Bethesda Internationals

18 Mar. '06. Inter faced the much heralded and talented/strong Yardley Xplosion team from PAE in its first meeting ever in the opening match. It was a bright, sunny morning with gusty winds and a short, narrow pitch. Inter kicked off but Yardley quickly dispossessed Inter of the ball and worked it down into Inter's end of the field. Just 2 minutes into the match, Yardley served a nice ball into the goal mouth about 10 yards out where a hard header was slammed directly on goal but Nat reacted quickly, laying out to his right to stop the laser strike. The match was hard fought and tightly contested with 8 fouls committed by Yardley and 4 by Inter. Yardley attempted 3 shots on goal and no corner kicks in the first half, while Inter launched 4 shots on goal and created 3 corner kick opportunites but did not finish. After a foul by Inter near the center of the goal mouth about 25 yards out around the mid-way mark of the 1st half, Jamie anticipated the free kick and charged forward to block the kick but it was struck hard, sailing past all defenders and a surprised Nat into the left side of the net. Fortunately, Jamie was yellow-carded for not obeying the official's instruction to yield 10 yards and the goal was disallowed. Yardley was unable to finish on its subsequent free kick attempt. With about 5-6 minutes to go in the half after a foul by Yardley, Skylar launched a free kick from the left side about 35 yards out towards the 6 yard line and with a little help from the wind the ball flew high over everyone and took a fortunate downard dip into the upper left side of the net past the GK's outstretched arms. Yardley stepped up its offensive attack in the second half with most of the action being played down in Inter's half, and both Yardley/Inter committed 10 fouls each. Inter managed 3 shots on goal and 1 CK but was unable to finish, while Yardley took 2 SOG's and 2 CK's but was also unable to finish. Marcus was shown a YC for inadvertently kicking a Yardley player's leg while attempting to tackle the ball. About 20 minutes through the second half, Skylar cleared out a ball, falling to the turf from the awkward kick afterwards, and a Yarley player inadvertently kicked Skylar in the head and was awarded a YC. With about 1 minute left in the match, Vitalis rcvd a nice pass on the left side of Yardley's side about 35 yards out and was streaking upfield when a Yardley player obstructed/held V from progressing into open space and the player was Red-carded/ejected. Moments later, the matched ended, 1-0, Inter. The second match found Inter playing Ann Arbor Arsenal (MI) in its first-ever meeting on the full size field at the Godwin HS stadum, but the pitch was not in great shape with little grass clumps and dirt patches throughout the field -- not a great passing surface to say the least. And, the pesky winds were still gusting occasionally, but were not a significant factor for or against either team. However, Inter seemed to play with less focus and was not crisp on its first touches with the ball and made numerous less than effective passes. It was mostly a lackluster first half with Ann Arbor shooting just once on goal and 1 corner kick but could not finish. Ann Arbor committed 3 fouls while Inter committed 6 fouls and took 2 shots on goal but could not finish. Although both teams seemed to pick up the intensity in the second half with Ann Arbor committing 6 fouls and Inter committing 8 fouls, Inter's strong defense stymied Ann Arbor, limiting them to just one shot on goal -- a free kick from about 15 yards out which was unsuccessful. At about the 16 minute mark of the half, Glenn was fouled in the box while making a run on goal. Skylar attempted the PK, sending a hard shot directly at the GK who stopped the shot but could not maintain possession and it rolled out right to Skylar's feet and he sent in the game-winning goal past the GK. Inter's tight defense was able to keep the Ann Arbor team from setting up any serious scoring threat and the match ended, 1-0, Inter. Inter will advance to the Semi-Final tomorrow to play the winner of Group 3 (either RFC 91 or Jersey Crew United) which is being decided at this posting.