Bella Vista FC

As Milli (or was it Vanilli?) used to sing..”blame it on the rain”…No games at Sack’s today, but we will be playing pick-up at Starr-Garden instead (6th and Lombard).

Starr Garden is participating in the Staples Dream Park Challenge.  From Sept. 23rd to Nov. 17th you can vote once a day online at www.StaplesDreamPark.com for Starr Garden.  The winning park receives $25,000 in park improvements plus a party with Philadelphia Eagle Brian Dawkins.  Runners up receive $10,000 and $5,000.  Each time you vote you are also entered into a drawing to meet Brian Dawkins.  If you stop by a Staples store and pick up a FREE power card you get 10 extra votes.  So, help Starr Garden and vote often! Voting Started on Tuesday and we have until November 17th to make this happen!

Take a stacked team as Vesuvio has.  Put it in a blender.  And have BVB make some puree out of calamari.  …  ok, that is less appetizing than one can imagine…  BVB is on the rise with a stunning upset against Vesuvio.  So what happened?

“Last night, the drinkers of BVB were victorious over the calamaris of Vesuvio 4-1.  BVB controlled the midfield effectively with Conrad, Alex and Scottish Paul and got goals from Alex (a nice shot from outside), two from Conrad (one a great curled free kick into the top corner from right outside the box) and one from Scott (on a nice overlap).  Not sure who scored for Vesuvio.  Thanks to Dave for reffing and Q for running the line.” - Ben’s Report for Vesuvio.  We have not received any word from Steph, but she is probably too busy drowning herself in champagne, or appropriately, BV Beverage Belgian Lambic, in celebration of one of the greatest victories of her captainship. 

League Standings Updated here.

This past Saturday, Race St took on League favorites Vesuvio.  Race showed up with 12 players.  Vesuvio with 14.  The first half was almost an even battle, with Race St getting the first goal.  Stefan, the Race St forward, extended his leg in 50-50 ball, and the clutch resulted in a broken fibia.  Stefan will be out for the rest of the year.  As the game progressed, it got worse for Race St.  There were few chances at goal.  Vesuvio, on the other hand, grew stronger against a 10 man Race St. team.  Goals rained down from from the Vesuvians…

“Vesuvio was able to defeat Race Street by the score of 5-0 on Saturday.  Goals were scored by Marcus (2), Glen, Greg and Abdou.  Vesuvio benefited from having 3 substitutes, while Race Street had none.  The game was marred by Race Streeter Stefan Gilmore suffering a broken leg that required him to be transported to the ER via ambulance.  We understand that Stefan required surgery on his leg, and our thoughts and prayers are with him.  Once Race Street went a man down, Vesuvio was able to exploit the extra space in the midfield.  Thanks to Bula for reffing and to Chris Reg and Said for running the lines.” - Captain Ben Remarked.

In the end it was 5-0, in what should have been a much closer battle.  Race St. needs to get more of its star players to show, or have more of its players that show, play like stars.  The key is having at least 14 to keep things fresh.  Race St. have acquired a new player.

Finally, a word of caution.  NO PLAYER will be allowed to play without shin guards, and remember, this is a social league, no million dollar prizes, so be prudent in your tackles, in your attempts, etc.

The game last night was one of equals.  Most of the game was battled in the midfield, with the defense on both sides cleaning up anything that came through.  Scoring chances were there, but there were few obvious ones.  Between the bumps that made the ball bounce irregularly, and close marking, it was tough to create open plays, yet the game went well.

The first half began with an onslaught of Bonte attacks, shot after shot was saved by Goalie Jerry, or deflected by BVB’s defense.  BVB regrouped quickly, and took the battle to the midfield led by Conrad.  15 minutes into the half, Bonte’s efforts were rewarded by a goal from Keith, his first of a season, who took a shot from within the penalty area that got past Jerry.

