O-30 STORMS BACK FROM 3 DOWN

SALVAGE TIE TO STAY IN HUNT

A furious 2nd half comeback salvaged a tie in a game that looked more & more bleak the later it got in the match. Playing on unfriendly field #3, SSL started slowly. The pace was slow, attacks few, passes incomplete or picked off & the intensity was sadly missing. Quickly, they found themselves behind.

The Cobras came out flying. Moving quickly off the ball, attacking relentlessly, the SSL side looked slow & unresponsive, giving the Cobra attackers much space & not forcing the play at all. The Cobras took advantage, & quickly. Scoring on a rocket from just outside the box, SSL found themselves down early, 1-0.

However, on a great attack from SSL, Jayson Adelsberger crashed the boards, delivering a shot that caromed off the goalie & back out past the penalty area, where an on-rushing Ronnie Rowden made no mistake & powdered a bomb past a startled Cobra keeper, just seconds after the Cobra goal, knotting the score at 1 all. Then things changed. Abruptly. Ugly.

As quickly as you can say 2,3,4, SSL was behind 4-1 late in the first half. The Cobras took advantage of some sloppy SSL play, continued the attack & poured on the pressure, cashing in on another 3 goals, resulting in the 4-1 deficit for SSL. SSL managed to scramble back into the match, inching a little bit closer on a goal by Guillermo Cortez, closing the score to 4-2 Cobras, but could not get any closer. That's the way it remained at the interval, with the Cobras holding the 2 goal lead. The 2nd half was far different.

SSL came out flying. But was it too little too late? As the half unfolded, the constant pressure applied by the SSL forwards on the Cobra defenders, that had been sadly missing over the last session or so, who in the first half had all kinds of time & space, caused them a multitude of problems, resulting in turnovers & misplays. As a result, SSL, with their renewed energy & confidence, continued to apply the pressure, controlling the ball & the pace of the match, & it started to create multiple offensive opportunities.Those opportunities translated into goals.

The Cobras, trying to right the ship, were able to chip in a 5th goal, stretching thier lead to 5-2. Even though they extended thier lead, they knew it wasn't safe & SSL had even more motivation. They picked up the pace even further, moving the ball briskly, countering quickly, attacking relentlessly, almost with a hint of fanatiscism, but always under control.

Finding open men resulted in a barrage of shots that the Cobra keeper continued to turn away for the moment. But, it was a losing cause. With a little more than 9 minutes in the game, defender Sladan Kurtovic made a run out of the back & got to the penalty area just in time to corral a rebound & one-timed it into the back of the net. Score: Cobras 5, SSL 3. It would be a mad dash from here to the end.

Then it was time for the Bernard Anic show. With the SSL offensive pressure continuing to mount, the Cobra defense became panicky. They had unforced errors, sending the ball into the net, resulting in deadball situations for SSL. The SSL side was marking so tightly that the Cobra players either could not receive the ball or weren't given the opportunity. SSL had the ball & weren't giving it up.

With about 3 minutes left in the match & under unrelenting pressure from SSL, the Cobras gave up another goal on a smash from Anic from just inside the halfway line that he teed up & let go with a bomb. Score: Cobras 5, SSL 4. It gets better.

With 37 ticks left on the clock, & SSL still applying suffocating offensive pressure, the Cobras had difficulty maintaining thier marks because they were constantly watching the SSL players fly over, around & thru them & were instead looking at their goal instead of their marks. On one such occasion, the ball came back out to Anic deep in the left corner. He turned on the ball, letting go a grass skimmer from a bad angle that buried itself in the far right hand corner of the goal, going past 3 or 4 players & the keeper, tying the game at 5-5, & ruining the Cobras evening.

Even though it was a tie, to the Cobras, who once sported a 4-1 lead, it felt like a loss. To the SSL side, coming back from the dead, it felt like a win, preserving their chase for yet another championship. A loss would have doomed thier chances. It was thrilling! So, congrats to SSL for salvaging a tie from what could have been a painful defeat, & keeping their first place chances alive.

Next week, old friends Imo's visits SSL @ 8:20, again on their favorite field, #3. The hunt continues. Hope you can join us. Thanks for reading.

 INDY

It's coming fast. July 18th & 19th. At this point, it looks like the O-30 & O-40 rosters are filled. But, boy's & girl's, you always know how that goes, so, stay tuned.

We'll be staying at the same hotel we stayed at last year, The Jameson Inn on 4402 East Creek View Rd., phone  317-784-7006. I've also attached a link to their website. When you call, make sure you say you're with Soccer St. Louis in order to get the great $81 per night rate, arranged by one of the girls on Jeannie Curry's team, Melissa. So make sure when you see her you say thanks. 

https://mycrs.innpoints.com/book/book/Wizard?search=true

Projected Indy Rosters                    7/18 & 7/19, 2009

O-30

1.    ?

