I remember Sunday morning when I got a text from Ryan O'Donnell saying 'It's gorgeous outside'. My response... 'Not for long'. But I was surprised how long it held out and it allowed us to get the games in. If we had our 2 PM weather at 11 AM, I may have pulled the plug.
This was a week of firsts though. Things I witnessed:
- A guy get kicked in the chest as a girl tried to kick the ball over her head (don't worry, he was fine).
- The league's first red card (due to two unnecessary slide tackles)
- Temperatures drop 10 degrees in 10 minutes, some Donnie Darko clouds, and wind blowing goal kicks kicked to the left sideline out on the right sideline.
- A team down a player overcoming the odds in the last 15 minutes to win in sloppy conditions
- Multiple teams playing with minimum (or close to minimum) females and them gutting it out for their squads
- Some more hat tricks
- A walk-off goal from over half field
- A lot of bounce back games after week 1 losses
- And the All Stars putting up 19 goals over two weeks
HOUSEKEEPING
This was a week of firsts though. Things I witnessed:
- A guy get kicked in the chest as a girl tried to kick the ball over her head (don't worry, he was fine).
- The league's first red card (due to two unnecessary slide tackles)
- Temperatures drop 10 degrees in 10 minutes, some Donnie Darko clouds, and wind blowing goal kicks kicked to the left sideline out on the right sideline.
- A team down a player overcoming the odds in the last 15 minutes to win in sloppy conditions
- Multiple teams playing with minimum (or close to minimum) females and them gutting it out for their squads
- Some more hat tricks
- A walk-off goal from over half field
- A lot of bounce back games after week 1 losses
- And the All Stars putting up 19 goals over two weeks
HOUSEKEEPING
1. No housekeeping this week because even if you left trash on the field, it probably ended up in Williamsburg due to the wind.
WEEK 2 RESULTS AND STANDINGS
All Stars FC vs. Retired Athletes
All Stars continues their unprecedented scoring pace by putting up 8 against Retired Athletes. Retired Athletes were playing through some injuries and Matthew Kennedy and Valentin Valencia took advantage of them with a hat trick a piece.
Final - All Stars 8 - 1 Retired Athletes
PKs and IPAs vs. Biercelona
What a topsy-turvy two weeks for these two teams. Biercelona came out week 1 and dominated RA while PKs were blown out by All Stars. My assumption was going in was that Biercelona would win this handily. Like Ryan O'Donnell's meteorology skills, I was wrong. PKs set the stage with an early goal and Biercelona had to chase the game from there. Hell of a game by Chris Sharrett with a hat trick and Erik Halvorsen's shot-stopping skills kept Biercelona's offensive firepower at bay.
Final - PKs and IPAs 6 - 1 Biercelona
Netkicks and Chill vs. Defenders of the Bridge
Let's just say I was a little starstruck when DOTB had Lionsbridge FC's coach Chris Whalley show up on the sideline. Unfortunately, he couldn't coach them back from a 2-0 deficit against an experienced Netkicks and Chill team. Markis Augustus kept DOTB's off the board with some solid netminding and David Cirillo had a perfectly placed finish to get the Netkicks party started.
Final - Netkicks and Chill 2 - 0 Defenders of the Bridge
All Bark No Bite vs. White Joggers
Ibra Kadibra! White Joggers continue to pull rabbits out of their hats with another strong performance in week 2. Led by a hat trick from Adam Stavola, a goal from Ciprian Gal, and a goal for a second consecutive week from Jason Fisher, the White Joggers muzzled ABNB.
Final - White Joggers 5 - 0 ABNB
Hangover 86 FC vs. Ronaldo McDonaldo
This was one of the craziest games I've ever played in. The first half of the game was well played with the game tied at 1-1. Then Mother Nature turned on us and it became THE WIND BOWL 2019. Jay Rhamy knocked in two for Hangover (the second one was a gorgeous shot into the side netting) and Mike Machie and Brad Kirby continued their goal scoring efforts from week 1 to have the game tied 2-2 going into the final seconds. After a foul on the other side of half field, Aaron Hackett of Ronaldo McDonaldo was placing the ball while half the team was yelling KICK IT KICK IT and the other half was saying LEAVE IT THERE AND GET IN THE BOX. Luckily for Ronaldo, Aaron booted it into the wind, the ball was caught by some Mary Poppins-like magic and sailed over the keepers head to end the game with a walk off goal.
