ball back into the hosts side of the field and made some nice passes to put the final nail in the coffin with a 4-2 victory.
Sudbury sits at the bottom of the standings for now, but the team is determined to bounce back from a poor performance and get itself back to where it belongs over the next several weeks.
Man of the Match: Eugene K.
Next up: @ Dover-Sherborn
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Friday, September 25, 2009
Game 3 @ Natick
The visitors arrived at Natick's new pitch, a small grass field tucked into a quiet residential neighborhood. The slickness from the prior night's rain and the size of the field proved to be to Sudbury's advantage as it took away some of the hosts' speed advantage on the outside.
Both teams played hard and battled in the middle of the field for a good portion of the match. Sudbury's defenders, led by the first appearance of the season by Erik D. were up to the task against Natick's talented offense however and Mark B. continued his strong play in goal with a number of terrific saves.
Midway through the match the score was 0-0 and Sudbury was looking to capitalize on a scoring chance to continue their strong first half momentum. Natick came out strong in the second half however and maintained possession in Sudbury's half for much of the opening few minutes. The hosts finally broke through on some nifty passing to take a 1-0 lead at around the 55 minute mark.
Despite Sudbury's best efforts, the hosts were strong in their own end, especially aerially as Sudbury couldn't muster much of an offensive threat in the final portion of the match. Natick continued to pressure offensively as well but Mike A., Steve S., Ivan L., Erik D. and Mark B. continued to hold off their skilled attackers.
The final score was a victory to the home team, 1-0. Sudbury looked to carry this momentum into the next home game against Duxbury.
Man of the Match: Mark B.
Next up: Duxbury
Both teams played hard and battled in the middle of the field for a good portion of the match. Sudbury's defenders, led by the first appearance of the season by Erik D. were up to the task against Natick's talented offense however and Mark B. continued his strong play in goal with a number of terrific saves.
Midway through the match the score was 0-0 and Sudbury was looking to capitalize on a scoring chance to continue their strong first half momentum. Natick came out strong in the second half however and maintained possession in Sudbury's half for much of the opening few minutes. The hosts finally broke through on some nifty passing to take a 1-0 lead at around the 55 minute mark.
Despite Sudbury's best efforts, the hosts were strong in their own end, especially aerially as Sudbury couldn't muster much of an offensive threat in the final portion of the match. Natick continued to pressure offensively as well but Mike A., Steve S., Ivan L., Erik D. and Mark B. continued to hold off their skilled attackers.
The final score was a victory to the home team, 1-0. Sudbury looked to carry this momentum into the next home game against Duxbury.
Man of the Match: Mark B.
Next up: Duxbury
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Fall 2009 Home Opener vs. Medfield
The weather gods cooperated and the boys in yellow were treated to a beautiful Sunday morning to host an always competitive squad from Medfield.
With a nearly full contingent of players, Sudbury controlled much of the early pace after a few brief hiccups several minutes in where Mark B. had to make back to back unbelievable saves to keep Medfield off the board.
Some new faces, Tarek S., Asaad A., Chris M. and Peter W. all had a hand in the early flow of ball control and consistent distribution to the open areas of the field. Neither team could break through until Tarek S. was able to capitalize on a communication error and lightly touch a ball past the Medfield keeper who was well outside the box. The ball snuck in snugly next to the left post to give the hosts a 1-0 lead.
Medfield returned with some considerable pressure and were able to loft a ball over the Sudbury defenders to a streaking striker who one-touched it just under the crossbar and out of Mark B's reach to knot the game.
The teams battled for positioning until Sudbury was given a set piece on a Medfield foul. Asaad A. lofted a beautiful ball right to the big man in the middle, Eugene B. who knocked it past the Medfield keeper and gave the hosts back the lead.
A scary incident happened close to halftime as Tarek S. collided with the Medfield keeper and suffered some serious injuries. After some delay and an ambulance to take Tarek and another player to accompany him to the hospital*, Sudbury were down to only 3 subs as the sun grew stronger. The teams resumed play and Medfield were able to catch Sudbury in a bit of a breakdown just a few minutes into the second half to tie the game once again.
This would be the end of the scoring as both teams generated chances but were unable to capitalize. Craig B., Eric B. and Leo N. applied much pressure up front and the defense of Mike A., Ivan L. and Steve S. held strong in the face of fresh legs and energy from the opponents.
Both teams played hard and well and earned the 2-2 draw.
*Happy to note that Tarek was released from the hospital after only a short period of time. He suffered 10 stitches and a bit of a headache, but avoided what could have been considerably more damage.
