DEA Bedford Over 30

Jeff Guilds would register the Pacers first hat trick of the season, leading Bedford to a 7-1 punishment of Andover Green. It was very cold and rainy and miserable on Shawsheen Field yesterday morning. Perfect soccer weather. The Pacers showed up with numbers to play in their bid for the number one spot in 3N division. Play would begin back and forth with Andover getting a couple of early chances. Net Keeper, Chris Cloutier would shut them down in a hurry and would continue to put on a show for the Pacer fans throughout the match. Chris would come withing 15 seconds of his 3rd shut out of the season and pick up an assist on one of Jeff Guilds goals. The game would remain scoreless for the first ten minutes of play until the Pacers were awarded a PK on a handball in the area. Jeff Bailey, fresh off his Caribbean "training" session would score the PK to put the Pacers up for good. Shortly after, Scott Sharby would score his first of two on the day. Scott would take a waist high feed from Jeff Bailey and one time it into the net. Sean Kelly kept the play alive with a nice header to Jeff. Bedford was on a roll. Jeff Guild would settle a clear from Chris Cloutier and beat one defender then flick it neatly over the keepers head for the Pacers 3rd goal. Scott Sharby would come back with his second goal, off a flick from Jeff Guild. Scott would beat a defender and the keeper and the ball would roll into the net. The half would end at 4-0 for the Pacers. After a 30 second half time break, play would resume and so would the Pacers scoring. New comer, Colm Saunders, would take the ball at midfield and feed it across to Jeff Guilds, who finished his second goal. Jeff would complete his hat trick taking a pass from Rob Easton and breaking toward the net. The defenders were pulled over to cover the two other breaking Pacers, which left a shot open for Jeff. He would beat the keeper up high for the trick. These write ups get long when we score so many goals. Dave Sayward would get into the scoring frenzy, when he would head a Jeff Bailey corner kick passed the screened keeper. Brian Germaine's movement off the ball pulled the defense allowing Dave Saward to make the overlap on the corner kick. It was 7-0 with about ten minutes to play and every one was freezing. Bedford decided to pack it in for the remainder with the penalty killing squad. Chris Cloutier would make some great saves during this stretch. Andover was determined not to be shut out and would sneak one passed the defense and score their only goal. 15 seconds later the game would end. Bedford goes on a two game home stand now. Next Sunday they take on Danvers Internationals for a battle for first place. Game time is at 9:00 AM at Legacy. GOOD WIN.

Like the Sox, the Pacers are perfect on the road this season. Yesterdays pasting of Billerica, 4-0, gave the Pacers their second shutout in as many games on the road. The win puts the Pacers in second place, just behind Danvers,who have only played the three last place teams. The game started out slow and cautious as Bedford would try and get used to the short field at Ackerson Park. The Pacers played solid defense and were not going to let the Rovers score first. We all remember the humiliating loss the Pacers suffered two seasons ago on this same field. Play would be back and forth throughout the first half, although the Pacers were definately in control of the play. Through 45 minutes there was no score and the Pacers would regroup for a second half siege. Early on in the second half Jeff Guild would find himself on a break away. As he turned to shoot he would be taken down inside the box and the Pacers would be awarded a PK. The Pacers looked around nervously to see who would take the kick. All remembering the two missed PK's at the Lowell outing. Brother John Guild (Jeff's brother not the churches) would step up to the stripe and hammer on into the upper right corner. With the 1-0 lead, the Pacers would turn up the offensive heat. Scott Sharby would get on the board next for the Pacers, taking a Bertie O'Gorman pass and depositing it into back netting. Bedford was totally in control now. Movement off of the ball was key to spreading the Rovers out. Bertie O'Gorman would show some of his speed off, as he would beat a defender and the keeper. John Guild would be credited with the assist. Play would get a little chippy and Louie would get a yellow(bad boy). Mild mannered, Rob Easton would provide strength up the middle. He would have some words with a Rover but would not get any cards today. The Pacer defense would protect their keeper, Chris Cloutier, and he would only be tested once during the game. Chris made an awesome save, diving to his left and protecting his second shut out. Jeff Guild would provide the final nail as he took a pass from Brother John to finish the scoring and the game at 4-0. GOOD ROAD WIN. The Pacers remain on the road for next weeks game. They will travel to Lower Shawsheen Field in Andover, MA to take on the Andover Green team. The game is slated to start at 10:30 AM so the team will be meeting at the EXIT 3 park and ride at 9:30 AM.

