When asking
Boyce Bulldog, #9 Jesse Ray what he thought about the new field he said,
“Everyone is really
excited to play here. It’s a new place,
a new field, we're pumped.”
Speed gave the Bulldogs the ability to get down the field
and shoot the ball, but they kept coming up short. At the 19 minute mark, Boyce College had 6
shots on goal, but had allowed 3 shots on their own Goal-Keeper, Chad Hunter,
who was able to keep the game scoreless on his side of the field.
For the next 4 minutes, Crown College would press the
Bulldogs, allowing Chad Hunter to come away with more saves.
It wasn’t until the 23 minute mark that
Bulldogs mid-fielder, #9 Jesse Ray would steal the ball from a Crown player,
and send it down field to #10 Jorge Saucedo, who got the ball past three
defenders and over to #12 Bryce Bishop, who kicked the ball past Crown
Goal-Keeper, #1 Danie Manson for the first goal of the contest. Crown College had at least two, if not three
players on #10 Jorge Saucedo at all times, thus leaving someone open if the
Crown mid-fielders and defenders didn’t communicate properly. That player was Bryce Bishop, and Bryce made
Crown pay.
Only 5 minutes later, and the Bulldogs found themselves in
scoring position again. The Bulldogs had
been awarded a corner kick, and #3 Dalton Zebrak took the kick. Dalton sent the ball perfectly to the far
post, right at the top of the box, and that’s where #10 Jorge Saucedo headed
the ball past four Crown defenders and the Goal-Keeper to make the score 2-0
Bulldogs.
That remained the score at the half, however Boyce College
was now completely in control with a 2 goal lead, and 13 shots taken in just
the first half compared to Crowns 4.
At the 45 minute mark you could feel the excitement in the
stadium as Boyce College took the field to resume play. Substitutions had been made, and the Bulldogs
were focusing more on passing the ball short distances rather than longer
distances and shooting the ball. Bulldogs
Coach Ward said,
“We were just trying
to pass more to spread things out. They
had two, three or even four guys on Jorge at a time, so we were just trying to
get more guys open and move things around.”
#2 Hanyu Wang lead
the Bulldog defenders as Crown had many opportunities with the ball on the
Bulldogs side of the field in the beginning of the second half, but were unable
to get the ball inside for a clean shot.
Goal-Keeper, Chad Hunter kept yelling, “No Shot! No Shot!” and his
defenders were responding greatly.
At the 53 minute mark, Crown looked as though it was gaining
the momentum it would need to score a goal, but the referee stopped play due to
the Bulldogs Goal-Keeper, Chad Hunter, not wearing shin guards. Play was stopped, Chad put on shin guards and
was given a yellow card. This killed the Crown momentum as the Bulldogs regrouped.
Balanced play was played by both teams for the larger
portion of the second half. The winds
increased from a slight breeze to 15-20 mph winds. This caused shots that normally would have
been on target to completely miss the goal on both sides of the field. Players abilities to curve the ball and place
it where they desired was no longer an option for many forwards on the
field. However, a free kick from just
outside the box taken by Crowns #14 Calvin Perkins, was nicely curved around
the wall of Bulldog defenders, but was unable to get past Goal-Keeper Chad
Hunter.
With a 2-0 lead, 17 shots offensively, and 5 saves by Chad
Hunter, Chad exited the field at the 71 minute mark and was replaced by #0
Chris Bailes. This is where the controversy
started. Not with Chris being on the
field or Chad coming off, but what would take place next. #10 Jorge Saucedo would score at the 73
minute mark to make the score 3-0. Crown
would then march the ball down the field, and Chris made a couple of quick
saves for the Bulldogs as Crown took advantage of a new Goal-Keeper in the box.
Then, #4 Josh Clay would be awarded a free kick for Crown from just outside the
box, between the box and the corner. Josh sent the ball in towards Boyce College Goal-Keeper, Chris, where
Chris would deflect the shot, and save the ball. However, (as seen below) Chris’ foot steps
out of bounds, but the ball remains in play.
The referee called the ball out, awarding Crown a corner kick. The kick was deflected by #0 Chris, but Crown
Captain, #5 Matt Cole would find the ball off the deflection, and place it in
the back of the net for a 3-1 game.
When asking Chris about what happened, he replied,
“They never should
have been put into that position to score the goal. That goal never should have happened, but it
got through my hands off the kick and they scored.”
When asking Coach Ward about the goal he said,
“I didn’t see close
enough to see if any controversy was necessary. I didn’t question it because I
couldn’t see it clearly. I trusted the
call.”
Time would then run out on Crown College, and their 9 shots
on goal would not be enough to gain any ground on the Bulldogs.
The Bulldogs have now outscored their
opponents 65-62 on the season and improved to 6-7 overall. Boyce College will face Crown College in a
rematch at Crown on Friday, October 14th at 4pm.
Want more photos from the game? Check them out below:
