Bethesda Internationals

11-12 Oct. '03. Unlike last year when Tropical Storm Kyle dumped heavy rain on VA Beach all day Friday into the evening causing the games to be canceled on Sat. with only (2) full games played on Sun., the weather was not as severe this year but the skies were overcast with strong cross-winds/slight misting on Sat. morning. For the first game, Inter found its offense in rare form, moving the ball at will up and down the field, blanking the tenacious UGH Fire team from Philly, 4-0. Inter's defenders constantly pressured the UGH players and tackled the ball often with most of the match played on the Fire's side of the field -- a dominating performance by all members of the Inter squad. About 7-8 minutes into the first half, Nick drove in a DFK ball from about 22+ yards to the right high over the outstretched arms of the Fire's keeper into the back of the left side of the net. In the second half, a nice ball was sent up field by Nick and Nat collected the ball, making a fine run and juked out the keeper to touch in the 2nd goal. Midway through the second half, Skylar made a great cross to Nicholas who deftly lofted it in for the 3rd goal. Sam was fouled in the Fire's box with about 2-3 minutes left and fired off the PK and 4th goal to the right of the diving keeper. In the 2nd game on Sat. at 4PM, Inter faced the formidable Strictly Soccer team from St. Petersburg, FL, and the precipitation intensified with heavy drizzle and the strong cross-wind continued. The SS team was comprised of 1-2 skillfull and 3-4 large players who passed the the ball well but Inter's defenders closed quickly and shut down the SS offense in the first half. The FL team as a whole was not very fast but extremely physical/aggressive with a number of fouls called and just one yellow card awarded. Inter managed a couple of runs to goal but was unable to setup any effective shots; thus, the match was tied, 0-0, at the half -- a promising start for the determined Inter players. However, in the second half, SS's defenders denied Inter any clear shots at the goal and counter-attacked relentlessly. About mid-way through the second half, a SS player crossed a nice ball into the center of the goal mouth and Inter's defenders were unable to effectively clear the ball out, allowing another SS player to strike the ball into the net. Several minutes later, Sam was fouled in SS's box, but his shot to the right was caught by their fine keeper who laid out to his left to clutch/grasp the ball. With less than 1 minute left in the game, a DFK by SS sent the ball high towards Inter's goal mouth and a SS player who appeared to be off-sides deflected the ball off of his head into the net, but no off-sides call was made by any official. Inter played a quality match against a superior team in less than desirable weather conditions. Congratulations to Strictly Soccer for their win against Inter and against all other teams in the tournament, going 5-0 (14:1) - including mighty MSC United in the Semis, 4-1, and the talented RR's in the Final, 1-0 - to win the Columbus Day 2003 Championship! On Sun., Inter faced its Spring 2003 D1 opponent, Freestate Titans. The weather cooperated with the precipation stopping during the night and the sun came out from behind the clouds in the morning -- but the fields were still pretty wet with dew for the 8AM match. The feisty Titans tested Inter for much of the first half, challenging/countering Inter's attacks. But, once again, Inter's defenders were quick to close on the Titans and send the ball up field for Inter's counter-attacks. About half-way through the first half, a shot by Inter to the goal mouth was deflected out and Nicholas struck the ball into the left side of the net, 1-0. The valiant Titans came out in the second half and pressured Inter, but two teriffic crosses to the goal mouth from Patrick found Ben who booted in a fine strike to the net, and then Nat, who struck in the 3rd goal. About midway through the second half, Nicholas took a shot to the nose from the head of a Titan when both players attempted to head a deflected ball. Nicholas sat out for most of the second half nursing a bloody but thankfully unbroken nose. Several minutes later an unexpected low shot on the ground by the Titans surprised Rob who stopped the ball just in front of the goal line, but it then slipped out of his hands and rolled across the goal line, giving the Titans its only score. Kudos to the Titans for a fine and enjoyable match!

5 Oct. '03. On yet another splendid, partly sunny day at the nice MD Soccer Plex, Inter found itself in a dogfight with the ABGC Sharks who came to play hard and moved the ball well against Inter, scoring mid-way through the 1st half with a nice cross from a player on the left side over to a teammate on the right of the goal mouth who quickly tapped it in as Inter's defense was a bit late getting back to challenge the ball. Inter looked impressive, passing the ball very well down into the Shark's half of the field often. Both teams were able to counter the other's attack for the remainder of the match, but were unable to punch in any goals. Fortunately, Rob made several excellent saves on some strong shots from the Sharks. Although Inter made a number of shots on goal, none were strong enough to find their way to the back of the net, and the Sharks' fine keeper stopped everthing Inter could kick at him. The Sharks came up empty on a number of corner kicks, while Inter did not manipulate any CK opportunites. With just under a minute left, while making a nice break-a-way run to the right side of the goal mouth, Skylar was swarmed by several Shark defenders, and cleated on the back of his right ankle while trying to tackle the ball. Inter was awarded a PK and as Skylar was unable to take the PK due to injury, Patrick stepped up and took the shot -- and swoosh, found the back of the left side of the net with 30 seconds left. The Sharks mustered up a furious assault in the waning seconds but Inter's defenders staved off any effective shots to goal. A sweet victory (tie) indeed for Inter after coming off a heart-break loss, 0-1, to the Sharks last spring during the first 30 seconds of a one-minute overage period. Kudos to the Sharks for a great and entertaining match!

28 Sep. '03. Another fine day with partly sunny skies found Inter playing in good form on the nice Soccer Plex field against a determined FESC Rangers team. Inter dominated the match from start to finish, shooting on goal 10-11 times over FESC 2-3. Unluckily, all of Inter's shots sailed wide or high of the net, or bounced off the cross bar, and the stingy Rangers' defenders thwarted several others. Inter's staunch defense kept the Rangers from penetrating close in and shooting on goal for most of the match. In the end, neither team was able to find the back of the net and the game ended in a 0-0 draw. Congratulations to the Rangers for hanging tough and earning a valuable point.

21 Sep. 2003. After the passage of Hurricane Isabel early Friday morning, most NCSL games were canceled over the weekend due to poor/soggy field conditions. Luckily, the very nice Valley View park soccer fields in Nokesville, VA, were open and in great shape on a pleasant, partly sunny/warm day as Inter squared off against a very determined MATT Crew. It was an evenly matched contest with both teams stopping and countering the attack of the other. But, fortunately for Inter, Sam returned to the lineup off of IR for his first game of the season, and at about the 10 minute mark made a nice run off of a great pass from Nick and zig-zagged his way up through the last defender on the left side of the goal and fired in the lone, winning goal past the outstretched hands of MATT Crew's fine keeper. Inter managed to stay focused and the stingy defense did not allow the hard-working MATT Crew to put the ball in the net. MATT Crew gave Inter all it could handle and is commended for its valiant effort!

14 Sep. 2003. On a muddy, sloppy and dangerous field at Ridgeview MS, the BAYS came to play today, out-hustling Inter on both sides of the game. Only 12 Inter players were available to play due to injuries, but they put up a valiant effort with just one substitute, passing the ball around well on the uneven fied but could not score against the stubborn BAYS' defenders and excellent Keeper. The BAYS managed all (3) goals on Inter's defensive miscues and second attempt hustle by the BAYS. Congratulations to the BAYS for their fine win today!