First Team
The Kickers first team got back on track on Sunday with 2-0 win against a decent NYPD squad. Kickers got off to a good start, controlling the ball and having several shots that were unfortunately shot directly at their shaky keeper. Despite these opportunities, NYPD started to take hold of the ball late in the half and had a a couple shots on goal; but nothing Ryan wasn’t able handle. Additional, our back four stood their ground and worked very well together; welcome to Kyle Robinson, who played a great 1st game with the club. Second half saw Gonzalo T play up top while Brian M would drop into the Middle with Diego R and James Z; these three players in the middle were starting to make the difference offensively and were also working well defensively. It was in 65th minuted that a well worked ball from the back through the middle found Brian M on left side of 18 where he took a step over and got the space to take a left footed shot and place it on opposite post; it was a clinical finish. Meanwhile NYPD continued to push and once again they were caught on the break several times, most noticeably Senan took the ball from right flank, cutting into the middle and taking a point blank shot from 12 yards out; keeper made a strong save that kept NYPD alive. It was in the 80th minute that Gonzalo’s corner kick ended with the goalie punching the ball into his own net and giving Kickers their 4th shut out this season. With this win kickers jump to third place and will play Williamsburg FC next week; always a complicated team.
Second Team
The reserves snuck away with a cheeky victory after being ahead for a grand total of five minutes. Faced with a team that knocked the Kickers out of playoffs last year, the team came out nervous and not firing on all cylinders, giving away possession in dangerous positions. One such opportunity was bound to lead to a goal, and indeed it did... a wayward pass from the goalie was controlled by NYPD and the second touch was a well executed chip over the keeper. It was the kick in the ass that the Kickers needed, and the quality went up immediately afterwards. A long ball to Almir Hot's head was flicked on to Jared Lichtarge who made no mistakes, hitting the ball low and across the keeper into the far corner. It was not the typical style of the Kickers play, but as is said, they all count the same. In the second half, the Kickers were pressuring high and forcing turnovers. The pressure was on NYPD but an unfortunate gaffe by the Kickers goalie from a set piece from 40 yards away brought back an NYPD lead despite there being zero shots on target. Showing grit and cajones, the Kickers battled back, first scoring off of a short corner bouncing around the box before a Danny Challita cross was pounded in by Dennis Kachintsev. The final goal came off of another corner, where some mischievous NYPD antics lead to the referee pointing to the spot for a foul on Jared Hirschowitz. The ever reliable Almir scored and the Kickers held on for the win in the last five minutes.
Over-30 Premier
Playing through a chilly, steady rain at Bush Terminal Park in Brooklyn, the Kickers fielded a full squad and took care of business, by dismissing the NY Irish 4-nil, moving into 4th place (a playoff spot), just ahead of next weeks opponent Megas Alexandros. Mark Bau had a great day today running the wing and in the 24th minute played some give and go with Ardian Hasko (MVP), Ardian found space just inside the penalty area to slot the shot around the keeper and into the back of the net. A few minutes later, Mark found a sprinting Nick Bill, who outpaced the opposition and chipped the shot over the advancing Irish keeper to make it 2-nil. Just before half-time, Neri Amaducci found Ardian near the penalty spot, with plenty of space to smash a shot just under the cross bar for the 3-0 lead heading into the break. Dimitar arrived at half-time, just as Chris Doyle's calf started to give way. In the 60th minute, Dimitar redirected the pass from Nick Bill into the corner for the 4th goal of the match. A few minutes later, Dimitar had a chance to add to the lead with a rocket of a shot but it was straight at the keeper. Aaron, Chris, and Ardian controlled the tempo in the midfield as the Irish allowed for plenty of space on the pitch to move the ball. Abdi, Mike Zoborski, Neri, Evan and Alex Petrovic formed a solid defense and kept the Irish at distance. Mike Michelini had a relatively easy day in goal having to deal with 2-3 shots on frame to keep a clean sheet.
Over-40 Legends
After winning the first five games against middle-to-bottom table opponents, Legends received a good wake-up call, falling short in its first contest against a top 5 team. With the largest turn out yet with 4 subs, not being used to the frequency of subs may have contributed to loss of focus.
Legends started off well enough, and kept Americas in their half for most of the first 20 minutes. Around the 30 minute, a corner kick cleared to Jesse was thumped straight back at goal, and skillfully guided in by Scott. Having conceded the lead, Americas took a much more aggressive attacking approach, and the roles were reversed for the rest of the half, with Tim and the Legends defense holding well against the onslaught. Specific instructions at half time to not dive in, because the America players were skillful dribblers, and to ‘follow the man’ were poorly adhered to, and on a give and go by the Americas two strikers, one was given a free romp into the area to beat Tim. Legends did pile on the pressure for an equalizer, but were relying too much on deep long balls, though one did find Joe beating the offside trap to lob one perfectly into the net, but the referee erroneously called it back. Oh for VAR!
Around the 30th minute, America took the lead when their quick striker got to a shot rebounding off Tim before any Legends defender. Legends pressed, but a last minute salvation was not to be. MVP – Jesse Vozick