Monthly Archives: July 2012

Link

NASL Podcast Episode #40; Scorpions 8-0 Blowout, Week 17 Recap

Podcast courtesy of IMSoccer News

Description: NASL Podcast #40, with Jay Long, Brian Quarstad and Gerry Wittmann as we talk about the past weeks games in the NASL. We focus in on the 8-0 drubbing of the Carolina RailHawks by the San Antonio Scorpions by speaking to IMS correspondent, Andrew Arellano who reports from San Antonio. We also recap week #18 of the NASL season and look at the Puerto Rico Islanders as they head into CONCACAF Champions League play.

San Antonio Scorpions Dominate Carolina Railhawks with 8-0 Thumping

Posted on by
Reply

First published on IMSoccer News

San Antonio shuts out Carolina 8-0 behind a four goal performance by NASL scoring leader Pablo Compos.

The Carolina Railhawks visited Heroes Stadium Saturday night for the first time ever, looking to improve their away form with only one win on the road.  The Railhawks have improved in recent weeks adding six wins to their record after a rocky start to their season. Carolina Midfielder, Nick Zimmerman, came into the contest as the league’s second leading scorer with 9 goals on the season and faced his ex-teammate and league leading goal scorer Pablo Campos.

San Antonio were looking to continue a string of strong performances still atop the league behind the news of a big player signing earlier this week of Jeff Cunningham.

The Scorpions started the match with debutant Luis Tiago from Brazil in attack with his fellow countryman Pablo Campos.  Missing Kevin Harmse from a suspension last week San Antonio head coach Tim Hankinson elected to start with a four man midfield and two strikers in a 4-4-2 formation.

The game started on equal footing but just under five minutes Jonathan Greenfield rather lazily pointed a cross from a free kick in the direction of the six yard box.  The ball bounced around the Carolina defense as the Railhawk defenders struggled to clear the six.  As the ball fell away from the crowd an astute Greg Janicki turned on a dime and finished the shot past Carolina keeper Ray Burse for the first goal of the night.

Around the 15th minute mark Carolina began looking comfortable in possession until during a venture forward they turned the ball over to the Scorpions and Fabian Kling moved the ball wide to Tiago who picked out Campos further forward.  The pass was poorly dealt with between the two Railhawk defenders but the ball could have been easily cleared.  However, Campos never gave up on the play and pestered the defenders into sending a stray ball toward their own box to which Campos obliged himself to hammer into the back of the net past a helpless Burse.

Carolina continued to look like a team who really wasn’t ready to start the match and with a two goal deficit continued to hemorrhage possession turing the ball over constantly.

Despite their horrible form early in the match, their play began to improve with some great passing sequences through the midfield.

But even as they began to settle in, another turnover in the Scorpions half led to a fast break up the field and a precise through ball was sent forward to Campos and the tall Brazilian looked set to break until he was fouled from behind by Carolina defender Austen King. King was deemed the last defender by the referee and he was penalized with a red card.  The resulting free kick banged off of the post denying Luis Tiago his first goal for the Scorpions.

Carolina certainly had their opportunities in the Scorpions’ half playing quite open but their most dangerous opportunity was a low driven shot from Railhawk midfielder Zach Schilawski.  Scorpions keeper Daryl Sattler easily handled the shot to end the half and any hope for Carolina to get back into the game.

The second half started with Esteban Bayona coming on for Luis Tiago and Bayona immediately began to contribute offensively.  Around the 53rd minute Greenfield gained control of the ball and moved forward releasing Pablo Campos who broke free from Carolina defender Gale Agbossoumonde, and was brought down in the box for a penalty.

Campos cooly finished the PK in the lower left corner exercising past demons from the last time he was in front of the center spot where he missed two penalties against Puerto Rico during the home opener.

Shortly after, San Antonio earned a corner kick and Josue Soto sent an expertly taken corner kick which Greg Janicki finished with a towering header scoring his second of the night.  Almost immediately aferward Esteban Bayona found himself breaking toward the Carolina goal with only Carolina defender Agbossoumonde to beat and fought past the US U-23 international slotting the ball past Burse into the opposite corner scoring his fifth goal of the season.  The scoreline was 5-0 and the Scorpions looked no closer to holding back.

