Bethesda Internationals

24 Oct. '04. Inter travelled to Nokesville, VA to play the tough MATT Crew on their nice field at Valley View park. It was a cloudy day with wet/slippery turf from previoius rain earlier in the morning. In the first half, both teams played equally well in attacking and counter-attacking, moving the ball up and down the field. Each team made 3 shots on goal with Inter taking two corners. MATT committed 9 fouls with just 1 off-sides, while Inter committed 7 fouls with 3 off-sides. One Crew player was awarded a yellow card for a push in the back of an Inter player dribbling the ball forward. At about the 18 minute mark, MATT Crew countered with an attack upfield towards Inter's left defense, and a nice pass was made to a MATT Crew player who fired in a hard shot to the far post past Nat who was covering the near post while awaiting for defender to arrive to help but it was too late due to defender being too far out of position in the middle. In the second half, MATT Crew out-hustled Inter and managed 4 SOG's and 1 CK to Inter's 2 SOG's and 3 CK's; and, the Crew committed 5 fouls with 1 off-sides while committed 6 fouls and 1 off-sides for Inter. The officiating was poor with several fouls not being called on MATT, particularly a very blatant trip on Mario near the sideline with the side official 3 feet away. Neither center nor side official made the right call and let play continue. At about the 20 minute mark, off of a CK setup, instead of sending the ball towards the net, MATT Crew passed to a closeby teammate who was unguarded/unchallenged by Inter defender, and dribbled to about 6 yards to the right of the goal and slammed a hard shot directly at Nat, who caught the ball while on the goal line, and as he was losing his balance backward (from what appeared to have been a brush by a MATT Crew player and no foul called) threw the ball out/away -- and after a delayed call by the official (as he decided that the ball was over the goal line when Nat was losing his balance backward) resulted in a goal for MATT Crew. Inter was able to launch a nice attack late in the second half at about the 30 minute from a nice cross by Sam to Ebo who sprinted past the MATT defense and sent in a clean strike to the left of MATT Crew's excellent GK -- who made several great saves off of Inter shots throughout the match. With about 5 minutes left, at about 20 yards out from Inter's goal, a foul was called on Skylar who barely brushed a MATT player while trying to tackle/clear a ball resulted in a DK, which a MATT Crew player peferectly placed over Inter's wall and bent in leftward into the net on the right post side past a diving Nat who was unable to reach/stop the ball in time. Congraulations to MATT Crew for playing a superb match against Inter and earned a well-deserved win!

21 Oct. '04. This year's BSC tournament has attracted some outstanding top D1-D2 teams form Region I, and is expected to be a highly competitive event for U13 boys. Inter has been placed in the Red group of the Potomac division along with Massapequa ISA Aces (NY-E) and Richmond Strikers Orange (VA). Black Blue MSC United (MD) Lower Merion SC Velez (PA-E) Reston FC 91 (VA) Freestate Titans (MD) Far Post SC U13 Boys (VT) Bethesda SC Ajax (MD) Green Red Montclair SC Maruaders (NJ) Massapequa ISA Aces (NY-E) FC Delc U13 Demons (PA-E) Inter Bethesda (MD) Ashburn SC Premier AC 91W (VA) Richmond Strikers Orange (VA)

17 Oct. '04. On a nice day but on a poor field near Lorton prison in Occoquan, Inter played a determined Team America 91 Red team who came ready to play. The first half found Inter moving the ball well on the TASC side of the field, shooting 5 times on goal and either missed wide, bounced off the sidebar or caught by their strong GK who would effectively punt the ball far down field to Inter's side. Inter's tight defense limited the TASC team to just 2 shots on goal, while each team managed just 1 CK each. The TASC team committed 9 fouls to Inter's 5, and the first half ended in a scoreless tie. In the second half, Inter stepped up its offense with 7 SOG's and 2 CK's. One yellow card was awarded to TASC player for fouling 'Ebo' and a yellow was given to Patrick for 'delay of game' for picking up the ball and dropping it away from play after a foul on Inter. The second half was foul-plagued with 10 going to TASC and 7 to Inter. After a DK from about 15 yards out to the right of TASC's goal, 'Ebo' placed a perfect header hard to the net but right into the hands of GK. Although Inter controlled the tempo of play, TASC launched several swift counter attacks, and at about the 30 minute mark, TASC countered with a hard ball sent towards the left of goal and it was ineffectively cleared out to the center of the goal mouth at about 18 yards where a TASC player struck the ball well towards the net and it was deflected out to the left to an unmarked open TASC player at about 10-12 yards who kicked it in wide left of Nat into the net for the winning goal. Hats off to TASC for a well-earned victory.

3 Oct. '04. A splendid, sun-filled day at the nice fields at the MD Soccer Plex found Inter matched up against the always hard-working MCLN Thunder. Inter controlled the tempo of the game and played on the Thunder's half of the field for most of both halves. At about the 5 minute mark of the first half, Patrick 'Ebo' tackled away the ball from a MCLN defender and sent in a hard shot into the net past the keeper from the right about 18 yards out. Inter out shot the Thunder 11 SOG's to 2, although the Thunder did manage to penetrate the left side of the defense late in the first half and sent a very hard shot towards the net, but Nat laid out to his right and made a great save by batting the ball harmlessly out and away from the net. The first half was plagued with 9 fouls committed by the Thunder to just 1 by Inter. In the second half, the Thunder stepped up its defensive pressure but Inter managed 4 SOG's to the Thunder's 2. Again, the Thunder played hard with 7 fouls committed to Inter's 2. One yellow card was awarded to Riley of the Thunder for pushing Nicholas out of bounds at about the 10 minute mark. At about the 29 minute mark, another attack was launched by Inter and Patrick 'Ebo' flicked a nice short ball up into the middle to Mati at about 20 yards, where he dribbled his way past the last Thunder defender and sent a strong, well placed high shot into the top right side of the net. Just before the game ended at about the 34 minute mark, what looked like an elbow to Patrick M. in the mouth was called on Patrick the other way, and a yellow card given to Patrick.

26 Sep. '04. Inter played the talented Potomac Fusion (ex-BAYS '93) on a superb field at the MD Soccer Plex. The Fusion is playing up an age group in U13/D1 this season. Inter faced the Fusion in the recent Washington Fall Classic, and clearly controlled the match, but lost in the final 30 seconds when a Fusion player struck a hard shot high over all players and into the upper 90 of the net. Today's match was relatively even in the first half with both teams possessing/moving the ball, and the Fusion took about 4 SOG's compared to Inter's 6 in the first half. Both sides committed 2 fouls each, and no goals were scored. Inter's strong defense stymied the Fusion in the 2nd half, limiting them to just 1 weak SOG compared to Inter's 7 SOGs. At about the 8 minute mark, Nicholas crossed a nice serve into Skylar at about 18 yars out to the right, whereby Skylar chested the ball up in the air and on its way down struck a perfectly placed shot high into the net past the keeper. Around the 14 minute mark, Nicholas found Patrick 'Ebo' on a run up the middle and placed the ball to Patrick's feet, whereby Patrick collected the ball and darted thru the defenders to place a hard shot into the net past the outstretched arms of the keeper. Several minutes later at about the 17 minute mark, this secnario was repeated, with Nicholas again passing to 'Ebo', who deftly dribbled past the defenders on the left and sent in a line drive which froze the keeper as it whizzed past him and into the back of the net.