Announcement
28 Mar. '09. At Episcopal HS on an overcast day with light drizzle, the Internationals battled its good friends from PA-E, LMSC Velez, for the 3rd match of the short Region I Premier season. After coming off 2 hard-fought matches in the rain/mud at Jefferson Cup two weeks ago and prevailing 1-0 in both contests, the Internationals expected an even harder match with Velez, PA-E State Champs & Region I Champs 2008. In last year's Region I contest, Inter and Velez played evenly and the match ended in a 1-1 tie. Today's game was an entertaining match between two elite teams whose defenses stymied the other's offense, although the Internationals created more scoring opportunities but were unable to find the back of the net. In the 1st half, Inter’s solid defense held Velez to just 1 shot on goal which sailed wide left . Velez committed 6 fouls (including 2 handballs). Luck was on Velez’s side today as the ball would not find its way into the back of the net for Inter. Inter took 6 shots on goal and setup 1 corner kick while committing 7 fouls (including 1 high kick). Chris intercepted a ball near Velez’s 40 yds. center, dribbled forward in between defenders and sent a hard shot on goal which the GK caught. Alex passed a nice ball into the middle to Schillo who fired a blast on goal but the GK finger-tip-saved it for a corner kick which was unsuccessful. Alex took a shot from about 18 yds. out center which went wide right. Erik received a pass from Alex about 30 yds. on the left and struck the ball towards goal but it went wide left. Schillo served a nice ball from Velez’s left corner into the box where Chris’ header just missed right, and Skylar served a nice cross from Velez’s left corner into the box where V’s header attempt just missed wide right, and the half ended, 0-0.
In the 2nd half, Velez stepped up its intensity and broke through deep into Inter’s left back where a Velez player tackled the ball away from Seth as he attempted to dribble it away but the close-in shot towards the open net luckily bounced off the left side bar and out of harms way. Velez took 2 more shots which were unsuccessful including one from about 35 yds. center which Seth caught and another from about 25 yards on the right which sailed low and right of goal. Velez committed 8 fouls (including a YC shown to #4 for pushing Matt out of bounds on a run upfield on the left sideline). Inter committed 5 fouls (including 1 handball), and would manage just 2 shots on goal including a hard shot by Ebo near 18 yards center which sailed high over the cross-bar, and a shot by Chris about 30 yards on the left but it went wide right., and the match ended, 0-0.
