22 Sep Matches

Harvard vs. Brown:
History was made on Saturday night as the Crimson hosted their first night game in the Stadium’s long and fabled history as they kicked off the Ivy season with a thrilling 24-17 win over Brown. It was a mixed bag, as the offenses had the better going of it in the first half while Harvard’s defense really cracked down in the second.

The Crimson took the opening kickoff and marched down the field on eight plays and scored on O’Hagan’s 21-yard strike to Mazza. Brown came right back to tie the score at seven on Daugherty’ 63-yard bomb to Paul Raymond.

The teams traded touchdowns in the second. O’Hagan found Matt Luft in the end zone to put the Crimson ahead then Daugherty led the Bears back upfield, connecting with Buddy Farnham on a six-yard score to knot things at 14. Brown briefly went ahead on a Steve Morgan field goal from 32-yards out.

Andrew Berry (who had a nice essay on the tradition of Harvard Athletics published in the NYT) took the ensuing kickoff 40 yards as time was winding down in the first half. On the first play, O’Hagan hooked up with Corey Mazza on a 41-yard pass to the Brown 5. Cheng Ho carried to the one and on the next play, O’Hagan sneaked in to put the Crimson ahead for good.

In the third quarter, O’Hagan was injured and Chris Pizzotti came on. Darre Harrison intercepted him on his first attempt and Brown set up shop at midfield, but the Bears failed to capitalize and punted away. The third quarter ended after an exchange of possessions and the Crimson started out the final quarter by punting the ball away. Daugherty took Brown from their own 35 to Harvard’s 26. On third-and-sixteen, Daugherty’s pass was picked by Steve Williams. After picking up a first down, the Crimson failed to advance any further. Pizzotti fumbled at Harvard’s 27, and the Bears were back in business. After three incompletions, Steve Morgan’s 41-yard field goal try went wide left and the Crimson lead held.

Harvard regained possession, and Pizzotti engineered the drive of the game, going from their own 24 to Brown’s 6. He completed four first down passes in the process and Patrick Long capped things off with a 23-yard field goal. Brown got the ball back with 3:00 remaining.

Daugherty moved the ball to the 36, before his pass was intercepted by Steve Williams. In what seemed an eerie reminder of last week’s loss, the Crimson failed to move the ball and allowed Daugherty one final crack at the end zone. Starting from his own 7, Daugherty’s pass on first down was intercepted by Derrick Barker at Brown’s 12. the Crimson ran off three plays and came away with the win.


Wrexham & Piacenza:

Roscoe had a tough go on Saturday with his European squads, as both went down to defeat. Once more, Wrexham Dragons fell, this time 2 – 1 against Stockport at Edgeley Park. Marc Williams put the Dragons on top with a goal in the 26th. Three minutes later, Stockport’s striker Anthony Elding knotted the match at one and the sides went in level at half-time.

In the second half, it was the same old story for Wrexham, as Stockport’s midfielder Dominic Blizzard struck in the 65th, and that was the match. There are some serious problems in Wrexham at present as the team has fallen to 1-5-0, in 24th place in League Two. It is hard to believe that a team that spent three years in League One this decade has fallen so far so fast. And it is not as if the Wrexham’s of the world can open their checkbooks during the transfer window. It doesn’t appear that the higher leagues are buying many League Two players either. This is pretty much the squad that’s going to be on the pitch this year. The players need to find a way of getting the job done.

To make things more difficult, the lads enter a tough stretch starting next weekend playing three matches in six days. They’re home at the Racecourse Ground on Saturday against Lincoln City (2-5-0), then on Tuesday against third-place Chesterfield (4-1-2) before hitting the road on Friday the 6th at Lincoln City (2-5-0). There’s no reason why the squad can’t come out of these matches with a few points.

Things did not go so well for Piacenza, as biancorossi were defeated by Treviso 1-nil at Omobono Tenni in the 5° giornata of Serie B play. The lone goal was credited to Barreto in the 80th. According to reports (Roscoe’s Italian conversational skills are not quite proficient and Babel Fish is not that great of a help), the coaching staff shook things up in the midfield, as a result of injuries and poor performance. Padalino and Abbate also went out during the course of the match. It appears that the squad played with energy and moved the ball decently until they got to within close range, where reports indicate that they really did not threaten. The 1-0 final was deceptive as Piacenza’s goalie Cassano made a couple of terrific stops.
As the team’s website indicated, there isn’t much time for the squad to wallow in pity as they’re back to work at Garilli on Tuesday to face Lecce, followed by another home match with Spezia next Saturday.

Revolution at Red Bull New York:

Revs (13-6-6, 45 Pts.) went down to the Meadowlands in a critical matchup with Red Bull New York (11-10-4, 37 Pts.). Red Bull came out flying from the opening kick, with two chances on New England’s goal in the first 90 seconds. Juan Pablo Angel is Red Bull’s big gun with 15 goals (second only to DCU’s Emilio). Revs finally had their first chance in the 11th, as both sides are set up plays using long passes.
Angel was carded in the 18th for kicking Avery John try to block a pass, a minute later, Khano Smith pushed Dane Richards streaking down the right flank, setting up Reyna’s corner that never made it to the box.

In the 22nd Twellman put Revs on the board when he headed Ralston’s loop pass penalty kick from 25 yards to the left directly into the net. It was perfectly timed, just a beauty. It was Twellman’s 13th goal of the season. Richards had another chance in the 30th, as he is blowing past Khano as if he were a telephone pole. In the 32nd, Larentowicz had a golden opportunity on a nice touch pass from Ralston, but his kick went wide left. In the 34th, Reis made a great stop on a blistering shot from Kovalenko charging up the middle. On the ensuing corner, the ball got past Reis, but Parkhurst was able to kick the ball out of danger…but not for long. In the 37th, Francis Doe tied the score on a beautiful pass from Richards (whose speed on right wing has been the story of the match). Moments later, Dorman and Vide cracked heads and both hit the turf hard. Noonan had a great chance on a throw-in in the 44th, but his kick went just wide left. Doe thought that he has his second on a breakaway in the 45th, but was ruled offside. Half-time arrived not a moment too soon for New England.

In the 53rd, Richards made a nice pass to Angel, whose header went about a foot high. Twellman had a chance in the 54th on a two-on-one, but his kick lacked any steam. Doe later had another golden chance but Reis knocked his screaming line drive away.

In the 70th, Khano Smith took possession on the left flank, flip-passed it to Twellman streaking toward the goal and Twellman right-footed it off the left post and into the net. Altidore and Mathis entered in the 72nd for New York, and James Riley came on for Dorman moments later. Altidore is one of the brightest young stars in MLS who really distinguished himself at the U-20 World Cup over the summer. One can only wonder when he will follow Adu and grab the jackpot in Europe.

In the 77th, Cristman broke toward the New York goal and Stammler took
his legs out at the last moment…a typical New York call by the referee.
In the 79th, Parke’s header hit the turf, bounced up and struck the crossbar.

Richards creates so much with his speed. He took possession deep in his end, made it past two defenders passed to Doe on the right flank whose kick went wide, and the lead held. But not for long...in the 84th, Angel (floating about unchecked) took a header at midfield, waltzed in and tucked it low right to tie the match. The way that the Revs were playing since taking the lead, it was just a matter of time.

As the match entered stoppage-time, Twellman went out with a back or leg injury of some sort that most definitely bears watching. After a pretty uneventful four minutes, the match ended a draw, and New England was exceedingly fortunate to come away with a point.