Season 3 – League Match #2
Screamin’ Seamen vs. Big Reds
Date: April 13th, 2003
Venue: The Docks (Chicago, IL)
Attendance: 28,873 (30,000)
Weather: Partly Cloudy
Today we play host to the Big Reds, one of the newcomers to the division, in our home opener. It looks like we have magnificent weather for the debut of the “new and improved,” Docks, 65 degrees and partly cloudy. The Docks now looks like a smaller version of Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, complete with faux pirate ship on one end of the stadium.
Despite being new to Division IV, Big Reds are not a team to be taken lightly. They dominated the Syracuse Supers (admittedly the weakest team in the division) last week in their home opener, 4-nil. They are an all-around solid club, with a dangerous striker in Willibald Roth (what kind of name is Willibald, anyway?) and a fine 19-year-old midfielder by the name of Theo Juarez.
Still, with home field advantage and Arlen Lucas returning to the line-up, we expect a win, although a narrow one. I would not be surprised to see this one end up 2-1 or 3-2.
Formation: 3-5-2
Starters
Keeper: #1 Cornelius “Corny” Jernigan
Right Wingback: #22 Tyler Willard
Central Defender: #2 Chuck Scales
Left Wingback: #5 Arlen Lucas
Right Winger: #9 Valentin Rubio
Inner Midfielder: #4 Pete “The Old Goat” Tomlin
Inner Midfielder: #6 Charlie Bautista
Inner Midfielder: #8 Niklas Ivarsson
Left Winger: #3 Ben McMahon
Forward: #11 Johannes Henriksson
Forward: #15 Forrest “Gump” Tobias
Team Captain: #11 Johannes Henriksson
Set Pieces: #11 Johannes Henriksson
Substitutes
-Keeper: #13 Darryl Read
-Defender: #17 Mattias Leier
-Midfielder: #19 Jerry Smith
-Forward: #14 Jesper Gravesen
-Winger: #10 Olav Mauffret
As was mentioned earlier, last season’s Team MVP Arlen Lucas returns to the lineup, after having served his one game suspension last Sunday. Other than that, it’s pretty much business-as-usual as far as our starting line-up goes.
Match Report
PRE-GAME
28873 spectators arrived at The Docks, where weather conditions were pretty good for football.
Screamin' started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. The following players had been chosen: Jernigan - Willard, Scales, Lucas - Rubio, Ivarsson, Bautista, Tomlin, Mcmahon - Henriksson, Tobias.
Reds had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. The following players had been chosen: Morgansson - Sifres Belenguer, Ryan, Conde - Tønnessen, Williams, Juarez, Crabtree, Freixes - Levin, Roth.
FIRST HALF
David Ryan received some harsh words from his coach after he acted foolishly, probably out of lack of experience, in the 7:th minute and almost caused an opponent to score.
Many thought Pete Tomlin ought to have been awarded a penalty shot in the 29:th minute, as he went down trying to circle the visitors keeper Martin Morgansson.
Reds had a good opportunity to score the lead goal but the home team goaltender Cornelius Jernigan saved Willibald Roth´s shot headed for the top corner.
0 - 0 was the half-time score. Reds held the ball, with a clear 52 percent possession rate.
SECOND HALF
Screamin' made a bid to take the lead as a ball coming in from the right hand side left Ben Mcmahon completely alone with keeper Martin Morgansson, who made a spectacular block.
n the 71st minute Redss Martin Sifres Belenguer received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first.
Screamin' could have put themselves ahead in the 74:th minute as Forrest Tobias missed a volley shot on a ball coming in from the right.
Robert Levin came close to putting the visiting team one up in the 80:th minute, following a solo raid down the middle, but Cornelius Jernigan managed to tip the ball to a corner.
No one team arose to dominate this half, ending in a deadlock.
POST-GAME
Most important Screamin' player was Arlen Lucas. Ben Mcmahon on the other hand, had a terrible day.
The most dominating Reds player was without a doubt Theo Juarez. Martin Sifres Belenguer on the other hand, had a terrible day.
Final Score: Screamin’ Seamen 0, Big Reds 0
Goals
None
Cards
None
Player Ratings
Jernigan: ***
Willard: ***~
Scales: ***~
Lucas: ***~
Rubio: ***
Tomlin: **~
Bautista: **~
Ivarsson: ***~
McMahon: **~
Henriksson: **~
Tobias: **
Team Match MVP: #5 Arlen Lucas
Team Ratings
Screamin’ Seamen
-Midfield: Solid (7)
-Right Defense: Magnificent (12)
-Central Defense: Brilliant (11)
-Left Defense: Outstanding (10)
-Right Attack: Solid (7)
-Central Attack: Passable (6)
-Left Attack: Inadequate (5)
-NSI: 72
Big Reds
-Midfield: Solid (7)
-Right Defense: Formidable (9)
-Central Defense: Formidable (9)
-Left Defense: Excellent (8)
-Right Attack: Passable (6)
-Central Attack: Passable (6)
-Left Attack: Solid (7)
-NSI: 66
Comments
I do so enjoy tough defensive battles, but this one was a little too defensive for my tastes, particularly on our side of the scoreboard. The defense performed admirably, as per usual, and when they did get a little leaky, “Corny” Jernigan was right there to shut the door on the Reds. Unfortunately, our own offense remained woeful. Ben McMahon (who we have been less than pleased with lately) and Forrest “Gump” Tobias both had opportunities to give us the lead, but could not finish the deal.
Despite the fact that we only ended up with a draw, there are plenty of good things to draw from this match. We had our best-ever (if memory serves) overall team rating, and our first ever solid-rated midfield. Our entire back line put up ***~ performances each, another first for the club.
It’s obvious that our defense is usually up to the challenge. Our offense, on the other hand, has been lackluster to say the least. Unfortunately, we’re not in a financial position at the moment to make a meaningful change, but will look to address the offense in the future.
Series Scores and Standings
-Sweden Heights scored twice in the last 15 minutes to snatch a 3-2 victory over Neon Genesis Evangelion.
-Croats in Miami had their way with the Syracuse Supers, 4-nil. However, Croats’ starting keeper Don Smith suffered a major injury (5 weeks) in the match.
-SoccerWussies surprised everyone by dominating Ramblers, 4-nil. This confirms my suspicion that Ramblers MOTSed the match against us last week.
No. Name. Played Goals Pts. NSI
1. Croats in Miami 2 7-0 6 56
2. Sweden Heights 2 6-3 6 60
3. Big Reds 2 4-0 4 66
4. SoccerWussies 2 5-3 3 66
5. Ramblers 2 4-4 3 64
6. Screamin’ Seamen 2 0-4 1 72
7. Neon Genesis Evangelion 2 2-6 0 62
8. Syracuse Supers 2 0-8 0 43
Next Week’s Matchups
Croats in Miami vs. Screamin’ Seamen
SoccerWussies vs. Neon Genesis Evangelion
Big Reds vs. Ramblers
Sweden Heghts vs. Syracuse Supers
Other News
We would like to welcome the 30th member of our supporters.
McGees (Owner: whitesoxmcgee, Currently 2nd place in Series V.195)
Welcome McGee, and thank you for your support.
Up Next: We travel to Brooklyn, Wisconsin for our 3rd-Round U.S. Open Cup match against the Brooklyn Ex-Pats. Stay tuned!