Bethesda Internationals

6 Jul. '08. The Internationals were back out at the BB&T SoccerPark for another early-morning 8am match but this time against the U17/Charlotte United 90 Gold, a team which was recently formulated with players from several Charlotte area teams. The WX was mostly cloudy with patches of dew on the pitch on a mostly cloudy and less hot morning. Although the Charlotte team dropped its first two matches to Triangle United Gold and GFA 91 Crew by a combined score of 1-10, it managed to prevail over the Roanoke Star Eltie team yesterday afternoon, 3-1; thus, Inter would not take this team lightly. From the opening whistle to the end of the 1st half, Inter controlled play for much of the period. Inter created many scoring chances but was unable to finish a goal including a nice cross from Marcel about 25 yards out on the right to Nate who struck the ball hard but sailed wide/high over the cross bar, and a nice pass from Stephen to Vitalis about 20 yards on the left who dribbled 1v1 on the GK but lost it in the end to the GK. Also, Skylar launched a nice DK from about 25 yards on the right into the box where Ben timed his jump to hit a hard head strike on the ball but it sailed high over the cross bar. Another ball went into the box and after a fury of activity, Roque managed to kick the ball towards goal but it hit the Gold's right side of the net, however, he was called offsides anyway. Inter took 6 shots on goal all in all while committing 7 fouls (including 4 offsides and 1 handball). Inter's normally strong defensive back line held the U17 team to just 3 shots on goal and 1 corner kick which were all unsuccessful -- except one -- while committing 4 fouls (including 1 handball) -- and that except one came exactly at the 55th second of the 45th minute when a ball was switched from Inter's right side to open space on Inter's left, but after Philip's attempt to clear it away was unsuccessful, a U17 Gold player collected the ball before Seth could get to it and made an easy shot into the net past Seth, and the half ended with Inter down, 0-1. After a half-time discussion with Pete, players opened up the 2nd half with much more focus and intensity with two goals coming in the span of one minute and two more later in the half. The U17 team managed 4 shots on goal including a hard short from about 25 yards which sailed dangerously just over the cross bar and no corner kicks while committing 5 fouls. The Internationals managed 8 shots on goal and 1 corner kick while committing 3 fouls (including 1 handball and 2 offsides). At about the 10 minute mark, Skylar sent a nice cross into the box where Vitalis was in position to hit a hard head strike on the ball into the net for the equalizer goal. Just one minute later, Fabio sent a nice pass form the middle to Skylar on the right who attempted a through pass to Chris in the middle of the box around 10-12 yards out but as the GK came out to grab the ball, a U17 gold defender tried to clear the ball away but got under it and launched it straight upward and then fell back to the turf with a backward spin, bounced backward beyond the GK and into the net for an own goal. At about the 21st minute, Skylar sent another cross into the box to a streaking Vitalis who struck in the easy goal. Chris had a couple of shots which went wide but at the 27th minute he rcvd a ball in the middle, turned and fired a shot into the net past the GK. At the 38th minute, Matt rcvd a pass just behind the mid-center line from Philip, dribbled upfield in between defenders where he managed to find a crease inside the U17 Gold's box about 15 yds. out on their right side and sent a hard shot into the net past the GK, and the match ended, 5-1, Internationals. The second match in the hot afternoon pitted the Internationals against the Triangle United Gold team whom it first met in last year's Region E event and Inter prevailed in both preliminary and Final matches, 2-1. The United Gold team was recently crowned both NC State Cup and Region 3 Champs and would be going to the USYSA Nationals later this month. Triangle's phenom playmaker, #13/Mikey, was on the sidelines from an injury sustained in the 1st match yesterday. Inter needed to win this match to advance to the USCS National VII Cup since it had beaten GFA 91 Crew yesterday even if GFA 91 Crew would win its match versus Roanoke Star Elite which was playing at the same time. The match with Triangle was an evenly played contest in the first half for the most part with Triangle taking 3 shots on goal including a hard blast from 20 yds. out to Inter's right which Seth made a great diving save to his left, and another hard shot from the center which sailed high towards the upper 90 corner but Seth made a nice finger tip flick save causing the ball to sail just over the cross bar with a resultant corner kick which was unsuccessful. Another dangerous play ensued where a through ball found its way into open space in Inter's box about 10 yards out center but Seth made a good read to come out and grab the ball before a streaking Triangle player could get to it. Triangle committed 5 fouls (including a YC shown to #19 for a hard foul from behind on Fabio and 1 handball). The Internationals managed 3 shots on goal and 1 corner kick while committing just two fouls. At about the 20 minute mark, Ebo sent a nicw pass upfield to Skylar on the right who dribble supfield to Triangle's left corner and served a beauty low cross on the ground into the box where Chris ran onto the ball to easily tap in the go-ahead goal. The match was halted at the 34th minute by tournament officials due to visibile lightning nearby. About 35 minutes later it resumed and then ended shortly with inter on top, 1-0. In the 2nd half, Inter seemed to tire with Triangle forcing more of the action, playing much more aggressively and mostly in Inter's half attacking and counter-attacking, and pressuring the ball very tightly defensivley. Inter played very physical, committing 8 fouls (including a YC shown to Jamie for a hard foul and 4 offsides & 2 high kicks). Triangle's strong defense today held Inter to just 3 shots on goal including a shot by Brian near 18 yads out on the left who turned and fired a left-footed shot which went high over the cross bar. The Triangle team would also shoot 3 times on goal and setup 6 corners (all unsuccessful). Alas, at the 22 minute mark, after a ball was launched into Inter's box, a furious attempt to clear it away could not be realized before a Triangle player was able to find the ball and tap in the equalizer goal, and the match ended in a hard-fought draw, 1-1. Menawhile, the GFA 91 Crew easily prevailed over the Roanoke Star Elite, 4-0, and on points (9 versus Inter's 7) earned the berth to the USCS National Cup VII in VA Beach later this month. Congratulations GFA 91 Crew, another top non-academy team in the local Metropolitan Washington, DC area besides Inter and Freestate Elite.