December 18, 2004 (W3-1)
The defense was spectacular. Gary, Mo, Pat, Phil, Steve, and Dave
denied the opponent any real opportunities. Rob, Frank, and Rick were
solid at midfield. Mike J., Mike F., Dean, and Brandon wore down the
opponent up front. Unfortunately, we found ourselves down 1-0 at
half time. The Bushmills kicked in the second half and the Hokie Alumni
took over. Frank tied the match with a patented knuckle ball shot early
in the second half on an assist from Dean. Later on, Frank
sent a well placed corner right to Dave's head who put the game winner
in the net. With just a few minutes left in the match, Frank put the
game out of reach as he put away a loose ball from the top of the box
to make it 3-1. Buzz cleaned up and shut out the opponent in the second
half.
December 11, 2004 (N/A)
Game canceled due to poor field conditions.
December 4, 2004 (L2-1)
We were pressing the opponent hard and had many chances to score and
then Buzz misplayed a low cross that the opponent put in the net. We
were down 2-0 at the half. The match turned ugly in the second half
when an opponent gave Rick a cheap shot elbow to the face and drew
blood. Both benches emptied to separate the two. The opposing player
was ejected, after the ref got the game under control. A few minutes
later, Gary sent a nice low ball through the box that Mike J. dummied
and Brandon put away to make it 2-1. Unfortunately, we were unable to
capitalize on the one man advantage.
November 27, 2004 (W7-2)
We went into to half time with a 4-1 lead with Dean scoring a goal
right before the whistle. Dean had three goals in the first half. Frank
had an assist in the first half and two goals in the second half.
Brandon had one goal and an assist in the first half. Totan had two
assists in the first half. Korey had a goal and Rob had an assist in
the second half. The last time we played this opponent on the downsized
turf field we lost 4-3, so this was a sweet victory.
November 20, 2004
(W4-2)
The opponent was short so we loaned them some of our best players,
Dean, Mo, and Korey. We went up 1-0 when Pat sent a corner into
Mike F. who fired a shot that rebounded off the bar back to Dave and he
put it
away with a header into the upper right corner. The opponent tied
it right before half time. Mike F. scored on assist from Totan
mid way through the second half to give us a 2-1 lead. Dave scored what
turned
out to be the game winner on a well placed header on a corner from
Totan to make it 3-1. The opponet came back to make it 3-2 and
closed the gap late in the match. Phil came
back to take a point blank shot away from the opponent. The defense,
anchored by Gary at sweeper with Pat and Phil defending, played hard
the
entire match. Buzz made a few saves along the way. Rob iced the
match with a goal on an assist from Mike F.
right before the final whistle.
November 13, 2004 (N/A)
Game canceled due to poor field conditions.
November 6, 2004 (T1-1)
Rick played a short corner kick to Dean who crossed it into the far
corner of the goal for the lone goal of the match. Physical game by
Dave, Rick, and Ice.
October 30, 2004 (T1-1)
The last time we played this opponent we lost 5-2. We played well as a
team by keeping the ball moving and putting pressure on the
opponent. Late in the first half, Brandon was taken down from behind in
the box with a hard foul. He and the opponent began a shoving match
which lead to both being ejected. In addition, another opponent, who
was awarded a yellow card earlier, was ejected for using strong
language toward the ref. It was spanish. Unfortunately, the keeper made
a great save on the PK. The first half ended with the match tied
0-0. About midway through the second half, Dave sent a nice through
ball on the ground that split the defense and hit Mike F. in full
stride, who put it past the keeper. The opponent tied it up a few
minutes later on a shot that deflected into the far side of the net.
Late in the match, Buzz made a save on a free kick that just cleared
the wall.
October 23, 2004 (W3-1)
The opponent scored
first early in first half. We came back to tie
with a header off a corner by Dave. Totan had the assist. In the second half,
Rob scored unassisted after winning a ball to make it 2-1. Mo made 2 outstanding
saves and Pete played well in the defense. Totan scored on a
good shot from an angle to make it 3-1. Frank had the assist.
October 16, 2004 (T2-2)
Mike J. had a goal and an assist. Bryan had a goal and Brandon had an
assist. The score was 0-0 at the half. We we went up 1-0 midway through
the second half. The opponent scored two unanswered goals to take a 2-1
lead. We tied it late in the match.
October 9, 2004 (W6-0)
We started the
game with 7 and the opponent started with 8. We scored two quick
goals to go
up 2-0 before help arrived for both teams. The game ended with 9
players
playing on each side with our additional two players young enough that
if you
added up both their ages they would still be younger than Phil. Brandon
joined
the "Great Pretenders" and had a tremendous game dominating the
opposition and putting in 2 nice goals. Dean also scored a goal as well
as a
goal a piece for our guests. Ice lead the team in assists for the game
with 3
and Dean added 2 assists to go with his goal. The other team had so few
opportunities that Mo begged to leave the net in the second half and
leave his
shut out in the capable hands of Robbie. Needless to say, Robbie shut
them
down. Great defense was also played by Pat and Robbie out in the field.
October 2, 2004 (W4-2)
The opponent scored first then we
took a 2-1 lead. They tied it before we scored two more goals. Totan
had 2 goals. Ice had an assist. Our first goal was an own goal. Mike F.
gets credit as he was closest. Gary suffered a hip pointer injury. Rick
played very strong in the back. A guest scored the final goal.
September 25, 2004 (L5-2)
The match was tied 1-1 at the half. Dave scored on an assist from Rick.
A guest scored the other goal. Buzz suffered a knee injury while
playing
in the field. We had no subs and the opponent had some younger players
that wore us down in the second half.
September 18, 2004 (L4-3)
We were down 2-0 at half time on the downsized turf field. The opponent
scored early in the second half to take a 3-0 lead. Dean got us on the
board on a nice feed from Mike J. with about 20 minutes to go in the
match. The opponent answered right back to go up 4-1. We were not done
yet. The score quickly became 4-2 when the opponent scored an own goal
and gave us a bit of hope. A few minutes later, Rob placed a nice
corner kick to the far post that Dave headed into the upper left corner
of the net to make it 4-3. We had some other chances to score earlier
in the match, but were unable to capitalize. Our defense had a rough
day but played hard until the final whistle.
September 11, 2004 (W2-1)
Great Pretenders 2-1 victory. Goals scored by Rob on a sweet assist from
Bryan going up the right side to start the first half.
We missed quite a few opportunities open on in the
game and the low score reflects that statistic.
The
other team was blessed that Totan was on their side for the first
half.
No doubt, the score may have been a little different if this were not
the case.
The other team
tied it up on their first shot of the game, but then the defense
tightened and allowed very few more shots to make it towards the goal. Most importantly, none of the shots
were in the air. Mo used his cat like
reflexes
to block a couple of shots that were headed for the “five hole.”
The second goal was scored on a
“rocket
shot” from Pete that nearly ripped off the keepers head.
The only reason that it didn't take off his head is
that the keeper didn't move and had no chance to stop the projectile
head
for the back of the goal. Assist on this
fantastic shot went to Ice on a throw in from the 30 yard line.
Gary, Dave, Phil, Pete, and Pat provided
superior defensive coverage from the back. Aaron, whom some may
remember from the Great Pretenders of the late 90’s played steady in
the midfield, as
did Rick and Mike J. and Mike F.
