O-40 TAKE EARLY LEAD
HOLD OFF HARD-CHARGING VETTA BLUE
The SSL O-40 side increased their league record to 2 & 0, narrowly dodging a bullet from the Vetta Blue side. Once again short on manpower, the Black Shirts started, & finished, the match with only one sub. Fortunately for SSL, they jumped out to a quick lead, wilted a bit in the 2nd half, & then withstood a late rally, to notch their 2nd consecutive win.
Riding the coattails of the teams leading scorer, Steve Rankin, who lead the Black Shirts with 3 goals on the evening, SSL managed to jump on top with two quick goals. The first, from Gianni Pens, on a blast from just outside the top left corner of the box, rocketed past the startled Blue keeper. He had no chance. Rankin then chipped in with his first of the evening, putting the Black Shirts up 2-0. With only a single sub versus the Blue side that featured 5 subs, the lead was significant.
SSL continued to pad that lead on goals by Ken Brigden & two more by Rankin, giving him a Hat Trick in the first half, while at the same time allowing two Blue goals. The Black Shirts eventually closed out the first half with a 3 goal cushion, at 5-2. However, the 2nd half would be a nail-biter & a cliff-hanger. (insert your own adjective here).
The 2nd started as the 1st one ended. SSL was still pressing the attack, maintaining possession, creating great ball-movement, resulting in multiple chances. However, there was a noticible trend taking place. Lots of chances & no goals. Not a good situation for the Black Shirts.
The Blue goalie was playing tough. Coming off his line, cutting down the angle, & in spite of all the shots faced, nary a one was getting by. This is not the scenario a team wants. Lots of possession, lots of chances & no goals is a recipe for failure. You can only go to the well so often. Keep doing that, you'll keep your opponent in the game, & that's not a good thing. That's exactly what happened.
As the Black Shirts tired, the Blue side got stronger & kept pressing the attack, mostly on counters, when SSL would only be defending with one, two or possibly three. Blue finally notched their 3rd goal of the eveing, narrowing the score to 5-3. They continued to press the attack. Soon, they were rewarded for their efforts with their 4th goal, virtually erasing the cushion that the Black shirts had worked so hard to get. Now SSL held a narrow 5-4 lead with about 10 minutes left in the match. A lifetime in indoor soccer.
Kenny Brigden to the rescue. After SSL had burned off about 5 minutes of those remaining 10, on a quick counter out of the back, Brigden, stationed just outside the top left corner of the blue box, received a ball from Rankin at midfield. With no hesitation whatsoever, he turned, unmarked, & let go with a bomb that flew into the upper left corner for a goal & a much-needed 6-4 lead, just as time running out. They would need it.
Shortly thereafter, Blue scored yet another goal, closing the score to 6-5 as the final seconds ticked off the clock. As it turns out, the Brigden goal was huge, since it ultimately became the game-winner.
So, for the third time in the last three games, SSL entered the game either a man down, even or one sub, & managed to pull out the win. Obviously, they can't continue to do that. The odds are stacked against them. They'll definitely need some more depth this coming Tuesday when they face a new team in the league, Triad Painting. Triad will be entering the match following a solid 5-2 win over always tough Vetta Red, & a 7-7 tie versus Vintage Utd., in a high-scoring affair the previous week. That'll be a late one at 10:15. Hopefully there'll be a few more Black Shirts on the sideline for that one. They'll need them. We hope to see you there. Thanks for reading.
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SOCCER ST. LOUIS STATS O-40
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NAME
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GAMES
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GOALS
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ASSISTS
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POINTS
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STEVE RANKIN
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2
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5
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1
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11
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GIANNI PENS
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2
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3
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3
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9
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KEN BRIGDEN
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2
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2
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1
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5
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JOE BAER
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2
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1
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2
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4
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WALLY STOKES
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2
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0
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2
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2
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JOHN KOZUSCEK
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2
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0
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1
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1
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MICHAEL HARTSOOK
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1
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0
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0
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0
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Schedule
Warning: Your facilities tie breaker rules and rankings may not follow the rules above.
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