As BVB began building some momentum in the midfield behind Scott, Alex and Conrad, opportunities arose.  One open opportunity was a solid run from Conrad who got past the Bonte Defense but whose shot was saved by Chris Haines.  This was the best opportunity for Bella Vista Beverage to tie the game.  At the end of the first half, a handball in the penalty box led to an indirect freekick.  Matt set Big Kev up, whose shot was fabulously saved by Jerry.

In the second half, opportunities were few, shots at goal were fewer, and shots on target… what shots on target?  Well, there was one from Big Kev that grazed the top right corner of the goalpost letting Sal off the hook.  The story of the day was solid defense on both sides - for Bonte, Nathan Avery curbed Conrad’s breakaway runs, Jared Kane was a fort, Leah held firm, and Keith ruled the skies..  and for BVB, Steph was a wall, and Bill seemed to have his foot everywhere the ball was.  Dave was a great ref, James ran lines, and the only card was a yellow for Heri’s inadvertent 50-50 ball challenge that injured Goalie Max.

Steph, BVB’s captain, concluded: “we’re solid, we just need to score.”

See latest standings here.

The game started off with a strong attack from BVB ending in an early shot on the race goal that was deflected out by former Via keeper, Victor Balta. That was our cue  to pick it up and the Racers started tightening their defense and feeding balls to the danger men in front, Paco and Nachmi. The first 20 minutes were pretty even with both teams going toe to toe. BVB had a much more active midfield but their attacks were firmly absorbed by the Race St. back line, anchored by Lance and Q. With about 15 minutes left in the first half, pesky Paco broke free on the left wing, broke the BVB defense and launched what looked like an arching cross. Was it a pass or a shot? Who knows, the result was that it came in at a steep angle and past the BVB goalie. Race was up by 1 and that is how the half ended.

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The second half started with both teams feeling the heat, although it seemed like BVB was pressing their attack more vigorously. On the Race side, our midfield started to find their legs and pushed into the BVB back field more often, rather than depending on the long ball. The extra effort paid off when a scrappy Irving Navarro dribbled into the BVB back line and squeaked a shot past Steph who was the BVB goalie of the moment. Race was now up 2 – 0 but this only seemed to prod the Drinkers into a binge of activity. The increased pressure finally put them on the board, capitalizing on a communication breakdown in the Race back line that allowed Jerry Braden to beat the backs for a shot/pass that was deflected by Victor into the waiting feet of BVB newcomer, Luca Segato. It was now a 2 - 1 game.

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The goal definitely energized the game, but it was Race St. that immediately turned that extra urgency into some fine futbol with Nachmi, Paco and Dave showing off some pretty passing in the BVB half of the field. On a fine service from another Race player (I forget who), former Vesuvian Dave Petit deftly controlled with his chest and volleyed a perfect shot into the back of the net. I true “Golazo”! Race was now up 3-1 and all we could do was pull our exhausted players into our half to fend off the coming storm we knew was going to come from a desperate BVB. The last 10 minutes of the game saw BVB throw everything at us, including the kitchen sink, dish washer, and toilet, but we held them off for the win.

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As you may know, team Race Street Café is under new management. After 3 seasons of leadership, Captain Condi has decided to be just a regular player and he now adds his impressive midfield skills to team BVB.  Condi was missing yesterday otherwise, BVB may have been much stronger.  Meanwhile, Race is now captained by former Race Defender Lance Geren, and the ever itinerant puma who comes off captaining the last place Via Bicycles from last season. Race Street is now an odd mix of former Racers (Q, Lance, Paco), a grab bag of other vets (Nachmi, Dave P, Tim, Sarah), and a healthy injection of new folks. This looked fine on paper, but how that would translate on the pitch was the main question on my mind going into our opening match on Sunday against BVB (the drinkers) captained by Steph and Scott H.  Looks like Race Street are title contenders and watch out Vesuvio, they have your number.