Final - Ronaldo McDonaldo 3 - 2 Hangover 86 FC
Moat Monsters vs. Misfits
Another rebound game. After Moat lost to Ronaldo McDonaldo and captain Mike Dorsey explained that they were dealing with an accumulation of injuries, things didn't look good for the purple people eaters. But as we've seen through the first two seasons of MLS, the Monsters aren't to be taken lightly. Misfits had a short squad for as large of a rosters as they have with only a couple of subs. Rumor has it that Gary Johnson had an unbelievable strike from outside of the box to keep the Misfits in it, but Moat (led by Matt Burleson's 3 goals) was too much to handle.
Final - Moat Monsters 5 - 4 Misfits
Look Ma No Hands vs. Kick in a Box
I watched most of this game and it was cuckoo bonkers. After goals by Craig MacDuffie (KiaB) and Chad Martin (Look Ma), it was looking like a nailbiter. Then Chris Kostryva got his second yellow for slide tackling. Having to play down a man for the last 15 minutes of the game seemed like it spelled D-O-O-M for KiaB. Chase Cali made a number of great saves in combatting the onslaught Look Ma was pushing forward. Then the unthinkable happened. Kayson Bell of KiaB made a run down the left wing and had multiple bites of the cherry in the box and finished his third shot after Joe Ingraham saved the first two. KiaB then packed it in to hold onto the win. (P.S. I got a lot of crap about this game b/c last season these two teams played in a monsoon. This season they played in a 50 degree rain and wind storm. I'm thinking we have a rivalry afoot!)
Final - Kick in a Box 2 - 1 Look Ma, No Hands
Hot & Messi vs. Oozlekicks
Oozlekicks got a bit of a scare from Hot and Messi with H&M putting 4 past Jay Coble. That being said, the duo of Dennis Zollicofer and Tom Weniger is very tough to deal with defensively. With a hat trick from each, the red Ooze slimed Dave Chappell's bunch leaving them hot and messy. Side note: Think about Hot and Messi two seasons ago and how they would have handled this game. I'm damn impressed with the team Dave's put together and the improvements they continue to make. Guarantee that they'll be a team to be reckoned with come playoff time.
Oozlekicks 6 - 4 Hot & Messi
TEAM OF THE WEEK - WEEK 2
Chris Sharrett - Leading your team to their first MLS win with a hat trick definitely gets you in TOTW.
Dennis Zollicofer - I have a feeling Dennis will be in the discussion for TOTW every week this season, but I like to spread around the wealth. Sorry Dennis, this may be your only shout out.
Christina Race - Playing the entire game in a Nor'easter gets plenty of points with me. Ironwoman.
David Cirillo - Solid finish to gets things started for Netkicks and his first goal in a very long time according to Captain Claudia Galantino.
Sarah Korecky - Sarah has been impressive for All Stars. Tenacious and apparently an excellent finisher.
Aaron Hackett - Any time you score on a walk-off Hail Mary, I'm pretty sure you deserve some recognition.
Chase Cali - Playing down a man for the last 15 minutes, Chase came up with a number of saves to preserve the win in a crazy game against Look Ma.
THE RACE FOR THE GOLDEN BOOT
MORE HAT TRICKS!
And an unsurprising leader at the top! Tom Weniger is a machine and since the league's inception has always been in the top 3 in the chase for the Golden Boot. With all the goals All Stars is putting up, they're certainly going to have someone near the top with 4 in the top 13 goalscorers.
PHOTOS OF THE WEEK
Daryl Kuligowski of Netkicks and Chill takes a short corner against Defenders of the Bridge.
ALSO THIS..
via GIPHY
WEEK 3 AT OOZLEFINCH
The Hungry Pug Food Truck will be out at Oozlefinch this Sunday. Get out and get yourself a beer and some food post-game (or pre-game if you're into that type of thing).
GAME OF THE WEEK - WEEK 3
Misfits vs. Ronaldo McDonaldo
Misfits have a lot of offensive firepower and are ready to show that they are championship contenders. What better way to do that than to take on last season's champs the week after taking on last Spring's champs (Moat Monsters).
NOTE:
I'm sad to say that this will be the first week I'm not going to be at the MLS games in the three seasons I've been running the league (I think). The illustrious Brent Wentworth will be out there running things and Ryan O'Donnell will be out there taking amazing photos of you bozos. Please hit one of them up if you have any questions/concerns.
Off to New Orleans!
Misfits vs. Ronaldo McDonaldo
Misfits have a lot of offensive firepower and are ready to show that they are championship contenders. What better way to do that than to take on last season's champs the week after taking on last Spring's champs (Moat Monsters).
NOTE:
I'm sad to say that this will be the first week I'm not going to be at the MLS games in the three seasons I've been running the league (I think). The illustrious Brent Wentworth will be out there running things and Ryan O'Donnell will be out there taking amazing photos of you bozos. Please hit one of them up if you have any questions/concerns.
Off to New Orleans!
via GIPHY
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