SSL STRETCH UNBEATEN STREAK TO 16 STRAIGHT!

WIN 2ND STRAIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP WITH 8-2 WIN OVER IMO'S

It was fun. The boys are finally being rewarded for all their hard work. After losing 4 straight playoff championship games, the SSL side just secured their 2nd straight championship, & at the same time, stretched their unbeaten streak to an astounding 16 games. Quite an accomplishment. But this match was not without it's challenges & interesting moments.

The pace of this game was very fast, with Imo's answering every attack with one of their own. It was constant end-to-end action. Too fast, really.

But the SSL side was applying constant pressure, & that pressure resulted in the 1st, early goal of the game, with Bernard Anic craftily sliding a ball into the net, behind the keeper with a nifty little heel pass, as he was standing in the box with his back to the goal. More goals came quickly.

Shortly thereafter, Jayson Adelsberger broke away after receiving a great lead pass, &, running toward the left side of the goal, buried one, hitting it with the outside of his right foot. Another goal was quickly scored when Ronnie Rowden found some space in a crowded box, turned & buried one that upped the score to 3-0.

Jayson then scored his 2nd goal of the game, making it 4-0, followed by the prettiest goal of the 1st half, scored by Otto Etzel. He collected a pass along the right boards, and a couple dribbles later, let loose with a knuckle-balling bomb that flew by the keeper at light speed. Nicely done! That resulted in the half-time score of 5-0. But stay tuned. This game was far from over.

The talk at half time was to not let down or slow the pace. Play possession, but not at the cost of our aggressiveness. Even though the Imo's side was down, every player knew, Imo's could jump up

& win this game. The SSL side respects Imo's & their ability & there could be no letdown. Well, as they say, that's why they play the game.

As the 2nd half started, SSL was being pressured & back on their heels. Not the way we drew it up on the chalkboard. 30 seconds later, Imo's scored out of a scramble in the box to make the score 5-1. Big "mo" was definitely leaning their way. Then, another minute later, Bernard Anic got sent off for, well, complementing the referees ancestry, or something like that. Not off to a good start.

But Mike Hogan got the ship righted. After all the sluggishness & indifference that marked the opening of the 2nd half, the SSL boys pushed up, & Hoags collected the ball out of a crowd to the left of the goal just outside the box & buried his patented toe ball, getting back that goal SSL just gave up, & pushed the lead back to five with a 6-1 score.

Then Johnny Pens scored the 7th goal with a nice

move on a defender, just outside & to the left of the box, & buried one in the bottom left of the goal. But the goal of the 2nd half, had to be the 8th, scored by Sladan Kurtovic. Sladan, a defender, pushed up, following the play. One of the SSl players, can't remember who, was down in the corner, & laid a beautiful diagonal ball back to the onrushing Sladan & he one-timed a rocket past the keeper into the back of the net in the upper ninty. But I would be remiss if I didn't mention the defense.

The defense has been outstanding the entire session. In fact, the last two sessions. Last session the defense, anchored by outstanding keeper Dave Shelton, allowed an astounding 10 goals for the entire session, & would have been in single digits for goals against had a goal not been scored in the final seconds of the final game. Although this season was not as good, allowing 21 goals, that still lead the league by 9 goals & by scoring a league high 58 goals, the goal differential was an amazing, 37 goals.

Outstanding! We did have an interesting occurance late in the 2nd half. Much like Bernard before him, Otto Etzel engaged the referee in conversation, we know not what, but as a result, after Otto was invited to the referees home for dinner later next week, he was red-carded & watched the remainder of the game from the stands. However, I'm sure they're still good friends. Not!

So, congrats to the SSL boys on a fabulous session & winning back to back championships. But don't get too cozy, boys. You've got a target on your back. As one of the SSL former players always used to say, & it's so appropriate, "you're only as good as your last game, so hurry up & play another game"!

Following are some pic's at the after party.

WHAT A GOOD LOOKIN' GROUP OF "YOUNG" MEN?

 NICE PIC OF CASEY'S HAT.

OTTO EXPLAINING HIS CONVERSATION WITH THE REFEREE TO AN INTERESTED AUDIENCE.

A PIC OF THE HANDSOMEST PLAYER ON SSL. BUT, WHICH ONE IS IT?

DOES ANYONE KNOW THE WHEREABOUTS OF TIM KELLEY?

