Bethesda Internationals

29 May '04. In the first game against Albertson Academy '91 (NY), on a gorgeous, sunny day at the nice OBGC soccer fields in Olney, which were infested with hordes of 17-year brood X cicadas buzzing around, Inter controlled the tempo from the start, moving/playing the ball in Albertson's half of the field for most of the match. At about the 4 minute mark of the 1st half, Carsten passed a nice ball from near the goal line out to Skylar at about 22+ yards and slightly right of center, where Skylar collected the ball and slammed a hard, bending-to-left shot over the Gk's hands into the left side of the net. Then, at about the 12 minute mark, Mario sent a long ball from about 35+ yards out to the right into the goal mouth, where Carsten collected the ball and turned, dribbled 1 or 2 steps and then fired a nice strike into the net beyond the GK's reach. At about mid-way through the 2nd half, Efe crossed a nice ball from about 30 yards out to the right into the left side of the goal mouth, and Nicky passed over to the right to Nicholas about 6-7 yards out who touched in an easy goal as the GK was caught off guard challenging Nicky's possession. In the 2nd match against the Berks SC Arsenal (PA), Inter also controlled the tempo for most of the match. At about the 3 minute mark of the 1st half, Skylar was to the left of the goal at about the 12 yard line and made a nice pass back to Sam about 18 yards out to the left. Sam collected the ball, dribbled/juked past a Berk's defender and then launched a nice strike into the left side of the net beyond the GK's reach. Later in the 1st half at about the 20 minute mark, Carsten made a nice pass to Patrick about 22+ yards to the right of center, where Patrick collected the ball and fired a strong shot high into the back of the net; and, about 5 minutes later, Skylar crossed a nice ball to Mario near the goal mouth, who turned and flicked in the goal to the right of the GK. In the 2nd half, the Berks' defenders stepped up their defense and were quicker in closing in on Inter's attack and shut down Inter from scoring. 30 May '04. The weather turned cloudy for the 3rd match against RFC '91 the next day, but the match was a beauty. Both teams played superb soccer and the match was evenly played with both teams moving the ball up and down the field, attacking and counter-attacking from start to finish, resulting in a scoreless 1st half. In the 2nd half, at about the 12 minute mark, a RFC '91 player pentrated into Inter's goal mouth and was dribbling to the left side of the goal area when he was unfortunately dragged down by an Inter defender, resulting in a PK, which RFC '91 converted. Later in the 2nd half, at about the 25 mintue mark, Patrick was fouled by Jamie M. of RFC '91 at about 35 yards out to the right. Skylar launched the DK high across the goal mouth to the left side, where Carsten collected the ball and booted a crisp goal from about 5 yards out. The match was a well contested game between two excellent teams, ending a 1-1 tie. Both Inter and RFC '91 earned and identical 3-0-1 record, but Inter advanced as the Red Group winner with fewer points allowed (1) tie-breaker versus RFC '91 (3). Inter will face the 2nd Place team of the White Group, and RFC '91 will face the 1st Place team of the White Group in the Semi-Finals. Later in the afternoon, Inter faced the always pesky MCLN Thunder. Again, Inter controlled the tempo of the match pretty much from the start, although the Thunder did manage to penetrate Inter's defense and take a couple of missed shots on goal. At about the 15 minute mark of the 1st half, Nicholas crossed a ball to Sam on the left, and Sam worked his way in about 15 yards out and sent a nice ball into the net over the GK. In the 2nd half, at about the 20 minute mark, Nicholas made a nice cross to Nick in the center/right area of the goal mouth, who kicked in a nice strike; and, about 5 minutes later, Nick made a nice pass to Patrick around 22+ yards out, who then dribbled 1-2 steps before firing in a hard shot high over the GK into the back of the net. End of match, 3-0, Inter. 31 May '04. In the championship game, on a cloudy day with occasional drizzle, Inter again faced its rival, RFC '91, in a Battle Royale contest. As was the case in their round-robin match, this game was well contested with both teams moving the ball up and down the field, attacking and counter-attacking, resulting in a scoreless 1st half. At about the 4 minute mark of the 2nd half, RFC '91 cleared a long ball into Inter's goal mouth about 18 yards out. An Inter defender hesitated slightly in his charge towards the 50-50 ball, allowing the quicker RFC '91 player to collect the ball, elude the defender and fire in a very nice, strong shot over Rob's arms into the top/back of the net. RFC '91 quick defenders denied Inter from scoring for the remainder of the match, resulting in a RFC '91 victory, 1-0, over Inter. Congratulations to the very fine RFC '91 Champions for winning the tough Patriot division this year. It is always a pleasure for Inter to play this talented and skillful team, which unfortunately will be moving to the VCCL in the fall 2004 season.