Bella Vista FC

Bonte and Vesuvio are comfortably into the playoffs.

Should MegaWords win all their games, OR el Fuego will all their games, they may steal the 4th spot from either Race St or BVB.  Any win by either BVB or Race St guarantees a position for them.

STANDINGS UPDATED HERE

MegaWords and Bonte had an epic 3-3 result the first time around.  This time however, Bonte played one man short.  MegaWords had a great turnout. The first goal  was scored by Bula.  MegaWords equalized with Andy’s precise strike.  In the final 30 minutes, Nathan the Bonte right wing took over.  He had 2 amazing strikes, the first one a direct shot and the second where he scored off the post.   The game ended 3-1.

“Outstanding game today! They had 13 or 14 players, including their stars; we had 9. The DEPTH and CHARACTER of our team is amazing.  It seems as though we have a different set of heros every game.” - Chris Haines the co-captain of Bonte said.  Chris had some amazing saves to keep Bonte up during the game.

“We have had 12 different players in the Bonte squad that have scored this season.  That is what defines Bonte.  It seems that we are stronger and stronger each game, and more importantly, we enjoy playing great soccer, and playing as a team.  We need to focus on Race St and Vesuvio to finish the season strong, while also enjoying exceptional pass plays and possession football.  Chris Haines has been outstanding in goal standing in for Fabio, and our defense is just great.” - Bula.

Bonte is currently unbeaten with 7 wins and 1 draw.

“I was looking for a little payback after Vesuvio crushed our undermanned team 5-0 last time around.

This time, we had 15 players and they also had a full squad plus subs so it was going to be a clash for sure. This turned out to be one of those games where luck accounted for the final score more than anything else because I really felt Race came out very strong. We controlled the pace, the midfield, and played some very pretty futbol. Vesuvio barely managed a shot in the first part of the half while we pressed them again and again.”
About half way through, while Race was on the attack Co-Captain Puma served a long ball to Julian “freight train” Hinson at the top of the box. Jules managed to play the ball back to trailing midfielder Sarah Wenger, who just hit a gorgeous 1 touch shot at the Vesuvio goal. The ball smacked the cross bar and rebounded right into the path of Race St. midfielder Mike Carter, who ripped a lefty rocket past the keeper. 1-0, Race.

Then, our luck changed. A handball just outside the Race box rewarded Vesuvio with a free kick. While we struggled with the wall (I admit, we need to work on defending set pieces), Vesuvio took their kick and it bounced of the wall, off our keeper, and into our net. Tied game. Not 20 minutes later, while our defense was getting pressed by Vesvio, Race defender Q tried to pass the ball back to our keeper, Victor, and just managed to slip it past him for an own goal. The half ended with Vesuvio up, 2-1.

The second half was pretty even at the start, although Race seemed to suffer some substitution issues that caused confusion and put us in danger. Fortunately, Vesuvio did not manage to press this advantage and we sorted ourselves out. In the last third of the half, Race was the more aggresive team and saw numerous opportunities open up from the efforts of Nachmy, Francesco, and Paco. The pressure paid off when Mark Herczeg sqeezed one past the Vesuvio keeper to tie up the game.

Fun game. Thanks to Jerry for reffing and Vesuvio for a good, clean game as usual.” - Juan.

“BVB took advantage of El Fuego’s shortage of personel and posted an 8 - 0 victory against the Buritos. Charlie made a valiant effort in goal despite his crippled body, but the drinkers just had too much of an advantage. Scoring for the drinkers: Luca Segato (3 goals), Joe Wieckowski (2 goals), Stephanie Singer, Alex Kranjec and Ramon Sender.” - Scott.

El Fuego is still not showing up despite having new folks in the squad.  BVB on the other hand, show up in numbers.  The result reflects the enthusiasm and leadership within each team, and how BVB enjoy the game.  Charlie’s Burritos need to be inspired to show up and win as a team.

Thursday Night, Bonte and BVB played a hard fought game at Sacks.  BVB took the early lead with a crazy cross that found its way into the net.  Early in the game, Scott was injured.  Nonetheless, BVB pressed on.  Bonte began its retaliation with strong midfield passplay, stringing 12 or so passes, in an effort to control possession.  Bonte’s first goal was by Heri who got to a cross before the drinker goalie.  During the half, Paulie G, the scottish international, had some solid shots on goal that wonder keeper Chris Haines saved.   The second half saw 2 breakaway goals, first from Chris Bull and the second from Heri. Thank you Chris for reffing!  The game ended 3-1.  “When we play possession and ground passing, we are superb.  The Bonte defense is solid, and the midfield is energized.  A strong performance all around!” - Bula

Starr-Garden will be celebrating their 100 year birthday tomorrow with special activities. Because of this, the field will be in use, and we will not be playing pick-up there.   

“Vesuvio beat El Fuego last night at Sacks by a score of 4-1.  El Fuego was missing Ricky (calf injury) while Vesuvio was missing Abdou (studying for an exam), so it was evened up.  Vesuvio scored first on a cross by Rob that went through a mass of runners and defenders in the box and found the back of the net.  Next came a goal by Marcus with a nice finish.  Glenn scored on his birthday on a nice free kick from distance, and then James completed the scoring for Vesuvio by finishing off a 8-pass sequence of nice football.  The El Fuego goal was scored by Jake.  Vesuvio’s goalie rotation continued with Joe for the first half and Vatche for the second.” - Ben

Bonte played the Burritos for the second time, and this time had much more of a game.  The Burrito strategy was to hold defense and counter, while the waffles piled on the pressure.  Bonte scored in the first half with Matt Bannon’s goal.  In the second half, Keith scored a penalty on a foul by Charlie on Heri, and the final goal came from Big Kev.

Sunday, oct 12. What a gorgeous day!

We played BVB at Palumbo today (our first game at the “home” field). The Drinkers showed up in numbers while we just squeaked in with 11.

This was a close game and the drinkers are a tough team. They controlled the first half but just could not connect. We had a solid back line and constant probes from the forwards while the midfield organized itself. Dave Petit filled in for goal and easily handled the few shots that came his way. In the bottom third of the half, Dave punted a long ball to the drinker’s end that took a good bounce and was volleyed past Condi the keeper by newly assigned striker, Julian “freight train” Hinson (fresh off the waiting list). At the half, the Racers were up 1 - 0.

Second half saw determined attacks by the drinkers but our midfield had found their legs and fought for control of the middle. Shortly after the drinkers switched out Condi from goal (to press the attack), Race striker Francesco controlled a ball on the drinker’s 18 and deftly placed his shot in the back of net. 2 - 0, Race. We then had to fight off the drinker’s final press to clinch the win.

Thanks to Ricky for reffing, and BVB for a spirited game.

Vesuvio defeated Megawords by a score of 6-1 on Saturday.  Mega were playing without the Reggiani brothers but came out strong in the first half to go up 1-0 on a goal by Mike Geller.  Vesuvio struck back with a header by Ben Graff off a corner kick.  Moments before the end of the first half, Abdou made it 2-1 with another header.  In the second half, things opened up for Vesuvio as Mega pushed forward trying to score.  Goals in the second half were scored (in order) by Abdou, Abdou, Abdou and Abdou.  Quite a game for the young Algerian international.  The Vesuvio goalkeeper rotation continued with a half each by Glenn and Pat.  Thanks to Bula for reffing.