Just about then, Blake Wagner, in the 65th minute, pressed forward in possession of the ball and was practically invited to shoot about twenty yards out.  Wagner pointed his head down and drove a ball high and to the right with a blistering shot past Burse ballooning the score to six and cementing Carolina’s road misery.

Shortly afterward, Walter Ramirez received the ball from a 40 yard pass by right back Wes Knight.  He controlled the pass on the opposite side of the field and sent a cross toward the box meeting Bayona.  Bayona helped the ball toward the net but Campos helped himself to a wide open goal and scored for a hat-trick.

Carolina continued to believe that attacking with few numbers was going to bring them closer to a goal.  Turnovers, however, continued to haunt Carolina and in the 71st minute, Ramirez, collected a ball in the midfield and raced toward the goal leaving the Carolina defense in his wake with only Agbossoumonde to beat.

Ramirez, couldn’t get past the defender and needed to adjust his attack but saw that Campos was all alone in front of goal.  Ramirez passed to Campos and the Brazilian forward padded his score total with a quick and easy finish topping a four goal performance against his former club.

Carolina had no illusions at this point and were giving everything to stay organized through the defense and midfield.  Zach Schilawski was the lone forward for Carolina and seemed lost amid a forest of white jerseys as he patiently waited for the ball.  The ball never came and when it did, the Scorpions defenders easily redirected Carolina’s advances.

The Scorpions continued their dominance toward the end of the match with an eight goal win shutting out Carolina in their second match of the season.  The Scorpions continue next week hosting the Puerto Rico Islanders who trounced San Antonio by four goals during their inaugural home opener.

The Scorpions have already beaten Puerto Rico at home and will go into the match with a great deal of confidence, especially up front.

“A striker needs confidence, when you’re not confident it’s very hard to score,” said Campos about his 4-goal performance. “My teammates respect me and they fight for me as I do the same for them.  It is a mutual feeling and that’s what makes a great environment to play in.”

Earlier in the week the Scorpions signed MLS veteran and goal machine Jeff Cunningham from his short stint in Guatemala. Cunningham comes into a squad with 32 points at the top of the table and will most likely provide additional scoring punch deep into the middle of the season.

On the prospect of Cunningham and Campos partnering in the offense, head coach Tim Hankinson said, “I do see Cunningham and Campos partnering up front, They’re slightly different types of players, it will take time for everyone to get to know each other.  But Pablo has played against him, Blake (Wagner), Pitchkolan, Harmse have all played with him, Wes (Knight) has played against him.  It’s not like he’s a guy coming from overseas that guys have never seen play before, so I think he will be embraced pretty quickly.”

U.S. International Terrence Boyd Stars in Austrian Debut

Posted on by
Reply

U.S. International Terrence Boyd Stars in Austrian Debut.

Article about US International Terrence Boyd courtesy of IMSoccer News.

It’s obvious the player has talent, but we all need to remember he is still very young.  Some might say that it’s surprising a relatively unknown player would be selected for the senior USMNT so quickly, but I’m not one of them.  Terrance Boyd was on fire for Dortmund’s reserves side, leading the offense scoring 20 goals in 32 games leading the side to promotion.

I’m not surprised, however, that he never made it to the senior Dortmund side as they were busy claiming the domestic and league cup double.  It’s hard to imagine Boyd breaking into the line-up with players like Kagawa and Lewandowski ahead of him.  But is it really?

Look at Neven Subotic, another former US player now playing for Serbia, he broke into the squad when the talent was just being farmed and Dortmund began their recent run of good form.  Subotic benefited from the club moving in a new direction and a vacuum of talent.

Boyd might have benefited from staying with Dortmund, let’s hope his time in Austria is on loan because it appears that Dortmund might be in the market to sell some of their assets as they already have done with Shinji Kagawa after selling him to Manchester United.

Rumors continue to spin around top Bundesliga striker Lewandowski and German youngster Mario Gotze as to their future at the club.  But clearly Dortmund are looking to retool for the upcoming Bundesliga season with some new signings in Marco Reus and Leonardo Bittencourt.

