Bethesda Internationals

5 Jun. '05. Inter faced its NCSL/D1 friends in the MD State Cup Final on an extremely hot, sunny afternoon at the Soccer Plex with temps in the upper 80's. Thanks to MSYSA, there were 3 minute 'heat' breaks in each half at about the 20 minute mark so that the players could drink water to stay well hydrated. Both teams played very physical with the Titans committing 14 fouls to Inter's 6 fouls in the 1st half. Inter fired 6 shots on goal, while the Titans attempted 4 hard shots on goal, including one that went in the net from right side end line at about the 23 minute mark, but it was luckily called back due to an offsides call on a Titans player, and the match ended in a scoreless draw at the half. Early on in the 2nd half at about the 5 minute mark, the Titans executed a swift counter attack and moved the ball upfield to the right corner of Inter's half, where an excellent cross was launched into the goal mouth area to an awaiting Titans player. Inter's right side/defense did not react quick enough to the cross and mark the player out of harms way or clear/head the ball away and the Titans player was able to head in an easy strike past Nat to the left side of the net. The Titans kept up their physical play throughout the 2nd half, creating 6 more shots on goal that went wide or were saved by Nat and 1 corner kick with 7 fouls. Inter mounted several furious attacks and shot 3 times on goal with 2 corner kicks (and 4 fouls), but to no avail as they too went wide or were stopped by their fine keeper, including a terrific corner from Skylar to Mati in the goal mouth who headed a hard ball towards the net but it just barely missed to the left. Congratulations to the Titans, MD State Champions 2005, and soon to be crowned NCSL/D1 Champions for Spring 2005. The Titans will well represent our great state of Maryland in the upcoming Regionals and will go along way, perhaps winning yet another title in a fabulous season they are having. And, Congratulations to Inter Bethesda, for advancing to the Finals after being a Semi-Finalist last year and who played valiantly against a very talented Titans team that would not be denied its rightful place as MD State Champions 2005.

05 Jun. '05. After a day filled full of misting and light rain, the morning brought clouds and intermittent sunshine but no rain out at the nice MD Soccer Plex fields where Inter faced its D2 Division-leading friends, Potomac Cougars 92. The Cougars played very strong in the early minutes of the game, controlling mid-field play and pushing the ball up to Inter's side of the field. However, Inter's stingy defense effectively stopped any serious threat or shots on goal by the Cougars early on. At about the 12 minute mark, after Inter countered with an attack to the Cougar's goal mouth area, a hand ball in the box was called on a Cougar player, providing a PK opportunity for Inter. Skylar sent a crisp shot to the left of the GK for Inter's first goal. In a mostly defensive battle in the 1st half, both Inter and Cougars managed just 2 shots on goal with 1 corner each and bunches of fouls. In the second half, the Cougars were again successful in distributing the ball in the mid-field but their forwards were unable to finish due to smothering defensive pressure by Inter's defenders, and especially by Nicky who shut down the Cougars' talented number 4 forward. Inter was also quite successful in moving the ball up field and into position to take about 8 shots on goal while the Cougars were held shotless by Inter's strong defense. About 18 minutes into the 2nd half, Skylar received a pass to the center mid-field about 25 yards out and sent a nice pass into the goal mouth area to Mati, who settled the ball, turned and fired in the 2nd goal. Back and forth went the remainder of the 2nd half, with Inter creating numerous shots on goal that went wide or into the GK's arms, and the Cougars were unable to take any shots on goal, and the match ended, 2-0, in favor of Inter. Kudos to the much improved Cougars 92 for a great match. Inter looks forward to playing this excellent team again in D1 this fall. Inter advances to play the Final tomorrow against the talented Freestate Titans, who after the match was tied, 1-1, and 2 scoreless 10 minute OT's, defeated the mighty Roadrunners by PK's, 3-2.

