Bethesda Internationals

28 May '06. Switching from the Polo Grounds to the nice pitch at the MD Soccer Plex for the Semi-Final match against the Pot. Cougars '92 was expected to be an advantage for Inter's normally good passing style of play. But, after having prevailed over the always defensivly strong Cougars in the last several league matches and State Cup 2005 Semi-Final, Inter would not be able to produce a similar result this time around as the Cougars were up for the challenge. The Cougars mid-field played very well and moved the ball around effectively with the help of Guest Player, Denzel P., who guested with Inter at the CASL Shootout 2005 last November. Inter did not look sharp in the 1st half, and some balls were mis-directed or missed, or not cleared away cleanly, resulting in 2 goals scored by the Cougars. To the credit of the Cougars' strong back line, Inter was able to setup just one shot on goal after a foul by the Cougars. Skylar sent a nice free kick from about 35+ yards out on the left into the box which was stopped by the GK and then dropped the ball to the turf where Mati turned and fired a shot that just missed wide left of goal. The Cougars' first goal came at about the 22 mintue mark on a counter attack with Denzel pushing the ball upfield into Inter's goal mouth, and then lofted the ball over the back line to a teammate who swiftly knocked in a strike to the right of Nat. With just 1 minute left to play in the half, a push in the back foul was called on Inter, and the Cougars sent a free kick into the goal mouth around 18-20 yards out where an open Cougar player was unmarked resulting in another crisp shot on goal to put the Cougars up, 2-0. The cougars played very physical, committing 9 fouls, and shooting 3 times on goal, with the 3rd shot taken close-in but luckily sailed wide and right of goal. Besides the single shot on goal, Inter could create just 1 corner kick opportunity which was unsuccessful, and committed 5 fouls. Inter stepped up its attacking in the second half, stayed focused and played more intensely, shooting 5 times on goal, and created 6 corner kick opportunites with 3 fouls. A YC was shown to Jamie for a hard foul on Erik O., and also a YC was presented to #8 of the Cougars for (?). The Cougars committed 6 fouls, and Inter held the Cougars to no shots on goal or any corner kicks. At about the 19 minute mark, Skylar sent a corner kick into the goal mouth where the ball bounced up in the air and Nicholas V. bicycle-kicked the ball backwards towards the net and it hit the crossbar/sidebar and deflected outward. As the GK tried to reach out to punch it away, Ben stepped forward to tap in the goal. Several minutes later, Skylar sent another nice corner kick into the goal mouth, and Mati colleced the ball and slammed a hard shot to the net, but the Cougars' GK was in perfect position to stop/catch the ball. Inter could not finish the second equalizer goal and the match ended, 2-1, Cougars. Congratulations to the Cougars on a well-deserved victory. The Cougars will play in the Final tomorrow against RFC 91 (VA) who prevailed over Seacoast United (NH), 2-1.