Bethesda Internationals

14 Nov. '04. On its first entrance into the prestigious Raleigh Shootout in Cary, NC, Inter families first battled heavy rain all the way down from DC to NC. Fortunately, the rain ended in the early morning of the 1st day of the tournament, and the games on Sat., 11/13, were shortened to 2 x 25 minute halves. The Inter players battled 3 tough teams from Region III. In its first match of the Champion B division on poorly sloped fields marked with hard-to-see blue lines, Inter faced the formidable First Coast KYX (2nd/FL) team who won their previous 8 leauge matches by 73:6, or 9 goals average per match. And, it certainly appeared that the KYX would work towards achieving that average against Inter, as at about the 4 minute mark, 1 of the KYX's two swift/skillful forwards managed to move the ball thru Inter's defenders and strike a hard shot into the net past Nat at about the 4' minute mark. However, several minutes later, the same player fouled Inter (Pablo?), and since he didn't move far enough away fast enough, the official promptly awarded him a yellow followed by another yellow moments later since the player again would not move away fast enough, and was ejected from the game for unsportsmanship? It should've been a non-call and most unfortunate for the talented KYX player. Then, just before the shortened first half, another foul was called on the KYX and as Skylar sent the ball flying high into the net over the GK's finger tips, the official blew the whistle for halftime. When asked at halftime why the goal was not allowed, the official said he told Skylar that there was no time left, and to shoot the ball. But, just as Skylar kicked the ball, the official blew his whistle and stated afterwards that Skylar did not kick the ball within 6 seconds. Incredibly bizarre!? With a player down, Inter played the KYX even in the first half, shooting 3 shots on goal while the KYX managed just 3 shots on goal as well but with one in the net. The KYX commited 5 fouls while Inter committed 6, and both teams did not manage any corner kicks. In the 2nd half, Inter appeared to play more strongly and made 5 attempts on goal and CK's but could not finish, and committed while the KYX shot 4 times and 1 CK with just 1 foul, and the matched ended, 0-1, in favor of the KYX. In the second match on an even more severely sloped field, Inter faced the Concorde Fire Elite (3rd/GA). This team had a large and fast forward who collected a long ball sent upfield into the teeth of Inter's defenders, and simply blew by Inter's defense to strike in an easy goal past Nat at about 2-1/2 minutes into the match. But, Inter clearly was the more dominant team, shooting 5 shots on goal and 2 corner kicks compared to the Fire's single shot on goal, but effective. The Fire committed 5 fouls while Inter committed just 3. In the 2nd half, Inter again dominated the match, shooting 4 shots on goal and 3 corner kicks, but simply could not finish -- whilte the Fire could only manage a single direct kick/shot on goal and 2 CK's. The Fire committed 5 fouls while Inter committed just 4. The 3rd match found Inter matched up with last year's winner of the Champion A division, North Meck Storm (3rd/NC). The first half was contested well by Inter and both teams moved the ball up and down the field with fierce counter-attacking and strong defense. After a foul by a Storm player at about the 23 minute mark, Skylar sent a DK shot from 20 yards out into the goal mouth where Roque collected the ball and struck in the 1st and only goal for Inter. About 5 minutes later, the Storm broke through Inter's defense and sent a hard shot to the goal and Nat was able to punch it out, however, it landed in an open area in the goal mouth not near to any Inter player and another nearby Storm player tapped it in to tie up the match, 1-1. Inter managed a total of 3 shots on goal and no CK's with 4 fouls, while North Meck shot twice on goal with 2 CK's and 4 fouls. In the 2nd half, North Meck tightened up its defense and allowed Inter just 1 shot on goal and no CK's with 2 fouls. At about the 23 minute mark of the 2nd half, North Meck sent a long ball to their fast forward who broke thru to score the 2nd and winning goal for the Storm. There were more than 10 fouls called on North Meck while Inter committed just 2, and the Storm's coach was tossed with red card for dissent/arguing a call around the 28 minute mark. Congratulations to the North Meck Storm, who ousted Inter's NCSL/D1 friends the very talented Freestate Titans for the Championship match, 4-1.