CESA 92 Premier vs Hicksville Strikers
CESA faced a well known team and club from Long Island this morning on a damp field set in the scenic rolling hills edge of a National Forest in MA about an hour south of Boston. An absolutely beautiful area! The play was physical and fast paced from the start with the ball on the ground by both teams.
CESA generated 5-8 corner opportunities during the first half alone vs zero by the Strikers but were unable to convert. The same can be said for the flip throw-ins by Burkholder who put the ball right in the box only to come away empty handed.
As noted by Import the first two goals of the game came form the Strikers as they countered on the attacking CESA players very effectively. One of their three goals came form a 20-25 yard strike from the middle.
Parker Wolfinger slotted a ball to an attacking Lunceford who scored during the first half by beating two players on the dribble before striking the ball through the legs of the closing keeper from about 10 yards out on the left side of the box.
Strikers countered soon afterwards with a floater into the top of the goal near the back post.
Halftime: 3-1
During the second half CESA came out again attacking and combining well. Lunceford slipped a ball through to Garbonzo who drew a foul in the box, which he placed into the top right of the net making the score 3-2 on the earned PK.
The Strikers continued to step up their play cutting throw-in and corner kick opportunities in half for CESA. The physical play escalated with the Strikers demonstrating an effective ability to tackle the player/ball simultaneously
resulting in what I perceived to be a slight increase in turnovers.
Garbonzo was taken down from behind as he attacked up the middle just outside of the 18 and was issued his first ever red card for his retaliation on the tackle. During the remaining 20 minutes or so CESA maintained their composure with 10 men and generated some very nice chances while also giving up two more goals.
Looking forward to the 7:30 am re-match with NTX tomorrow.
Wishing them the best!
Final Today: 5-2
