DEA Bedford Over 30

The Bedford Pacers came back from three different deficits against Ipswich, but ran out of time for another comeback in losing, 5-4. The Friday Night 6:30 makeup game in Ipswich had the makings of a difficult evening. The situation was made even worse when the ref didn’t show. By the time the efforts for finding a ref were ditched, it was 7:00 and the sun had almost set. An Ipswich player stood there with a whistle for us. To make matter worse, Ipswich stormed ahead right out of the gate by scoring in the 3rd minute. Not a good way to start. Bedford held a majority of the play, but battled for almost the entire half still down. Deco finally broke through by powering home from close range off a scramble. Jeff Bailey’s great cross to George Weigricht set the play in motion. After one good save by Bedford keeper Chris Cloutier, both sides went into the half knotted at one. The Pacers felt confident as they were the better team in the first half. Unfortunately for Bedford, the second half took on an almost surreal tone, with play looking like a inter-squad scrimmage with a barrage of goals. In the opening minute, an open shot by Ipswich rang off the bar. A minute later Ipswich broke through with pace and slotted home their second. Ten minutes later, a lower screamer from 20 yards slipped by Cloutier, whose fun was just beginning. Ipswich had the lead, 3-1. Bedford came back with abondan, dominating play and chances. They got the deficit back to one when Deco nodded his second off another Bailey feed. Weigricht then nudged home Marco Koolman’s cross and Bedford was back to level in the twilight. Not to be outdone, Ipswich again took the lead off another open header. The same player was causing havoc for the Pacers, scoring all their goals. Curses. With a minute left, in near total darkness, Paul Cleary roofed a drive from short range, and unbelievably Bedford was all tied up. Just as unbelievably, Ipswich took the restart, walked down the field, and slammed home the winner 8 seconds later. The drive knuckled with pace right at Cloutier, who could only waive at a shot barely seen. That’s your final, 5-4. Probably the oddest game I’ve ever seen. Kudos to the linkups between Cleary, Koolman, Bailey and Deco. The chances they created was envisioned before the season. Look for the rematch Sunday morning in Bedford. Game time is 9:00 AM.

The Bedford Pacers laid a good old-fashioned whooping on a short-handed Danvers squad today. The Pacers gave all the moms out there a nice gift for Mother's Day with a resounding 7-1 win. Bedford held possession from the start. With two less field players, there was a lot of room to play with the ball, and they took advantage. Deco would be the benefactor of the first tally. The play was smartly set up with Marco Koolman's cross to Paul Cleary inside the area. Cleary's nifty footwork, leaving three defenders in his wake, found Deco wide open. He knocked it home for early lead. Jeff Guild would rip home another to make it 2-0 about 10 minutes after. Deco got his second after Marco smartly dummied Jeff Bailey's cross. The route was on. Danvers, a vocal squad that spent much of the day squabbling internally, never really threatened. A couple of forays into the box, but no clear chances. Their internal discontent, which flowed profusely in a smattering of languages, got to be quite comical. The Pacers would get one more before the half when Paul Cleary volleyed home Jeff Guild's great cross to effectively determine the outcome before the half. The second half brought much of the same. Waves and waves of attack flooded the Danvers goal. Danvers keeper must be given credit, coming up with several saves to prevent a possible double-digit defeat. Unfortunately, his defenders didn't help him much, even cutting off Cleary's cross to Deco and pushing home an own-goal. Deco would get his hat trick by receiving and turning a ball in traffic. The sudden space proved fruititous, and his drive was true for a 6-0 lead. John Guild and Paul Cleary got he helpers with great passing. Danvers felt they got back in the game in the final 10 minutes by ruining Chris Cloutier's shutout (and nap) with a header. No matter, John Guild would restore the six-goal when he sent a thrashing drive into the far webbing. Deco and Jon Cloutier would do all the setup. Alot of goals. Nobody appeared to get hurt. Good win. Next match is FRIDAY, MAY 14th IN IPSWICH. LOOK IN YOUR E-MAIL FOR DETAILS.

Windham continued their mastery of Bedford with a 4-1 victory in Windham. Bedford is now 1-9-3 against Windham since the over the last 6 years, giving up 41 goals in the process. Bedford held much of the possession for the first 20 minutes. Chris Laberge & Deco each had headers that would just miss their mark. Defensively, DEA was kipping a lid on BigKirk and had the better of the play. Unfortunately, it all came unraveled in the last 25 minutes of the half. First, Ivan Crnilcvic, knicknamed "Shooter" from his indoor days, ripped at 30 yard knuckling shot towards the net. Pacer Keeper Chris Cloutier got up to it, but couldn't get a firm hand on it and Windham had the 1-0 lead. Ten minutes later, BigKrik took Corlton Simmonds pass and attracted three defenders. As each swiped at the ball, the ref decided that he had seen enough of the attempts bounce off BigKirk's tree trunks for legs, and awarded a PK. BigKirk slammed that home and it was 2-0. With under two minutes left in the half, Shooter took another shot that deflected off Simmonds. The ball drastically changed direction, and left Cloutier to watch it float by and it was 3-0. The Pacers protested as the ref first said it bounced off Simmonds arm, "but didn't affect the play". Ahem, a shot going 3 yards over the bar, but them floating into a vacated net would SEEM to be play-affecting. Then, Mr. Referee backtracked and said it actually bounced off Simmonds head. Sir, make a call and stick to it. It was a strange half. The Pacers actually played very well, and a case could be made that Windham was "lucky" on all their goals. However, they were capitalizing on their chances and Bedford was not. Early in the second half, the Pacers finally broke through. Chris Laberge's cross would run onto by Rob Cissell. His shot was blocked, but Deco would knock it home and DEA finally was on the board. While the Pacers pressing for another to make it interesting, they couldn't find the back of the net. With BigKirk corralled in the corner, the Pacers attempted to clear the ball just off the side of the net. Instead, BigKirk stuck out his oak trunk and actually blocked the clearance over Cloutier's head and into the far side webbing. Unbelievable. Sometimes, it just isn't meant to be. The Pacers played well, Windham forced the play enough to get the breaks. Then, they finished when they had the opportunity. Not a bad effort, but something must be done to break through against Windham. Windham has outscored Bedford 41-13 over the last 14 games, and four of those goals scored by Bedford were in a 5-4 loss. Windham has their number, and if the Pacers expect to move up to Division 1 they must solve this puzzle. Pacers are back in action Sunday against Danvers, mired in last place. Game time is 9:00AM at Legacy Park in Bedford.