28 May '05. In its 1st match of the tournament on Saturday out at the excellent soccer fields at OBGC in Olney, MD, Inter faced the Amerian Jets 92 Blue, 2004-2005 State Cup champs from Alabama. The forecast weather w/30% chance of rain cooperated and was nice for this match with partly cloudy/sunny skies and warm temps with just a slightly breezy wind. The Jets 92 Blue played well and launched several nice attacks/counter attacks, shooting 7 times on goal but was unable to finish, either missing wide or cleared/stopped by the defense and Nat. Inter created 5 shooting attempts on goal and launched 4 corner kicks. At about the 23rd minute, Chris collected a pass, dribbled upfield, eluding a couple of defenders and made a fine pass to Ebo in the left corner, who then turned and crossed a nice ball into the goal mouth where Mati timed his leap in the air to head the ball in past the surprised GK for Inter's first goal. The first half was relatively free of fouls, with Inter committing just two to none for the Jets 92 Blue. In the second half, the Jets 92 Blue played more aggressively, committing 6 fouls to two for Inter. In the first 30 seconds of the 2nd half, the Jets 92 Blue moved the ball upfield quickly and took a hard shot on goal which was saved by Nat. Chris was given a yellow card for what appeared to be stepping on/off the sideline during a throw in by Skylar? Later, Philip was shown a yellow card from the ref on a bizarre call for making a grunting noise when the 92 Blue had the ball!? Both teams played well in the 2nd half, with the Jets 92 Blue taking 6 shots on goal and 1 corner, while Inter managed 5 shots on goal and 2 corners with 2 fouls. At about the 17 minute mark, Skylar sent a nice corner service into the goal mouth, and again, Mati perfectly timed his leap and jumped up to head the ball into the net past the GK; however, the Jets 92 Blue weren't to be denied finding the net and just two minutes later they were able to penetrate Inter's defense and sent a ball into open space at about 30 yards out where a Jets 92 Blue player ran onto the ball, dribbled close to about 12 yards out and fired a hard shot on goal which hit the left side post as Nat layed out in an attempt to save the ball. Inter was unable to clear the ball out before a Jets 92 Blue player rushed onto the ball and tapped it in the goal past Nat on the ground. It was an entertaining match with both teams playing good soccer and Inter salutes the Jets 92 Blue for a valiant effort! In the second match against the West Hartford Premier team from Connecticut, the weather took a turn for the worse, the clouds darkened, the wind picked up and was fiercely blowing across the field with light to moderate rain coming down from a passing storm but with no lightning or thunder. In the 1st half, both teams were only able to muster up two shots on goal, no corners and no goals scored which was pretty much due to the weather and tenacious defense. In the second half, both teams managed to shoot on goal only three times with 1 corner each, but neither team could finish/find the net, and the match ended in a 0-0 draw. Hats off to the Hartford Premier for giving Inter all it could handle in a tough, scoreless battle. For the 3rd match the next day on Sunday, Inter faced its old friends from NCSL/D1, Reston FC 91 (now playing in the VCCL). The weather was fabulous with bright sunny skies, mild wind and warm temps. As was the case in last year's PSA Final, it was a physcial match with Inter and RFC '91 playing well against each other, attacking and counter-attacking, moving the ball up and down the field with great passing. The talented and well-coached RFC '91 shot 5 times on goal with, created corners and 5 fouls while Inter managed 3 shots on goal, 1 corner, and 3 fouls -- but neither team was able to finish in the 1st half, ending in a 0-0 tie. Just 2 minutes into the 2nd half, RFC '91 sent a perfectly placed corner into the center of the goal mouth near the goal line where Nat jumped up and punched out the dangerously placed ball, but it unluckily bounced about 6 yards out to the foot of an RFC '91 player who struck in the only game-winning goal of the match. Except for the unlucky corner kick/goal, Inter effectively shut down RFC '91 for the remainder of the second half and allowed only 2 other shots on goal. Inter stepped up its attack and fired 4 strong shots on goal, but barely missed on all attempts. Congratulations to RFC '91 for a well-earned victory and another entertaining, hard-fought match between our two excellent teams! After the 3rd match, Inter was tied in points with the West Hartford Premier team, and a PK event was setup to determine who would move on to the Semi's against the winner of the other bracket, Cobb FC Chiefs Gold. Finally, after about 30 minutes of tracking down the PSA officials and coordinating the PK event, Inter and West Hartford squared off on a nearby field during half-time of another ongoing match. Inter was able to make just 3 of 5 PK's while the West Hartford Premier made 4 of 5 PK's to move on to the Semi-Final against the outstanding Cobb FC Chiefs Gold (the Premier eventually lost, 0-2).