SSL WANNABE'S.

WE EVEN FRATERNIZE WITH OUR OPPONENTS!

"YEAH, YOU SHOULD HAVE SEEN ME PLAY WHEN I WAS YOUNGER"!

IS THAT THE FRONT OR THE BACK OF CASEYS HAT?

NO DAVE, SHE'S NOT GONNA PLAY ON OUR TEAM!

ONE OF THESE FOUR IS THE SCHOLAR-ATHLETE AWARD WINNER. MAYBE NOT.

SO MONDO, WHO'S THE BABE?

 

SOCCER ST. LOUIS STATS
NAME			GOALS	ASSISTS	POINTS
JASON ADESLBERGER			13	2	28
RONNIE ROWDEN			7	10	24
EDIN COROLIC			7	7	21
MIKE HOGAN			7	3	17
JOHNNY PENS			6	2	14
OTTO ETZEL			5	4	14
SLADAN KURTOVIC			2	5	9
MICHAEL POROPAT			1	5	7
CASEY WALSH			3	1	7
NOEL PACHECO			2	2	6
TONY MEADOWS			2	0	4
BERNARD ANIC			2	0	4
JAMES BARTON			1	1	3
DAVE SHELTON			0	1	1

League Standings

League Standings: Thurs Men 30+ C starts 2/28
Team	W	T	L	Pts	GF	GA	GD	PCT	GP
Soccer St. Louis	8	0	0	24	58	21	37	1.000	8
Imos Men	5	0	3	15	43	38	5	0.625	8
Buckshots	5	0	3	15	53	40	13	0.625	8
Vee Jay	4	0	3	12	35	30	5	0.571	7
Fossils	4	0	4	12	48	44	4	0.500	8
PLS Zoom Motors	3	0	4	9	34	32	2	0.429	7
The Brew	1	0	7	3	24	49	-25	0.125	8
Big Red	1	0	7	3	23	64	-41	0.125	8

Schedule			Location
Thu 3/6 6:10 PM	W 6-2	Vee Jay	Concord, Field 1
Thu 3/13 10:20 PM	W 5-4	Imos Men	Concord, Field 2
Thu 3/20 7:35 PM	W 5-3	Buckshots	Concord, Field 2
Thu 3/27 8:00 PM	W 8-3	PLS Zoom Motors	Concord, Field 1
Thu 4/3 6:40 PM	W 8-0	at Big Red	Concord, Field 2
Thu 4/10 11:40 PM	W 8-1	at The Brew	Concord, Field 1
Thu 4/17 9:25 PM	W 10-6	at Fossils	Concord, Field 2
Thu 5/1 9:25 PM	W 8-2	Imos Men	Concord, Field 2

 I TRAVELLED 600 MILES FOR THIS?

YEAH, SUNBURN & GREAT FUN!

Everybody was fired up for our annual Louisville trip. A lot of teams were travelling there from STL for the weekend outdoor, 6v6 tourney. Soccer St. Louis, of course was going, playing in the O 30 Men's Rec, as was "Toni's Tigers", who were playing in the O 30 womens under the name, St. Louis Soccer. How clever!

Paul Miller had also registered the Maddox team, as well as Greg Peer with his team, both competing in the O-40. Michael Poropat also traveled down with

with his defending champion O 30 men's team. Steve (Chief) Rankin traveled with the O 30 co-ed team, as well. So, there was quite a contingent of STL players present in lovely Louisville. But oh, how things can change. Welcome to Kentucky!

Well, might as well start at the top. My 1st mistake (of many), was agreeing to ride w/Johnny Pens. Please tell me I don't need to explain why. Anyway, we're supposed to leave @ 3 pm. Right!!! As we casually cross the Poplar (locally known as "Popular") Street bridge @ 5:30 pm, it occured to me that the weekend had not gotten off to the start I anticipated. But still, I was confident. Uh oh. 

Something else happened at that 5:30 time-slot. I received a call from the infamous Tim Kelley. The car he was riding in with the Maddox boys were well ahead of us, & Timmy was WELL ahead of everyone. To say he was fired up wouldn't do him justice. Yeah, it was Louisville weekend.

