Antonio Favela
Coming down the
stretch of the '06 Spring Season the
Firecrackers were looking to bounce
back from a 2 game winless streak. Would
they be able to respond under the lights of
Backesto Field against the undefeated
Mundialito, a team they have only
managed to tie and loss too? Unfortunately
the answer would be no. After a hard fought
90 minutes (actually 68 minutes) your
beloved Firecrackers were on the
wrong side of a 2-1 score.
For the second
week in a row the 'Yellow Shirts'
were missing key players in the starting
lineup. Starting keeper Travis Bianchi
was still nursing multiple injuries while
backup keeper John Basanese was
still out venturing on an all guys cruise
trip (hopefully John has passed through this
phase in his life and is ready to rejoin the
squad). After mulling through multiple
nominations Justin Basanese was
given the gloves and took his position in
the keeper spot. Starting off the match the
Firecrackers were careful not to repeat
the mistakes that resulted in easy goals for
their opponent in their 4-1 loss the week
before. Better communication could be heard
between players along with less arguing with
the referee. The front line of
Mundialito did not seem to pose much of
a threat especially with their lack of
breakaway opportunities on our goal. But
despite our improved play Mundialito
was able to head into halftime with a 2-0
lead.
Heading into
the second half of play odd occurrences
began to take place. First off Art
the center referer packed up his bag, left
the field and drove off in his car. Perhaps
it was past his curfew or maybe a UFR (The
Union For Referees) code was violated but he
was gone and the baton was passed to
Patrick, a feisty yet very verbal
officiant. Second strange occurrence
actually began about 5 minutes before
halftime when Brian Sturges began
complaining of stomach pain. As we headed
into the halftime break Brian found the call
and pain too urgent that he would risk
dropping off the "Kids at the Pool" in a
very unsanitary and possibly contaminated
park restroom. As the whistle blew for the
second half of play Brian was nowhere to be
found forcing us to take the field without
one of our starting defenders. As the game
went on I became a bit concerned, not so
much for Brian not being on the
playing field but for his general well
being.
About 17
minutes later (not officially timed) a
healthy, albeit limping Brian reemerged and
was back on the pitch. Not only was he
smiling but there was also a extra bounce in
his step.
Back to the
action on the field and the second half.
Down but not out we set out to start the
second half quickly and cut into the
deficit. Shortly in Brandon Stirm
ended our scoring drought by finishing off a
loose ball in the box. With a one goal
deficit we were poised to get back in the
game and take over. Sensing the change in
pace the Mundialito squad began stalling
using ever stop of play to delay, exaggerate
a fall or stall to retrieve a loose ball. As
our frustration mounted so did our inability
to finish off shots and eventually tie the
game. As the final whistle blew a very
relieved and jubilant Mundialito team
quickly exited the field.
Interesting
enough even the final whistle had
controversy surrounded it. Sometimes a ref
will cut off a few minutes to make up for a
late start which normally goes by unnoticed.
But when you end a game over 20 minutes
short it's pretty obvious. In fact one of
the side flag refs openly questioned
Patrick the center ref on the time of
the half. Patrick in his usual
squabble tried to get out some weak
explanation. Not being fluent in
Patrick-ese I think he said something
about it being more like 37 minutes. Either
way we were sold short.
So with a 3
game winless streak and the season winding
down before the playoffs I have a few
observations.
#1
Our only losses and tie have
been against playoff teams.
Our last 3 games have been against the only
other teams that will be in the playoffs. Go
figure we play great against the weaker
teams and not so great against the stronger
teams. Not necessarily a bad thing but we
definitely need to improve our play for when
we face them in the playoffs.
#2 We
have difficulty on small fields.
Like I mentioned before we have a hard time
playing our type of game on fields like
Backesto and Butcher where these other small
and scrappy teams thrive there. I totally
believe we are move talented than all the
teams we've faced and that their type of
play is geared for these little sandbox type
of settings. Put us at fields like Watson
Bowl or Valley Christian and we'll pummel
these teams. Dave requested that the rest of
our matches be played at Watson Bowl but we
have to prepare for the chance that we'll be
back at one of these lousy parks. We have to
be ready to deal with the bad bounces and
the 'swarming ant' defenses.
#3 We
play best with a full squad.
Missing our keeper hurt us alot. Not only do
we miss the comfort of having Travis back
there but other players have to fill in and
are taken out of their normal positions. I
think team USA learned this the hard way in
Germany. Going into the playoffs it's very
important for all of us to make our best
effort to be there.
As I close this
out I must award our Man of the Match. With
the rotation of goalies each week it was
Justin's turn to take on the task. He went
in and gave it his all. The goals scored
against him were not mistakes or misreads on
his part. He made some huge saves in the
second half to keep us in the match.
Justin you were out Man of the Match.
Going into next
week we have one game left to get back into
the win column and prep for the playoffs.
Let's all show up and get back to form.
Antonio