2.    Casey Walsh

3.    Scott Carpenter

4.    Bernard Anic

5.    Sladan Kurtovic

6.    David Hipperson

7.    Jayson Adelsberger

8.    Edin Coralic

9.    Chris Carpenter

10.  Guillermo Cortez

11.  Mondo Fernandez

12.  Andy Carpenter

O-40

1.     Todd Loretta

2.     Tim Kelley

3.     Johnny Pens

4.     Bob Janko

5.     Dan Albes

6.     Steve Rankin

7.     Wally Stokes

8.     Ken Brigden

9.     Mike Hogan

10.   Ronnie Rowden

11.   Michael Hartsook

12.   Ed Postawko

ST. DOMINIC'S 3V3 FUNDRAISER GREAT SUCCESS

"NOPE" SWOOPS

Saturday, June 28th, was supposed to be the hottest day so far this summer. From the look of the players, it was! Whew, it was hot. But, the tourney was on & about 20 competitors lubed up with sunblock & lot's & lot's of thirst-quenchers, & made it a fun afternoon for everyone. But it was HOT! Sort of a pre-view of Indy.

The tourney was played in a double elimination format, meaning you had to lose twice to get knocked out. If you lost one match you'd get relegated to the losers bracket. However, once in the losers bracket, if you won the losers, the good news is you would come back to play the winners of the winners bracket. The bad news? You had to beat them twice!!! Well, at least it was a cool day. Not!

The first round match was won by Metropolis, 8-3 over Worst Case Scenario. The 2nd round was two winners bracket matches, (3 teams advanced on byes). In a controvosial game, where the rules were being made up as the game went on, The Sween Dogs advanced with a tense, tightly marked 1-0 decision over previous winner Metropolis. In the other match, a high scoring affair, Nope defeated the Nutters 7-4 to advance with an upcoming, winner of the winners bracket match, against Sween Dogs. But first, two losers bracket matches had to be played.

In the first losers bracket match, Worst Case Scenario got knocked out by the Nutters who then had to play Metropolis. Metropolis then advanced to the losers bracket finals with a win over the Nutters. The Nutters & Worst Case Scenario went home. But they weren't angry. It was hot & they were going to the A/C!

Next up was a highly anticipated match. The winners of the winners bracket, Sween Dogs vs Nope. In a very tough match, Nope hung on to post a 4-2 win over Sween Dogs, relegating them to the losers bracket, where they would meet, for the 2nd time, Metropolis. Nope was in the cat-bird seat. Winners of the winners bracket, whoever came out of the losers bracket had to beat them twice. Did I mention it was hot!

The showdown for the losers bracket winner was a difficult match. It was the 4th match for Metropolis & 3rd for Sween Dogs. Did I mention it was hot. In any case, Metropolis hung on, taking the losers bracket championship, winning the right to play the winners bracket winner, Nope. However, they had to beat them twice. Did I mention......

The final was thrilling. Metropolis, using a stingy defense & opportunistic offense, eked out a 2-1 win over Nope, their only loss of the day, to force a 2nd & final, playoff game, for all the marbles. In this case it was individual championship trophys. It was even hotter now.

Rebounding from the 1 goal loss in the previous match, Nope righted the ship, posted a tidy 5-3 win over Metropolis, & took the coveted trophys. And it was still hot. Congratulations to the winners, Jeremy Maue, Patrick Curry, Jim Humphrey & Dave Feldman.

But a great time was had by all. Some money was raised for the St. Dominics basketball team, folks got some food & beverages, worked on their tans & we even got a little soccer in. So a big thanks to Casey  & Tracy Walsh for putting all this together & making arrangements for the park & pavillion. St. Dominics basketball team raised some money & everyone had a great time. Did I mention it was hot?

From left: Jeremy Maue, Patrick Curry & Jim Humphrey. Absent, Dave Feldman.

	SOCCER ST. LOUIS STATS O-30
	NAME		GAMES	GOALS	ASSISTS	POINTS
	RONNIE ROWDEN		2	2	1	5
	BERNARD ANIC		3	2	0	4
	GUILLERMO CORTEZ		3	2	0	4
	SLADAN KURTOVIC		3	2	0	4
	JAMES AHEARN		1	1	0	2
	JAYSON ADELSBERGER		3	0	2	2
	EDIN CORALIC		2	1	0	2
	TONY MEADOWS		3	0	1	1
	WILL SUK		2	0	1	1
	DAVID SHELTON		2	0	1	1
	JOHNNY PENS		2	0	0	0
	MIKE HOGAN		3	0	0	0
	CASEY WALSH		3	0	0	0
	DAVID HIPPERSON		1	0	0	0
	MICHAEL POROPAT		0	0	0	0

Date			Location
Thu 6/11 6:50 PM	W 2-1	Zoom Motors	Concord, Field 1
Thu 6/18 8:30 PM	L 3-7	at Freaky Shakra(WHITE/BLUE)	Concord, Field 1
Thu 6/25 7:30 PM	T 5-5	at CD Cobras(BLUE)	Concord, Field 3
Thu 7/2 8:20 PM	50 minutes	at Imos Men (GREEN)	Concord, Field 3
Thu 7/9 7:10 PM	50 minutes	Hoosier FC(BLACK)	Concord, Field 2
Thu 7/23 10:10 PM	50 minutes	Sinclair & Rush	Concord, Field 1
Thu 7/30 11:00 PM	50 minutes	Maddox 40+(BLACK)	Concord, Field 1