Bella Vista FC

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The Final of the 2008 BVFC season was played today between Race Street and Bonte. The two teams played one of the best games of the season, with Bonte edging Race with a second-half goal to take the title for the second consecutive year.

The weather finally cooperated, although it was windy and chilly at game time. Although there were some wet spots, the field dried out fairly well after Saturday’s heavy rains.

The first half was well-fought and even. Race Street had some first-half chances, including a nasty, knucking, free kick by Dave Petit that missed the upper-right corner of the goal by inches. Bonte had some tantalizingly close chances throughout the first half, but some nice defense by Juan, Lance and the Racers back line as well as some nice goalkeeping by Victor kept the game tied at the break.
In the second half, Bonte gained some control. Fabio arrived at halftime and took over goalkeeping duty from Chris H. The Bonte defense did a nice job of controlling the Race Street attack, with Doug, Kevin V., and Chris H. tying up the outside and Jared and Keith doing their usual excellent job in the center. Big Kev and Chris Bull ran the offense from the center half, and frequent substitutions among the wings and forwards allowed Chelsea Ben, Dominic, Heri, Matt, Rob, and Nathan to make timely, spirited runs well into the 90th minute. Bonte’s persistence paid off, and Chris Bull found the back of the net in the 70th minute with a blistering volley.
Race Street pressed the attack in the remaining minutes, with Mike Carter, Dave, Nachmi, Tim and others working nicely, but the Bonte defense held firm to take the title. Thanks to Diego for refereeing and to Ricky for running the lines. Thanks also to the fans who braved the wind and cold, including 2007 Bonte member Deger Becer, whose clutch scoring touch is remembered fondly. (We remember Ricky’s scoring touch as well.)
“This was an extremely-well played game by both teams, and a testament to the quality of play in our league. Both teams played hard and spirited, but fair. My joy at winning is tempered somewhat by the knowledge that the Bonte juggernaut will be broken up. It’s been a true pleasure playing with such a fine group of footballers and friends for the past two years. See you at Starr Garden!” – Chris H.

Come out to Starr Garden playground next Sunday (November 23) at NOON for their Fall Clean Up day. Help us keep our parks and playgrounds in good condition for all of the community.

Players, supporters, family, and random strangers.

The time has come for the final match featuring returning champs, team Bonte (Waffles) squaring off against team Race Street Cafe (the Racers).

Come enjoy all the action this Sunday (11/16) at 2PM at Palumbo field.

Palumbo called us yesterday and told us to please refrain from using the Palumbo field today because of the muddy conditions.

The Board has started contacting the captains in order to reschedule the games and this will be posted soon.

In the meantime, I know we were all ready for some action on such a fine day so don’t fret. We will be playing pick-up at Starr-Garden instead.

The BVFC 2008 championship match now has its participants after Race St. Cafe narrowly defeated Vesuvio in the semi-final game last night at Sack’s. This was a true battle that went into double overtime and then penalty kicks where it was decided in a truly unique fashion. More on this later.

Vesuvio turned up with 11 players (they gained a sub halfway through the game) while we had 14. Still, Vesuvio is never a team to underestimate even when their numbers are lower. From the starting whistle it was like a war. Both teams played very hard and physical. Vesuvio attacked early and effectively, but was swallowed up by the Race back line. Meanwhile, the Race offense found their usual groove of quick passes and a lot of movement. The first goal came from a lovely serve by Nachmy from the right side that floated into the path of left midfielder, Mike Carter. Mike hit an absolutely perfect header that arched past Joe the Calamari keeper.

Race kept up the pressure and momentum and were rewarded with a free kick right outside the Calamari box. The kick was taken by Cullen Meade, who drove a low, hard shot around the wall. Joe the keeper managed to deflect the shot but it rolled out towards Race striker, Dave Petite who screamed in for the follow-through and blasted the ball into the back of the net. Race was up 2 - 0 with little time left in the half. A last minute save by Victor Balta (Race keeper) off of a scorching header (from James Holt, I believe) denied the Calamaris of any points going into the half-time.

