Bethesda Internationals

4 Feb. '08.  The Internationals have once again been accepted in the highly acclaimed Jefferson Cup and grouped in the top Championship division with other top quality teams as follows:

Group A:

Internationals (MD)

LAC St. Louis Lakers (Canada)

JBS FC Premier Force (NY-E)

Team Ohio (OH-S)

Group B:

 Freestate Elite (MD)

YMS Xplosion (PA-E)

GFA 91 Crew (VA)

Lafreniere Gamblers (LA)

After cancellation of last year's U15 event due to weather, the Internationals are looking forward to good weather and a great experience as always at theJefferson Cup.

2 Feb. '08. On another cold but not so blustery day at Covenant Park, the Internationals were without Ben N., Patrick, Martin, Scott & Mati today to face the Redland York United team from EPA/CPYSA.  And, the United's GK was as tall if not taller than Seth, and could punt the ball quite well! The Internationals controlled play for most of the match in the first half taking 7 shots on goal while committing 7 fouls (including 1 offsides). At about the 25 minute mark, Skylar sent a long pass upfield on the right to Brian near the sideline about 20 yards out where he dribbled a few steps forward/inward and found a crease to strike in a beauty left-footed goal past the surprised GK in the right corner of the net. Just 3 minutes later, the United managed to penetrate deep into Inter's goal area on a counter-attack and the center official called a foul in the box on either Seth or Nat but the resultant PK was stopped in a great athletic save by Seth as he dove to his right to deflect the ball off of his fingertips as it deflected off the side post away out of harms way, and the half ended, 1-0, Internationals. The Internationals controlled play for most of the second half but the United stepped up their physicality committing 10 fouls (including 2 YC's shown to #6 and #25 for hard fouls & including 1 offsides). Inter's strong defense stymied the United team, limiting them to just 1 shot on goal which was unsuccessful and no corner kicks taken. Although the Internationals created numerous scoring opportunites, including 7 shots on goal and 3 corner kicks, it was unable to fnish another goal while committing 3 fouls (including 1 offsides), and the match ended, 1-0, Internationals.

27 Jan. '08. The Internationals were back in action at Covenant Park to face the strong NY Hota Academy who traveled down from NY early in the morning and played a hard match vs. U17/SAC United several hours earlier. Although the temps were in the mid-40's with partlly sunny skies, the blustery wind made it feel like it was just above freezing. The Hota team played very physical and committed 12 fouls (including a YC shown to #3 for a push in the back on Skylar and also to #10 for USB plus 1 handball). inter's strong defense held Hota to just a single shot on goal. The Internationals controlled play for most of the 1st half, shooting 6 times on goal -- and credit their GK for a great save on a close-in shot -- and setup up 4 corner kicks which all were unsuccessful while committing 3 fouls (including 1 high kick & 1 offsides) and the half ended scoreless. In the 2nd half, Hota penetrated deep into the backline on occasion and managed 3 shots on goal including a direct kick at Seth who easily caught the ball and another diving fingertip save, and 2 corner kicks but all went awry/unsuccessful while committing 5 fouls (including a YC shown to #5 for a hard foul on Roque). Just 2 minutes into the half, Vitalis served a ball on the left about 30 yards out into the center to Brian around 10-12 yards out where he sent a shot towards goal which deflected off a Hota player where Roque alertly collected the ball, took 2-3 steps to his left and found a crease to fire in a left-footed blast which flew by the GK into the lower right corner of the net. At the 26 minute mark, Fabio sent a nice ball upfield to Brian who took a quick shot on goal but it was saved by a joint effort between the GK and a field player only to bounce out to Fabio who cleaned up an easy goal. At about the 33 minute mark, Patrick launched a beauty of a corner kick from the left side of goal which sailed into the box where Nat E. (unmarked) timed his leap up to head strike in the 3rd goal. All in all the Internationals would launch 13 shots, inclulding a hard shot by Vitalis but was saved by a Hota field player. The Internationlas would also setup 2 other corner kicks which were unsuccessful while committing 3 fouls (including 2 offsides), and the contest ended, 3-0, Internationals.

12 Jan. '08. Back out at the nice Northrop turf field at Covenant Park, the weather was pleasant with sunny skies and mild temps in the low 50's. The feisty U16/SAC United team was very determined, continually pressuring/challenging the ball which caused a number of errant passes while a strong cross-wind picked up late in the foul-plagued first half. Inter appeared to control most of the play, shooting 3 times on goal and setup 1 corner kick which were all unsuccessful while committing 13 fouls (including an incredible 7 offsides and 1 handball). SAC United was limited to just 2 shots on goal and no corners while committing 8 fouls, and the half ended, 0-0. Inter again appeared to control most of the play in the 2nd half, shooting 8 times on goal (including 2 x 1v1 on GK opportunities which were unsuccessful -- one being a great save by Joe. S. on a direct shot about 12 yards out by Ben N.) and setup 1 corner kick but could not finish while committing 7 fouls (including 3 offsides). SAC would shoot 3 times and setup no corner kicks while committing 12 fouls (including 2 offsides and a YC shown to #12 for a hard foul). But, SAC would finish on two opportunities, one at the 4 minute mark when a SAC player penetrated deep into the back line after receiving a long ball on a counter-attack, and as Alex came out to grab the ball the SAC player was able to strike in the 1st goal past Alex to take the lead. The other at the 10 minute mark on another counter-attack by a SAC player, who was clearly in an offsides position rcvd the ball while most players stopped play in anticipation of the offsides call which was never made, and as Alex came out to challenge the SAC player, an easy shot was struck past Alex to put SAC up by two goals, and the match ended later, 2-0, SAC United.