For 90% of the trip with Pens to L'ville, it was all good. It turned all bad in a hearbeat. About 20 out at about midnight, we had just left a rest stop & were about a quarter mile down the road when,

BANG!, both the right front & right rear tires blew out, we know not why. The short version is, we finally got to our hotel @ 5 am. We missed the entire party at the bar around the corner from the hotel, where goalie Dave (25 shot dave) Shelton, put on quite a show. Like I said, welcome to L'ville.

Fortunately, we had a 1:30 start time. Unfortunately, they put us in the mens open. Ouch! However, we did pretty good. Lost our 1st one 4-1; lost game two 2-1 & won our third 2-1. Not bad considering.

Scoring for SSL in those three games were Mondo with 3 goals & a helper; Pens with a goal; Chief with a helper & James Maloney with a helper.

I'm not exactly sure of the other teams standings & results, but this is pretty close. The St. Louis Soccer girls went 2-1 & advanced to the gold bracket finals; Michael Poropat's team also went 2-1 & to the gold finals as well. The Maddox team was 2-1 & on to the gold & Greg Peers team went 3-0. The co-ed team didn't fare too well, dropping 3 on saturday & the first one on sunday. But, they had a great time! As their sunburns will attest. 

Sunday was just like saturday. Cool, sunny, not a cloud in the sky. Glorius. We got a break. After several teams closed the bar next to the hotel, we had a 10:30 am game. Fab! We do, however, have to send a shout out to Jim the bartender. Never in a hurry, never late! The only person I ever met that was actually in attendance for "Disco Demolition Night" at the old Comisky Park in Chicago. But, that's a story for another time. Our sunday am game was a shoot-out. The goals were early & often. In fact, when the game was over, I thought we had won. Not so fast! We lost 7-5. All that in 30 minutes. Impressive.

Leading the way in the scoring department was Mondo, with an astounding 4 goals. He ran into, around & by the defenders. They couldn't catch him. So, we blame him for the loss. Had he scored 3 more goals we would have won the game. That's an automatic $2.00 fine. Casey Walsh had the other goal with Hoags & Chief picking up one helper each. Mondo had two unassisted goals. Like I said, we blame him for the loss.

Michael Poropat's team had a similar fate. They lost sunday morning to a team they had beaten on saturday. He was not happy.

In fact, I was going to have him fill an opening on our team (they played at 9), however, he got a red card & wasn't in the mood to play. Anybody blame him? I don't.

The girls O 30, St. Louis Soccer had an interesting day at the races. I think this is the way it came down. Their first round game ended in a time & they went to shootouts. The shootouts went all the way to the final shooter, & the St. Louis Soccer shooter, & I can't remember who it was, scored to put the girls on top. The opponent took their shot, the St. Louis Soccer keeper pushed the ball wide, & the St. Louis Soccer girls were on to the gold bracket finals.

They didn't get off to a good start, falling behind early. They played very well, but just got too far behind & couldn't recover, & fell in the finals 4-1. But, as they say, a 2nd place finish is better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick. Actually, I'm not sure who said that.

I think the Maddox team won their first sunday game, but lost the 2nd & I don't know what those scores were. I do know, however, Mr. Phil Maloney did better at the casino than he did at the fields. So did his son James, but James gave it all back saturday. Too bad!

So, all in all it was a fun weekend. Couldn't ask for better weather, particularly in L'ville for God's sake!

Next up will be the Indy trip July 19th & 20th. Sunshine there is never a problem. There's always plenty of it. Sun block is the order of the day there. So get geared up. There's nothing quite like another "Road Trip"!!!

 DAVE SHELTON BEING EVER ALERT ON SUNDAY!

MONDO WATCHES OPPONENTS RUN AROUND HIM!!!

THIS IS OBVIOUSLY SOME VERY SERIOUS BUSINESS.

COULD SOMEONE BRING ME A COCKTAIL?

SHOOTOUT OBSERVATION!

NO CIGAR!

I BELIEVE THIS BALL SCORED.

MARISSA SCORES......INTO THE GOAL ON THE ADJACENT FIELD!

JEANNIE MISSING AN OPEN PLAYER....JUST KIDDING.

WE'RE DONE, RIGHT?

THE GIRLS SCORE....THE OPPONENT CENTERS OFF.

TOURNAMENT OF BABES!!!

STEVIE WITH A STICK SAVE!

NO SLIDE TACKLES IN L'VILLE!

CAN WE GO HOME NOW? SEE YOU IN INDY!!!