The video is Terrence Boyd in a recent friendly where he had two stunning bicycle kicks, one of which ended up in the net.  It also features new Roma signing, US International Michael Bradley.

Scorpions Add MLS All-Time Leading Goal Scorer Jeff Cunningham

Posted on by
Reply

ISI Photos – Rick Osentoski

The San Antonio Scorpions have announced the signing of Major League Soccer’s all-time leading goal scorer Jeff Cunningham.

Cunningham, 35, scored 134 goals in 14 season in MLS.  The Jamaican-born striker played with the Columbus Crew, Colorado Rapids, Real Salt Lake, Toronto FC and FC Dallas in his MLS career and also made appearances for the United States Men’s National Team.

Cunningham most recently played for C.S.D. Communicaciones in Guatemala’s top division, making 12 appearances and scoring four goals in 2012.

“This is a great opportunity to be a part of a new organization that’s having a great run,” Cunningham said.  ”I’m grateful to Coach Hankinson and the organization for this opportunity and I’m excited to be a part of it.”

The first-place Scorpions add Cunningham to help bolster their scoring production in the second half of the season as they make their run for the playoffs in their inaugural season.  He will be eligible for NASL competition upon completion of the ITC transfer process.

“I have seen firsthand what Jeff Cunningham can do in Major League Soccer and I am thrilled to have him join us here in San Antonio,” Scorpions President Michael Hitchcock said.  ”Having a player of his caliber and professionalism will help us a great deal in our push for the playoffs.  As the leading goal scorer in MLS history, Jeff has had a very successful career so far and we can’t wait to see him continue that career as a Scorpion and score goals like he has done throughout his career.”

In 2006 and 2009, Cunningham won the MLS Golden Boot for being the league’s top goal scorer and was named to MLS Best XI team three times in his career (2002, 2006, 2009).

He is also tied with former U.S. MNT standout Brian McBride for the Crew’s all-time scoring record with 62 goals in eight seasons with Columbus.

The Scorpions currently sit in first place in the NASL standings with 32 points and have scored 26 goals in 17 games played this season, the third-highest total in the NASL this season.

“We were very fortunate to find a player that has performed at an all-star level in MLS and eventually became the all-time leading goal scorer in the league at this point in our season,” Scorpions Head Coach Tim Hankinson said.  ”He is a great addition, someone who will help us reach our goal of winning a championship for San Antonio.”

San Antonio Scorpions Outlast Fort Lauderdale Strikers for 1-0 Win

Posted on by
Reply

First published on IMSoccer News

The SA Scorpions FC faced the Fort Lauderdale Strikers riding in on first place after a couple of strong performances on the road and a seven match unbeaten streak at home. The last meeting with the Strikers ended in a draw at Lockhart Stadium with two goals for both sides. Pablo Campos came into the match as the league’s leading scorer and looks poised to continue his strong form from last season.

The Strikers’ starting lineup was largely unchanged from their last match, but it was clear their game plan was offensive by nature, employing four forwards with only two midfielders in support in a  4-2-4 formation, somewhat reminiscent of the five forward lineup utilized by Tottenham Hotspur under Osvaldo Ardiles back in the day.

Fort Lauderdale was obviously looking to capitalize on the counterattack by shortening the distance between the defense and the attack. Although it was four forwards, clearly three of the forwards were lagging back at times making almost a 4-2-3-1 formation. It was a very organized attempt at pressuring early and often with long balls often bypassing the midfield to spur the attack.

Most of the pressure, however, was largely dealt with by the experienced Scorpions defense in the early stages of the game. Both teams had something to play for in terms of league standings so after the initial pressure was held the Scorpions began pushing back and Campos had a couple of ventures in and near the box that proved dangerous. The Strikers finally fouled the tall Brazilian, giving Denissen a free kick outside of Fort Lauderdale’s box. Denissen took an aggressive shot directly toward the goal mouth instead of crossing the ball, which caused Fort Lauderdale ‘keeper Matt Glaeser to punch the shot away at the last minute.

