04/19/2010

FC Sol Drops Home Opener to Sacramento Gold 4-2

FC Sol, with all the new additions, has a lot of work to do to catch up to last year's squad. Sacramento showed up with little more on their mind than taking down last year's national champions. Even though they are a new team, Sacramento has had more games than FC Sol, already finishing two games before Saturday's match. Sacramento's unity showed while FC Sol looked a little disjointed.

In the first fifteen minutes no team maintained control, each battling for the upper hand and the first goal. About twenty minutes in Sacramento netted its first goal. The winger found a streaking forward who had gotten free from his defender and slotted a simple shot under Juan Sosa's right side. The rest of the half it became apparent that Sacramento and FC Sol were at the same level of competition, though Sacramento seemed to know each other a little better. FC Sol missed easy passing opportunities time and again, having to recover quickly to disallow a counter-attack.

With ten minutes remaining in the first half center back Lee Summerscales, the backbone of the defense, went up for a header and was undercut by Sacramento's center forward, landing from a few feet up flat on his back. He rose to play out the rest of the half, keeping the scoreline at 1-0.

The second half saw a flurry of goals and some better—and worse—play. About ten minutes into the second half Lee Summerscales' injury caught up to him. “I could move forward alright, but I couldn't move backward at all. It took me too many steps to get going and I felt I would let the team down,” said Summerscales after the game. Lee decided he had to sub out to keep the team safe. Unfortunately, his playing was not his only part the team missed. His voice on the field and his ability to organize kept the backs playing as responsibly as possible.

Even with Summerscales out FC Sol managed a good fifteen to twenty minutes of soccer in which they moved the ball quickly, playing one and two touch soccer, passing and moving, and eventually giving Tyler Hurst the opportunity he needed to put one in the back of the net. His strike was a well hit ball, and the goal gave FC Sol the hope they needed to carry on playing good soccer. Another ten minutes later Hurst got a second go at goal, once again putting the ball firmly past Sacramento's goalkeeper, making the game 2-1 in favor of FC Sol.

The good soccer lasted another five minutes or so and FC Sol looked to be back in fine form. But FC Sol's inexperience playing together soon caught them. The defense started playing balls across the middle of the field that were easily intercepted by Sacramento's forwards. Juan Sosa, FC Sol's goalkeeper, was forced to make some brilliant saves to keep Sacramento from scoring. But they would not be denied for long. They got their equalizing goal just minutes later.

A few more chances like that led to yet another goal, putting Sacramento ahead 3-2. FC Sol, not disheartened, pushed hard for their own equalizer and had a few close chances, but with so much energy focused on pushing up, the defense lay less guarded, and Sacramento capitalized once again. The final score rested at 4-2 from a sloppy game. That said, there were moments of true brilliance which, once FC Sol gets some more experience under their belt, will make for some beautiful soccer.

FC Sol's next game is Saturday, 4/24/2010, 4pm @ Yerba Buena High School in San Jose. The next home game is against Bay Area Ambassadors on May 1st, 7pm, at Santa Rosa High School. FC Sol looks to turn its record around and show what Sonoma County soccer is all about!

Article by

Lee Sandwina

04.19.2010 | Men’s Soccer

Part 1

Part 2