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Perin Cup – Round 1 - Valentine's Day

Posted by Michael Clark on Feb 17 2010 at 03:22PM PST in October 2009 to March 2010

Pelicans FC Match Report –

Before getting into the actual match, I must introduce myself. My name is Michael Clark. I do a little writing on the side for Team Pages. I was asked to substitute for Screaming Pelicans main beat writer, Josh Abebe, whose pregnant wife has requested he spend less time on his computer and more time focusing his attention on her. She finally put her foot down Sunday evening when they missed their Valentine’s Day dinner reservation because our beloved Josh was too focused on updating his virtual Farmville property on Facebook that he lost track of time. Needless to say, Amanda ended up eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich by herself and therefore Josh is banned from the computer for a few weeks.

Moving on to Sunday’s Game. Due to inclement weather, the location was moved to a turf field at Riverwood High School. Even though there still was a little snow on the field, it was in good condition and was ready to finally fit in the Screaming Pelicans’ first Perin Cup game of the year. This wasn’t your regular ADASL game, it was the final Round 1 Perin Cup game. All the other teams had already played their Round 1 games except these two, and some teams had already played into Round 2 of the Perin Cup. But to get to Round 2, you have to win Round 1. That’s right, this is the annual winner move on tournament that occurs in the middle of the ADASL season.

The Pelicans came out looking good while sporting their new Slalom Consulting sponsored Black long sleeve jerseys. The enemy wore Red and only about half of the members of Stars SC team displayed a sponsor on their jerseys. Still a little rusty from the layoff due to game cancellations (this was only game 4 in 69 days), Screamin’ started off slow. Stars SC took control of the ball right out of the gate, putting Screamin’ on their heels. They had a few good looks at the goal, which was defended by Steve “I’m not only the manager, but I’m also a player” Cantonis. Steve and the defense were able to hold off this 6.5-minute barrage and the Pelicans settled down and prepared for a fight. In realizing that they needed to control the middle part of the field, Screamin’ started their offense through the aforementioned Josh Abebe and Diapa Sanogo in the center midfield. Diapa used his electric foot skills to keep the ball away from multiple Stars SC players at once. It was fun to watch from the sidelines.

Because it was Valentine’s Day and most of the members of Pelicans FC are lovers, not just soccer players, they only had 1 sub. Stars SC, leading Division 2 (I believe that’s what the Screaming Goalie said before the game) in their ADASL league, had about 5 subs, so the Pelicans were outnumbered. Just to have enough players, The Pelicans pulled up David Weber and Michael Clark (that’s me) from the Division 3 team. Clark was coming off a bad foot injury and hadn’t seen action in a game since November. Clark actually subbed in for Weber about 30 minutes into the game. Alex moved back to defense so Clark could play up top with Corey Morgan. The first half was filled with 2 heavyweights exchanging blows, but unable to knock the other down.

At the half time score of 0-0, possession was almost even and it was still anyone’s game. Stars SC realized they needed to put more pressure on the Pelicans’ midfield, which included shutting down the powerful presence of Ricky Wells and Brian Holloway on the outside halves.

The first 2 minutes of the 2nd half saw both teams with great chances at a free kick just outside the 18. Though both opportunities were great, each team couldn’t take advantage. At one point, one of the Pelican midfielders hit a through ball to Alex up top, who got behind the defense but was knocked off his feet by the Stars SC goal keeper. No foul was called but Alex was a little shaken up. Stars SC took the lead 1-0 less than 10 minutes into the 2nd half with some great passing. The Pelicans not wanting this to get away from them, made some moves by subbing Corey back in on top giving Michael Clark a much-needed rest. That guy just doesn’t have the endurance he used to. Plus he had some weird facial hair going that I think was slowing him down.

The Pelicans had a few more runs, but it just wasn’t enough. Stars SC was good on the counter attack and they scored 2 more goals before it was over. One was a lob over the reaching hands of goalie Steve Cantonis, into the back of the net. There wasn’t much the defense could do about the counters. It was a ‘lose and go home’ game, so when the Pelicans got down, they started pushing people up to get an equalizer and they got caught a few times with nobody home on defense.

All in all, it was a good game against a great opponent. The Refs did their job and didn’t have much of an impact. It was cold, but a beautiful day for soccer.

- Pelicans FC Match Report Details -

STARTING SIDE: A. Zhelyazkov, B. Holloway, B. Boggs, C. Morgan, D. Sanogo, D. Johnson, G. Tucker, J. Abebe, R. Wells, S. Cantonis, D. Weber

SUBSTITUTE: M. Clark


MATCH: Screaming Pelicans FC vs. Stars SC
DATE: February 14, 2010 (Valentine’s Day)
TIME: 1pm ET
COMPETITION: Perin Cup – Round 1

VENUE: Riverwood High School (last minute change due to weather conditions)
ATTENDANCE: 1 (John G. Clark, aka Pelican Soccer’s #1 fan)
WEATHER: Cold and Wet

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