Campos uses his physicality to great effect at times and it often seems that officials have difficulty distinguishing a bonafide foul from Campos’ play-acting, according to Scorpions head coach Tim Hankinson. “I’ll have to analyze all the physical contacts that the referee felt he was diving and look at how many of those were actually where he was fouled; he had a difficult night that way,” said Hankinson.

Things started to progress for the Scorpions after that moment until Aaron Pitchkolan went down injured and had to be replaced by Fabian Kling. The injury didn’t seem to slow San Antonio down defensively, with players like Kling who can practically be inserted anywhere along the back line. “Going into the stretch run, guys are going to get dinged up, you’re gonna have to plug guys in and guys are gonna get minutes whether they like it or not and we’re gonna need them down the stretch,” said Scorpions centerback Greg Janicki.

The Scorpions’ most dangerous chance in the early stages happened in the 24th minute when Pablo Campos beat his defender on the lefthand side of the box. Campos elected not to shoot directly, however, and kindly passed to an oncoming Hans Denissen, but the pass was too far behind the Dutchman and a wide open opportunity came to nothing.

The Scorpions’ attack continued to be resilient with Walter Ramirez leading the way, taking advantage of the Strikers’ left back Scott Lorenz. Ramirez continually stretched the back line in wide positions, attacking the flank and cutting inward quite effectively for a couple of dangerous shots on goal.

“Walter, I thought, had some great runs down the left. Early in the game he was setting up shots from the right side, cutting in from the flank. I think that late in the game, some of his runs gave them (Fort Lauderdale) something to worry about,” said Hankinson.

In the 24th minute, Fort Lauderdale went down a man due to a red card to Andy Herron after fouling Scorpions defender Wes Knight from behind.  The referee showing no tolerance early on sending a strong message after Herron clearly fouled Knight after he was dispossessed.

Campos and Denissen hooked up once again, right before the end of the half when both forwards broke toward the Fort Lauderdale goal and Denissen ended up with the ball alone against Glaeser, who caused Denissen to miss the initial shot which was sent just wide for a corner. Scorpions defender Greg Janicki ended up on the end of the resulting cross for a near miss on a technical header wrapping up the first half.

The second half started with a goal from substitute Esteban Bayona when a cross was sent in by Walter Ramirez and Bayona nicely headed the ball in the bottom left corner, just deflecting off Glaeser into the goal, but the Colombian was offside and the goal was called back to leave the two teams scoreless. Bayona would get on the end of a through ball a few minutes later but failed to capitalize.

The deadlock was broken, however, just under an hour at the 56th minute with a Campos run from a nice through ball from Ramirez. Campos collected the ball at the top of the eighteen and finished with confidence low and to the right of Glaeser.

Playing a man down and without their initial formation intact, Fort Lauderdale’s offense seemed disorganized in the second half. As the game wore on, the Strikers began rallying around the #10, Walter Restrepo. The midfielder’s movement was impressive throughout the match but in the latter stages looked like the only source of offense for the Strikers at times. Restrepo constantly got involved from midfield positions, from the flank, and being the outright attack through the center of the park. The  Strikers could only manage five shots for the game but three of those came in the second half and Restrepo was largely responsible for getting his teammates in threatening positions.

Although San Antonio was playing with a man advantage for a great portion of the match, Fort Lauderdale was doing enough to put up a fight. Until during the 69th minute, when Scorpions captain Kevin Harmse found himself in the middle of a debate at midfield which ended in his ejection as he earned two straight yellow cards for dissent.

The two teams were even for the remainder of the match and the Strikers were encouraged to pick up the pressure but it proved to be too little too late.  The game ended with the Scorpions victorious staying atop the league with a two-point advantage and Pablo Campos continues his lead as top scorer in the NASL with 11 goals for the season.

“Clearly they have some very dangerous players which always keeps the match alive, I think we bring a lot of pressure on ourselves by not finishing early chances.  There have been some confrontations between these two teams and both teams were disciplined but it’s the referees job to let the players decide the outcomes. It’s very important to get these victories and losing three guys for next week we need to look at other players to step up,” said Scorpions Head Coach Tim Hankinson.