The Bedford Pacers did battle with the PAC Lowell team yesterday morning at Legacy Field to a 3-3 result. There were five penalty kicks awarded in the match, which indicated the physical play that abounded. Lowell would get on the board first by way of a penalty kick early on. Leo Charron would slide tackle one of the Lowell whiners, who was on a break away. The referee would award a surprisingly early yellow card to Leo and a penalty kick to put Lowell up 1-0. Jeff Bailey would answer within minutes of this goal, with a tally of his own. Jeff would take a feed from Marco and tip it over the keppers head to tie the score. Play was very physical with Bedford controlling the midfield and pressuring Lowell. Rob Easton, playing strong up the middle, would show us how to run through a guy to win the ball. The ref wasn't impressed and awarded Rob a yellow. On the offensive side, Jeff Guild would be taken down inside the box to award Lowell a yellow and Bedford a penalty kick. Marco Koolman would bury the ball in the net to put the good guys up by one at the half. Lowell would come out strong in the second half to try and even the score, but the Pacer defense and Chris Cloutier's goal tending would shut PAC down. Play was back and forth with a few wacks here and there and Lowell players throwing themselves on the turf. This seems to be something they never grew out of from childhood. Lowell would come back and score a goal on a nice crossing run and header, off a corner kick to tie the score at two apiece. Bedford would turn the game around and start to pressure. Scott Sharby would take the ball down the left side and find Jeff Bailey open inside the box. Jeff would take Scott's fine cross and one time it for Bedford's 3 Goal. Bedford had a chance to go up by two goals as they were awarded a second penalty kick but the ball would miss high. Lowell would come back the only way they know how. The "miracle boy" would throw himself down in the box as Chris would barely touch him after being taunted. The ref would change his call from taunting to acting. Yellow cards were awarded to Chris and miracle boy. The proper call should have been an indirect kick for Bedford for the taunting call, but instead was awarded a penalty kick for Lowell. Lowell would score to tie the game at 3. Bedford was not done. On a quick counter attack Bedford would catch Lowell asleep. The defender decided to jump onto and hold the ball inside the box. Bedford was awarded a third penalty kick. Once again the ball would sail high and the game would end in a tie. Next weeks game is in Billerica at Ackerson Field at 11 AM. There will be penalty kicking practice Wednesday at 6 PM for those interested. See y'all next week.

The Bedford Pacers looked in midseason shape as they blanked the Peabody Sporting Club, 4-0 in the season opener on Sunday morning. The Pacers would travel to Peabody with 12 players and would prove to be all they needed as they controlled the entire game. Chris Cloutier would record his first shutout as net minder this season. The Pacer defense played very strong, not letting the Peabody club have any threatening shots. The midfield and strikers would force Peabody to play defense nearly the entire match. The Pacers tested the Peabody keeper from the start, hammering about twenty shots off of him, until John Guild took a Bertie O'Gorman cross and deposited it in the back of the net. Bedford would continue to pound shot after shot off the keeper in the first half, but the score would remain 1-0. After regrouping at the half, Peabody would come out strong and force the Pacers on defense for about a five minute stretch. The Pacers would step it up at midfield and take control of the game. Marco Koolman would find Bertie open at the 18. Bertie would toe poke a roller that caught the keeper by surprise. The ball would roll through the arms and legs of the shell shocked keeper for Bedford's second tally. Peobody would change keepers, but it would not help, as the third goal would come shortly after. Marco would get control of the ball on the left side of the field in the corner. He would hit a perfect serve on to the head of the leaping Scott Sharby, that would find only net. Peobody was done. They tried to get something going by adding an attacker. This would only spead the field more. Bertie would send a feed through to Jeff Bailey who would bend one into the net to finish off the scoring for the Pacers. All in all, the Pacer squad looked good for the season opener. Next week, the Pacers will have a tougher battle at the home opener against the PAC Lowell team. The game is at Legacy field at 9 AM.

The Bedford Pacers will be looking to move to division 2N this spring. The Pacers have some definite talent on their roster. It will all depend on who is committed to showing up for the games. The Pacers finished a disappointing 4th place in the fall. Most of the games were played with barely enough players to field a team. The team is confident that they have solved this problem. The Pacers will open up their spring season with an away game against the always interesting, Peabody Sporting Club at Buckley Field. Game time is this Sunday, April 7, at 11 AM. Check Locations for directions to the field. We hope to see everyone there to start out what should be a great season. The team will be meeting at the Park and Ride at 9:15 AM. Please respond to the email so we know exactly how many we can count on for the game. See you Sunday