The second half was another story and proves that Vesuvio was one of the powerhouse teams this past season. Loaded with talent, they came out blazing and Race spent most of the first part of the half beating off determined attacks. Vesuvio’s first goal (forgot the player) came off of a quick shot near the 6 that just slipped under Victor. Not 15 minutes later, Abdou (who we had managed to contain most of the game) managed to place a perfect outside of the foot shot into the corner of the net. There was nothing Victor could do, and lets be clear, Abdou had not broken the back line, he just put a little vertical distance on Lance and executed his cheeky tap for the goal. The score was 2 -2. By this point, frustration had reached the breaking point on both sides and the game was getting testy. Ricky the ref, Chris on the line and the captains did a good job of controlling the player’s emotions and not letting the game get out of hand. When the final whistle blew, we were headed to OT.

The 30 mins of OT were as intense as the regulation time had been with multiple opportunities from both sides that were so close…yet could not connect. When OT concluded, the teams knew they were headed to PKs…and that’s when everything went black! Since it was after 9:30 PM the field lights went off and the captains and refs were left wondering what to do. After some discussions and negotiations we decided the game would go on but we would have to move one of the goals to where the park lights were still operating. So yes, the final chapter of this game was not decided on the “regulation” field, but on a side patch of grass where we had man handled one of the goals and painted a penalty spot.

PKs are PKs but I will say that we were rewarded with 10 truly wonderful shots from each team and the whole game came down to the last two attempts. Since Race was the first to kick, the clincher came when Victor guessed a Vesuvian kick and came up with the save. The last kick was then taken for Race by Cullen Meade who calmly put the ball into the corner and that was all she wrote. Race Street wins and advances to the Finals against Bonte.

Cell phone Video by roving fReporter, Charlie Flowe. (See a larger version.)

This was a great game and it caps off a wonderful season. Big thanks to Ricky and Chris for officiating, and Ben Graff and his team for a magnificent game. We salute you!

In what may be a BVFC first, Bonte defeated BVB in double OT, 2 - 1. Reports point to a spirited game, with that winning goal coming in the last 5 minutes. So last year’s championship team, Bonte, advances to the final where they will square off against the winner of tomorrow’s clash between Vesuvio and the Racers. This should be a hotly contested match-up.

Latest Standings

Thanks to Dave P. for reffing.

Pardon the delay….This November, team Bonte will either play like their impressive record expects and retain the championship title, or the cup will be snatched up by one of the hungry challengers!

The points have been calculated and the standings have been updated. The four teams meet in semifinal matches starting tomorrow (Tuesday) and the match-ups are tough.

The first crack comes in the leading game, pitting BVFC champs, the Waffles, against the scrappy Drinkers. The winner squares off against the victor in the Racer, Calamari duel. No champion has captured a second title yet. Will Bonte buck the trend?

There is no denying that Bonte jumped into the tournament with confidence and dominated, but lately they’ve had some tough matches. Vesuvio firmly punched into second place by mid October and the Racers have enjoyed a late season rally. BVB has struggled with injuries at the end of the season, but this is the team that stopped Vesuvio’s early run - so watch out!

Game Recaps:

I did not get much back in terms of reports so this will be spotty. Please add details in the ‘Comments’:

Sun 11/02 : Race Vs Mega
Second match-up after last week’s Race forfeit due to low numbers (3 players showed up). Both teams showed up in numbers and started strong. Race came out on top: 4 - 0

Sun 11/01 : BVB Vs Mega
An underhanded BVB falls to MegaWords 5-3

Sun 10/30 : Bonte Vs Race
What happens when 2 undermanned teams meet at Sack’s on a dark cold night? A long slog of a game with attacks and counters strikes. Quite fun! Race slipped one in with about 20 seconds left for the win (Bonte’s first loss). 1 - 0