22 May '05. It was another beautiful sunny day on Inter's first visit to the nice turf field at Lewinsville Park in McLean, VA, where it faced the always feisty MCLN Thunder. Although Inter totally controlled the match, it was unable to finish in the scoreless first half, shooting 5 times on goal with 1 corner and 2 fouls. Inter's solid defense stymied the Thunder from taking any shots on goal or CK opportunities -- and no fouls. Around the 26 minute mark, a Thunder player attempted a high kick on a bouncing ball but missed and caught Roque in the mouth -- and no foul called by the official. Roque's emotion got the better of him and he retaliated with a push to the offending player drawing a yellow card. Inter continued to control the flow of the match in the second half, creating 6 shots on goal and 5 corner kicks and with 7 fouls, a couple of which were offsides that the side official appeared to make from a misunderstanding of the rules as to where a player is when the ball is sent (clearly behind a defender) and where he is whent he ball is in the air (running past the defender onto the ball). Inter's strong defense continued to stymy the Thunder, allowing just a single shot on goal with 2 fouls. At about the 26 minute mark, Skylar crossed a great ball off of a CK into the goal mouth where Nat jumped up and perfectly timed a hard header into the net past the surprised keeper for Inter's first goal. Around the 30 minute mark, a Thunder player #11 was given a YC for holding an Inter player (Patrick?) on a run through the middle. Several minutes later, at about the 33 minute mark, Inter counter-attacked with Pablo passing a good ball into the middle to Skylar about 30 yards out where he dribbled towards the goal, turned and fired a strike around 18 yards out through a seam in the defense past the unsuspecting keeper into the net. End of match, 2-0, Inter.

21 May '05. On a splendid sunny day out at Muldoon's Farm on the lower field #1 which drained well after much rain the night before with the nice grass freshly cut/short, Inter faced its old friends, FCH Premier AC 91W (formerly Midtown Sharks). In the previous 4 matches of league play, Inter had been unable to notch a W (2L & 2T) against this very talented and physical team -- until today. In the first 4-5 minutes of play, both teams moved the ball well against the other, but Inter took control for the remainder of the 1st half, shooting 5 times on goal with 2 corners and 3 fouls, while the Premier could only manage 2 SOG's, 1 CK with 6 fouls. Inter's midfield play was very effective in distributing the ball well on the attacks and Inter's stingy defenders denied the Premier from penetrating and making easy shots for the most part. Nicky marked Torian like glue and limited this very skillful and hard-working/hard-shooting player from making any good runs and few solid shots on goal except for 1-2 that Nat saved. At about the 15 minute mark, Sam received a nice pass on the left side, dribbled up field and crossed a great ball into the goal mouth where Ebo settled, turned and fired in a left-footed shot past the surprised keeper. The Premier stepped up its furious attack in the second half, taking 9 SOG's and 5 CK's with 4 fouls -- but all went wide or high and Nat either beautfilly punched out or grabbled a couple of SOG's/CK's. It looked as if the Premier were going to punch in an equalizer goal sooner or later with so many SOG's/CK's opportunities, but Inter was able to stave off the assault and countered with 4 SOG's, but no corners and 6 fouls. At about the 30 minute mark, Skylar tackled a ball away from a Premier player about midfield and sent a nice pass upfield to Roque on the right about 15-20 yards right of goal, and as a defender came to challenge/tackle the ball from Roque, he crossed the ball through open space in the goal mouth and over to Ebo on the left corner of the goal mouth where he struck the ball past the GK into the left side of the net. Although the Premier kept attacking and sent a couple of hard shots on goal, Inter defenders and Nat stopped or cleared all balls from harm's way today against this excellent team from Virginia.