Bethesda Internationals

19-20 Mar. '05. In the 1st game of the tournament, Inter once again faced the excellent Richmond Strikers Orange team from the VCCL early in the morning. The Orange have become Inter's tournament arch rival lately, with the Orange edging out Inter on tie-breaker rule in the BSC Thanksgiving 2003 to advance to the Final, and Inter edging out the Orange on tie-breaker rule in the BSC Thanksgiving 2004 to advance to the Semi's. For about 5 minutes after kickoff, Inter was sluggish and the Orange controlled the tempo, possessing the ball and moving well on Inter's side of the field but unable to make any serious scoring threat on goal. Inter then became more energized, tightened up its defense and totally controlled the tempo for most of the game until close to the end of the match. The 1st half ended in a scoreless tie, with only 2 strong shots on goal taken by Inter and 3 corner kicks with 1 foul. The Orange managed 3 weak shots on goal and no CK's with 4 fouls. Inter stepped up its attack in the 2nd half, launching 6 SOG's and 2 CK's with 2 fouls, while the Orange managed just 1 SOG, albeit a game winning goal. With about 3 minutes to go, the Orange countered an Inter SOG by sending a long ball over Inter defenders (who were out of position due to an assignment mix-up) and into the goal mouth where an Orange player tapped it in past Nat after a previous SOG by another Orange player was deflected out, and the match ended 1-0 in favor of the Orange. The Orange would edge out Inter on a tie-breaker rule and advance to the Final. In the 2nd match, Inter faced the ASC Cyclones of NCSL/D2 who earlier prevailed over the Team America Red, 1-0. Inter was in top game form and totally controlled the flow of the match from start to end. At about the 3 minute mark, Sam passed a nice ball from the left to Roque in the goal mouth where he struck a hard shot to the net. Later, at about the 8 minute mark, Roque crossed a ball from the right into the goal mouth where Skylar chipped the ball over the GK into the net. Inter attempted 6 SOG's while the Cyclones managed just 2 SOG's. Each team committed 4 fouls and no CK's. In the 2nd half, the Cyclones played more aggressivley, committing 5 fouls to Inter's single foul, and managed no SOG's due to Inter's staunch defense. Inter sent 7 SOG's and created 4 CK's, and around the 20 minute mark, Nat collected a pass upfield and made a nice run to goal on the right. At about 10 yars to the right of goal, Nat made a teriffic right-angled pass into the front of the goal mouth to Mario who deftly dribbled between the defenders and fired in the 3rd goal past the GK. The match ended, 3-0, in favor of Inter. The 3rd match pitted Inter against the physical TASC Premier Red 91 team, whom Inter battled to a 0-1 loss last fall 2004 season when the Premier Red team ascended to D1. Although still very physical, this time the Premier Red team looked to be a different team from last fall, as they were uneffective in moving the ball against Inter with any consistency as Inter controlled most of the match from start to finish. In the 1st half, at about the 3 minute mark, Patrick 'Ebo' collected a pass upfield and made a run towards goal, and at about 25 yards out sent a pass into the goal mouth to Roque on the right about 15 yards out, and Roque sent in the 1st goal for Inter. The Premier Red team managed just 1 SOG (DK) and no CK's, and committed 5 fouls, while Inter created 5 SOG's and 1 CK with 3 fouls. In the 2nd half, both teams were very physical and the Premier Red committed 3 fouls with 2 yellows, and managed just 2 SOG's (1 DK), while Inter had 5 fouls and created 4 SOG's (1 DK). At about mid-way through the 2nd half after a hard foul, Skylar sent a nicely lofted ball high into the back of the net from about 22+ yards out to the right for the 2nd goal. And, with about 4 minutes left to play, Skylar sent a wonderful pass through the Premier defenders to a streaking Nat, who gathered the ball in front of the goal and finessed the ball into the net past the GK for the 3rd goal.

13 Mar. '04. After cancelation of the much-anticipated Baltimore March Madness tournament this weekend due to forecast of more snowfall and poor field conditions (which never really materialized), Inter and U12-D1/Bethesda Arsenal filled the void with a friendly scrimmage at the Page ES in Silver Spring. The Arsenal are a well-coached team with talented and quick players who played solidly against Inter but the Inter players were mostly bigger and moved more aggessively to the ball, ending 3-0 in favor of Inter. Inter looked in great shape/conditioning as fatigue seemed not to be a factor, mainly attributed to the Winter Skills training which ended last weekend. Many thanks to the Arsenal for setting up the scrimmage and good luck in the upcoming spring 2005 season!

07 Mar. '05. MSC March Madness 2005 schedules have been released and Inter will face some familiar teams it has played in NCSL and past tournaments (RSK Orange): Green Group: SAT., 3/19: 8:30AM, vs. Richmond Strikers Orange Centerway #2 SAT., 3/19: 12:30PM, vs. ASC Cyclones MD SoccerPlex #6 SUN., 3/20: 11:10AM, vs. Team America 91 Red MD SoccerPlex #15 SUN., 3/20: 3:10PM, 1st Green vs. 1st White MD SoccerPlex #$9 White Group: McLean MPS Thunder FCH Premier AC 91W BETH Ajax ABGC Red Devils

07 Mar. '05. The tournament has been canceled due to poor field conditions and expected precipitation later in the week.

28 Feb. '05. The Challenge Division schedule as follows: Sat., 3/12, 8:00AM vs. Concord Clash (DE) Sat., 3/12, 10:30AM vs. Bruno United FC (RI) Sun., 3/13, 8:00AM (1st #3 vs. 1st #4) -or- 2:15PM (2nd #3 vs. 2nd #4) -or- 2:15PM (3rd #3 vs. 3rd #4)