**Sudbury also lost the services of stalwart defender Hori G. for the year due to lingering injury issues from the 2009 Spring Season. Though he was on the sidelines for this match, he will be missed on the backline. Here's hoping he's fit and ready to go in the Spring of 2010.
Man of the match: Tarek S.
Next up: @ Natick
With a nearly full contingent of players, Sudbury controlled much of the early pace after a few brief hiccups several minutes in where Mark B. had to make back to back unbelievable saves to keep Medfield off the board.
Some new faces, Tarek S., Asaad A., Chris M. and Peter W. all had a hand in the early flow of ball control and consistent distribution to the open areas of the field. Neither team could break through until Tarek S. was able to capitalize on a communication error and lightly touch a ball past the Medfield keeper who was well outside the box. The ball snuck in snugly next to the left post to give the hosts a 1-0 lead.
Medfield returned with some considerable pressure and were able to loft a ball over the Sudbury defenders to a streaking striker who one-touched it just under the crossbar and out of Mark B's reach to knot the game.
The teams battled for positioning until Sudbury was given a set piece on a Medfield foul. Asaad A. lofted a beautiful ball right to the big man in the middle, Eugene B. who knocked it past the Medfield keeper and gave the hosts back the lead.
A scary incident happened close to halftime as Tarek S. collided with the Medfield keeper and suffered some serious injuries. After some delay and an ambulance to take Tarek and another player to accompany him to the hospital*, Sudbury were down to only 3 subs as the sun grew stronger. The teams resumed play and Medfield were able to catch Sudbury in a bit of a breakdown just a few minutes into the second half to tie the game once again.
This would be the end of the scoring as both teams generated chances but were unable to capitalize. Craig B., Eric B. and Leo N. applied much pressure up front and the defense of Mike A., Ivan L. and Steve S. held strong in the face of fresh legs and energy from the opponents.
Both teams played hard and well and earned the 2-2 draw.
*Happy to note that Tarek was released from the hospital after only a short period of time. He suffered 10 stitches and a bit of a headache, but avoided what could have been considerably more damage.
**Sudbury also lost the services of stalwart defender Hori G. for the year due to lingering injury issues from the 2009 Spring Season. Though he was on the sidelines for this match, he will be missed on the backline. Here's hoping he's fit and ready to go in the Spring of 2010.
Man of the match: Tarek S.
Next up: @ Natick
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Home Opener Approaching
The squad looks to be at almost full strength for the next match at home against Medfield. This is a tough team that we played well in the Spring and promises to be a good chance at revenge for a tough loss in our last meeting.
Time to put the season opener in the rear view mirror and even up our record.
Time to put the season opener in the rear view mirror and even up our record.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Fall 2009 Opener - Rough Start
The squad returned a number of seasoned veterans and added a handful of quality pieces to help compete in the always competitive Division 4 South. Unfortunately, the club's search for a full time keeper has as of yet been unsuccessful, forcing the skilled and dependable Mark B. into the goal against a talented Needham squad.
The visitors were hurt by an early penalty kick and another set piece deep in their own end but some aggressive pressure from Craig B. up front and some nifty passing by Eugene B. netted Craig his first goal of the season and a 3-1 deficit at halftime.
The second half was a different story however, as the hosts had significant numbers due to some last minute absences Sudbury could not replace. Fresher legs, a hungry home team looking to capitalize on a weakened opponent and a few bad breaks resulted in the final score finishing at 7-2 in favor of Needham. Craig B. netted the latter goal for the visitors as well but to no avail. If not for the brilliance of Mark B. filling in as keeper, the score would have been that much worse.
On to the next game at home against Medfield, an always tough opponent.
Man of the match: Craig B.
Next up: Medfield
The visitors were hurt by an early penalty kick and another set piece deep in their own end but some aggressive pressure from Craig B. up front and some nifty passing by Eugene B. netted Craig his first goal of the season and a 3-1 deficit at halftime.
The second half was a different story however, as the hosts had significant numbers due to some last minute absences Sudbury could not replace. Fresher legs, a hungry home team looking to capitalize on a weakened opponent and a few bad breaks resulted in the final score finishing at 7-2 in favor of Needham. Craig B. netted the latter goal for the visitors as well but to no avail. If not for the brilliance of Mark B. filling in as keeper, the score would have been that much worse.
On to the next game at home against Medfield, an always tough opponent.
Man of the match: Craig B.
Next up: Medfield
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
