Bella Vista FC

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!

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