After 2 long months of training, SSFAC opened their 2011-12 PSL Season on Sunday with a satisfying 3-1 victory over Rovers SC at De Anza College in Cupertino. The hard conditioning work emphasized in practice by Coach Jay Griffin made a difference yesterday as South City battled through the 82 degree heat and finished strong. As Captain Bobby Quinlan stated, "The weather was brutal, but the team was able to overcome the heat and play great soccer." After a scoreless 1st half which saw a SSF goal by Antony Reyes disallowed because of offsides, it didn't take long for the team to get on the scoreboard in half number two. On a deadball situation, Ever Alvarez played a ball to Ryan Wiegmann who re-directed it to Reyes, and he finished his chance from about 14 yards out at minute 52 to give SSF the lead. "That was the turning point to begin the 2nd half, Ryan's willingness to not give up on the ball, beat his defender to the spot, and deliver the ball to Antony,...I think inspired the team and showed us we could win the game" said Quinlan. The match started to change at that point, and the defense lead by the stellar play from newcomers Harry Andreades & Ian Preikschat continued to thwart any challenges by Rovers. Alvarez and Scott Ellis were solid in the middle, and goalkeeper Abner Ramos played an excellent match making some key saves and controlling tempo from the back. SSF got a huge break later on when Rovers failed to clear a ball from a SSF corner kick and wound up putting the ball into their own net for a 2-0 South City lead. The team did not relax at that point as they put constant pressure on Rovers. Blair Smith, Omar Perez-Diaz, and Quinlan completely took over the midfield and started numerous advances forward. On the wings, Howard Choy, Leandro Monteiro, Damian Hites and Jonathan Wong made penetrating runs on the side delivering balls into the middle for Reyes, Wiegmann and Fabio Marques. Wong continually beat his defender to really open up the middle on the pitch as no one could contain him. As Quinlan noted, "the team was able to control the match after a slow start because the defense settled down and came up big stopping the Rovers attack higher on the pitch. Also we began to run at them more putting pressure on their back four." Rovers were able to pull a bit closer in the 83rd minute, when a cross was headed home to cut the lead to 2-1, but South City came right back with an answer to put the game away in the 87 minute when Monteiro sent a corner kick to the head of Perez-Diaz who calmly rose up and flicked it into the net for the final of 3-1. Overall, it was a complete victory, as everyone had a role in the win. Jim Burke & Thoeun Huy-Chan stepped up and played important minutes, as they helped stabilize the team when needed. Said Quinlan, "the key to the game was working for each other making runs and tracking back, not for ourselves but because it was going to help the team be successful. It was a great TEAM win, everyone contributed, a great way to start the season." South City now looks forward to teir home opener next week when they take on a strong Grasshoppers team at Terra Bay Park.
After 2 long months of training, SSFAC opened their 2011-12 PSL Season on Sunday with a satisfying 3-1 victory over Rovers SC at De Anza College in Cupertino. The hard conditioning work emphasized in practice by Coach Jay Griffin made a difference yesterday as South City battled through the 82 degree heat and finished strong. As Captain Bobby Quinlan stated, "The weather was brutal, but the team was able to overcome the heat and play great soccer." After a scoreless 1st half which saw a SSF goal by Antony Reyes disallowed because of offsides, it didn't take long for the team to get on the scoreboard in half number two. On a deadball situation, Ever Alvarez played a ball to Ryan Wiegmann who re-directed it to Reyes, and he finished his chance from about 14 yards out at minute 52 to give SSF the lead. "That was the turning point to begin the 2nd half, Ryan's willingness to not give up on the ball, beat his defender to the spot, and deliver the ball to Antony,...I think inspired the team and showed us we could win the game" said Quinlan. The match started to change at that point, and the defense lead by the stellar play from newcomers Harry Andreades & Ian Preikschat continued to thwart any challenges by Rovers. Alvarez and Scott Ellis were solid in the middle, and goalkeeper Abner Ramos played an excellent match making some key saves and controlling tempo from the back. SSF got a huge break later on when Rovers failed to clear a ball from a SSF corner kick and wound up putting the ball into their own net for a 2-0 South City lead. The team did not relax at that point as they put constant pressure on Rovers. Blair Smith, Omar Perez-Diaz, and Quinlan completely took over the midfield and started numerous advances forward. On the wings, Howard Choy, Leandro Monteiro, Damian Hites and Jonathan Wong made penetrating runs on the side delivering balls into the middle for Reyes, Wiegmann and Fabio Marques. Wong continually beat his defender to really open up the middle on the pitch as no one could contain him. As Quinlan noted, "the team was able to control the match after a slow start because the defense settled down and came up big stopping the Rovers attack higher on the pitch. Also we began to run at them more putting pressure on their back four." Rovers were able to pull a bit closer in the 83rd minute, when a cross was headed home to cut the lead to 2-1, but South City came right back with an answer to put the game away in the 87 minute when Monteiro sent a corner kick to the head of Perez-Diaz who calmly rose up and flicked it into the net for the final of 3-1. Overall, it was a complete victory, as everyone had a role in the win. Jim Burke & Thoeun Huy-Chan stepped up and played important minutes, as they helped stabilize the team when needed. Said Quinlan, "the key to the game was working for each other making runs and tracking back, not for ourselves but because it was going to help the team be successful. It was a great TEAM win, everyone contributed, a great way to start the season." South City now looks forward to teir home opener next week when they take on a strong Grasshoppers team at Terra Bay Park.