The Bedford Pacers would get their first win of the year in a truly dominating 4-1 win at North Andover. Scott Sharby would lead the way with two goals for Bedford. Bedford would get on the board at the ten-minute mark. Paul Cleary's restart from 30 yards out was lofted into the box. Sharby streaked in unmarked and nodded it home to give Bedford the early lead. Deco would hit Jon Cloutier, running through unmarked out of his sweeper position, with a feed inside the area, but his short shot would bounce off the bar. Dale Dubois sent his restart over the top, and Jeff Guild ran under it and one-timed it past the indecisive keeper to put the Pacers up 2-0 at the half. The strong Pacers defensive effort allowed no shots on goal for the entire first half. Early in the second half, Chris Laberge tracked down a wayward cross and put it back in the mixing bowl. Deco went up after it to head it home and Bedford now had a commanding 3-0 lead. Dubois would again find Sharby off a restart midway through the second half. Sharby flicked Dale's pass past the keeper, and the rout was on. The continued impressive defensive effort by Paul Cote, Dale, Laberge, Jon Cloutier, Chris Florek, and Peter Hall prevented any scoring chances until the game was 4-0 and out of reach. Only a late goal off a scramble would prevent a shutout by Pacers' keeper Chris Cloutier...who never had to break a sweat in his four save effort. Also playing impressive games were George Weigricht and Jon Guild. George skillfully held the ball and distributed smartly. Guild had his typical effort, contributing at both ends of the pitch. Paul Cleary played a flawless center midfield. This match was one of the most impressive, dominating efforts seen by the Pacers. They have their work cut out for them next week as they travel to Windham against their stacked lineup.

The Bedford Pacers kicked off the 2004 campaign with a 3-3 draw with Westford. Three times Bedford held leads, but could not hold off a scrappy Westford squad. Bedford got on the board 15 minutes into the match when Rob Cissel lofted a high shot into the far side webbing, just outreaching the keeper. Marco Koolman's great throughball would set up the play. Westford came back 15 minutes after. Bedford keeper Chris Cloutier made the intial save on a cross, but his clearance didn't make it all the way out of the zone. Instead, it went directly to two unmark Westford players 15 yards out. Their shot didn't get much on it, but it got just enough to cross the line to level it at one. Bedford held a majority of the play in the first half. John Guild, Scott Sharby, and Chris Laberge all had great chances that were just wide. Deco would climb the ladder twice to win headballs, but couldn't find the back of the net. Early in the second half, Jeff Guild slipped a great pass to Marco 20 yards from goal. As Marco lined up his shot he was chopped down, resulting in a Direct restart. Marco saw the whole right side of the net open, and his shot didn't disapoint and the Pacers had the lead back. Five minutes later, Marco and Jeff Guild hooked up again, with Marco slipping a through ball to Guild and sending him on a clean break. Westford's keeper came sliding out and got just enough of the shot, slowing it down, before it was cleared off the line. Jeff Bailey would hit the post from a sharp angle. Sharby, taking his last shot of the game before having to leave, would also ring the bar with a hard shot. The Pacers worked hard, but couldn't come up with the insurance tally. With 20 minutes left in the match, a scramble in front of the net allowed for an open Westford player, with the ball, 8 yards from goal. His shot was true and the match was levelled again, 2-2. The Pacers, holding possession for 70% of the match, continued to press in an attempt to regain the lead. However, a clean break down the right flanks sent Westford in alone on Cloutier. The hard, low shot was pushed aside, keeping the score tied. The save looked like it would loom large as the Pacers soon would get another lead. Rob Cissell worked hard to run down Marco's pass, and kep the ball alive. He returned the ball back to Marco, who sent a thigh-high pass through the seam to Bailey. Bailey one-timed the cross into the net, and the Pacers were on top again with 10 minutes left. Unfortunately for Bedford on this day, it just wasn't meant to be. With Westford in hot pursuit, a back pass was struck without enough pace on it. Westford got to it first, and slammed it past Cloutier to knot the match again. This is how the game would end up. A disapointing result, but Bedford played pretty well. Offensively, they created many chances and held much of the possession. Overall, defensively they played well, too. They just have to remain with their marks until the play is over, and not to give up on the play too quickly. Bedford is back in action next week in North Andover. This team just dropped from Division 1, so they should be a tough squad.