- Report by Juan

Bonte v. El Fuego.  Bonte wins 3-1

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The season opener put 2 old rivalries vying for early points.  Both teams had at least 11 show, and the game was on.  The burritos are led by Serbian Aleks and Charlie.  The game began quite evenly.  Bonte snagged the first goal after 5 minutes when a cross by Matt was headed on by Chris Bull, and volleyed home by Nathan.  For most of the half, both teams stuck it out toe to toe.  Then, just before the end of the half, a slide by Chris Haines rewarded El Fuego a “dangerous play” indirect free kick in the penalty area.  Ricky John, a former waffle, took the shot that deflected off a defender.  Minutes later, a cross by Heri Ali in to the burrito penalty box was chested down by Bula to set up Chris Bull for a strike on goal.  Luis had no choice but fouled the Englishman, and a penalty was awarded.  Keith scored.

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In the second half, Robin Rovers put her mark on the game by finishing off a deft through pass from Chirs Bull.  Robin’s finish was solid.  2 subsequent ankle rolls for the burritos left them 2 players down, and Charlie decided to throw and did not organize any continuation (friendly finish) even though many el Fuego players were up for it.  Aleks fled the scene on his view of unfairness, while Charlie went for ice, rendering the burritos captainless, and the game stopped.  Thanks Conrad for volunteering to ref, and Q for running lines.

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Vesuvio powers over MegaWords 7-3

Vesuvio are stacked.  If there was any doubt on the team to beat, this game settled any misunderstandings.  MegaWords are the second favorites.  So, what happened at the clash of the titans?

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The first half, Vesuvio scored the first goal.  But MegaWords woke up, and came back with 2 of their own, one of which was typical Andy weaving by 4 defenders to score, and the other a deft distance shot by Ian.  So, for a moment, MegaWords erased their underdog status.

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But Vesuvio came back, and with authority.  “Glenn hits a 40 yard cross field pass, Jen heads the ball right into the path of vache, who hit a rocket, that just misses the top left corner. This move alone made it look like that we knew what we were doing, it would have been the greatest goal ever seen by the BVFC.”  James said, and Abdul put another in the net to make it 3-2.  Glenn put his stamp on the game and scored the 4th goal of the first half, and Vesuvio were up 4-2.

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The second half had 3 additional Vesuvio Goals and only one from MegaWords.

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Chris Reggiani remarked: “first game was a blow out.  andy and ian scored for megawords in the first half.  andy headed a cross in from ian in the second half.”  He continued:  “Megawords had a disappointing first game.  we had 11 players show up.  our defense was pounded by vesuvio’s elite midfielders and forwards.  we had one player playing  injured and two more injured during the game.  we need to re-group and come out hard for our next game.  please be careful out at the sack’s field—-at one point i pulled a fish hook out of the ball.  at the eighteen i found what looked to be a rusted tip of some kind of metal torture device.  jim regg popped his quad/hip running through a “hole” out on the field.  i’m not kidding.   it is what it is— i guess.”

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Captain Ben had some good words about his team and the game: “It was a hard-fought but well-intentioned game, with good sportsmanship all around.  Vesuvio had 3 subs until Walter had to leave at halftime, while Megawords started with 11.  Megawords then had 2 go out with injury, so then ended up with 10 on the pitch (Jim Reg went into goal after pulling something, not the hammy from last year so that at least is good).

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The game started with a goal for Vesuvio, then Megawords answered back with 2 of their own.  Vesuvio then had the better of the chances and scored several to make it 7-2.  Megawords answered back to make it 7-3, which is where it ended.  Jennifer of the Calamaris did have a goal disallowed by Ricky, which he agreed afterwards was a perfectly good goal.  Other than this minor (major if your last name is Lombardo) gaffe, a great job by Ricky, thanks for reffing.
Goals for Vesuvio were scored by Glenn (2), Abdou (2), Vatche, Vince and Neil (plus Jennifer, right Rick?).”