SJfirecrackers.com Man of the Match, Donny Fugate concentrates

on the ball and not the flying antics of his fellow player.

Firecrackers Send Message:

"We're Ready for the Finals!"

 28 June 2005

David Ahlgren 

As an introduction, yesterday’s game was one of the most enjoyable all season.  The game was relatively physical, yet also fairly clean.  Both teams played hard and in the end, there was a satisfying result.

The Firecrackers had a full lineup and a decent warm-up session.  It really helped having everyone show up and be there on time.  That made the difference and helped them start out hot.

The first half started out like they always seems to.  Not five minutes into the game, Brian Sturges was called for a slide tackle near midfield.  Then the yellow card came out.  Interesting… perhaps the referee was setting the tone for the game, but that would be the only card issued until the end of the game.

Both the Firecrackers and Santa Clara F.C. traded shots all through the first half, but Santa Clara had a flurry of shots near the 30^th minute.  One of their players crossed the ball into the 6-yard box, dead on to a heavily marked player.  He was able to muscle off one of the Firecrackers defenders and get a clean header off, seemingly heading into the goal.  Amazingly enough, Firecrackers goalie, Travis Bianchi appeared to read where the header was going.  Before the Santa Clara player actually headed the ball, he was diving in the air towards where he read the ball to be going.  He blocked the first shot, but wasn’t able to hold on, and another shot came in.  Travis scramble to his feet and blocked the second one.  Then a third shot, off the rebound, looked like it had the best chance to find net.  Travis barely got his mitts on the ball and pushed it out of harm’s way.  These saves came at a pivotal point in the game. 

Above: Travis calls out orders to the defense.

Later that half, Sean Stonehouse had a couple good chances on goal.  His shots either sailed barely wide or were stopped by the goalie.  Both defenses proved to be more than either offense could overcome in the first half.

At halftime, the Firecrackers changed their tactics a little.  Since the defense was holding strong, and the Santa Clarans only had two substitutes, they would wear out the defense by constantly rotating the forwards.  This seems to pay dividends off immediately.  The Firecrackers front line had a number of shots in the first few minutes—including bicycle kick attempts from Josh Patton and David Ahlgren.  Unfortunately, neither player connected (although Dave still swears he’ll score that way soon…).

Above: Josh Patton attempts the ever-illusive bicycle kick.

 The game wore on, as did the tempers of players on both teams.  Fortunately, the play was kept mostly clean, and aside from one of the Santa Clara players getting hit with the ball (where you DO NOT want to get hit) while trying to block a clearance, no one was hurt.  The referee also threatened to cancel the game when he felt the fans on the sideline were becoming "unruly", but that was just fans being fans :-)

Although the Firecrackers have two great goalies, they did not want to end the game in a tie, because the league rules state that playoff games go directly to penalty kicks.  No one wants to lose that way, let alone have to win that way either.  The Firecrackers turned up the heart.

With less than ten minutes left, the Firecrackers got a throw-in deep in the Santa Clara defense.  Long-thrower John Basanese launched the ball into the six-yard box and about 6 players went up for the ball.  The goalie managed to punch the ball clear, but it didn’t make it far enough.  Midfielder Donny Fugate, who had just celebrated his 27^th birthday the day before, brought the ball down to his feet and unloaded perhaps the hardest hit shot of the season.  The ball screamed to the far post, and hit just on the inside.  The ball careened into the side of the net, and some of the spectators even claim to have seen the net rip as it flew back.  It was an absolutely unbelievable shot and raised the Firecrackers spirits.

Above: Donny Fugate celebrates his game winning goal.

The most dangerous time in any game is the last five minutes, especially in a close game.  Even more so, the last five minutes after a goal is scored, because the team that scored always has a tendency to let down a little, feeling their job is done.  The Firecrackers kept pressing.

With time waning, forward Dave Ahlgren stole the ball from a defender just outside the goal box, and somehow managed to chip the goalie as he came sliding out.  “I’ve been frustrated with my finishing lately, and for the past few weeks, I have been watching the World Youth Championships and the MLS Goals of the Week to try and find what they do.  I noticed that when I try to chip the goalie, I only manage to get the ball off the ground a couple feet.  Goalies love that.  This time, I put it five feet in the air and got lucky,” said Dave about his goal.  For his post-goal celebration antics, he was promptly yellow-carded and sent to the bench.

Above: FIFA has outlawed antics such as this.

After the game, Sean Basanese was approached by the captain of the Santa Clara side and told, “You guys should beat Agave.  You played a great game.” 

Others also made similar comments, “You guys ROCKED!” said Jen Kwapinski. 

Josh Basanese, the youngest brother in the Basanese clan, and also one of our great action photographers was asked about his favorite part of the game.  He said, “The goals!  I liked the goals and the fights… it was very interesting and exciting.  [Dave: The fights were?] That’s just like Johnny.”

Kimberly Draman commented, “I liked the part when the player took his shirt off and ran down the field!”

Chris Basanese, uncle to John and Jeremy (yes, there are more of them!), who is a licensed referee said more about the shirt incident, “It was funny that Dave took his shirt off.  I was booing the ref when he got out the card, but I knew it was coming.”

This was a well-played game from both sides.  Neither team ever gave up, nor relented.  It was one of those games that you look forward to, because they don’t come along very often.  The teams played hard, didn’t take dives or cheap shots (or very little if at all), and just played a good clean match.  Playing games like this are refreshing, and we look forward to playing Santa Clara again next season.

The Championship game will be held Monday, July 11th, at 6pm.  The Venue will be Watson Bowl and the opponent is TBD.  Check back soon to find out who the opponent is!

The SJFirecrackers.com Man of the Match award goes to Donny Fugate for his game winning goal.  He played only hours after having a root canal!  Fantastic goal, Donny!

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