Bella Vista FC

Vesuvio played BV at Sacks this past Saturday. Conrad, Jerry and Lance reffed; thanks to them. The story of the game was in the numbers. Vesuvio had 4 subs while BVFC started with 9 players and ended up with 10.  It was 3-1 at half, with one of Vesuvio’s goals coming as an own goal.  BVFC’s goal came from Eduardo on a sweet chip into the top corner. In the second half, the Vesuvio fresher legs made the difference, with the score ending up 8-1. Vesuvio goals were scored by the usual suspects - Mike, Nick, Tim and - Fabio, the Calamari Goalie (who moved up front for the end of the game and scored a beautiful back heel), plus a not so surprising hat trick from coming of age,  wannabe Italian striker Marcus, offsetting his record of point blank misses.  Thanks Ben for reporting.

For BV, this may be the moment of self reflection.  Tomorrow they play Bonte.  Can they truly rise up?  Showing up as a full squad with subs would be a start.  Q and Steph must gather up their troops and refocus them, or kiss this season goodbye.

Thanks again to the refs.

Bonte v. Race (aka bonte 2), rain delay, match rescheduled for Nov. 08 at Noon at Palumbo.

Could this be the rise of the Beer boys? Last night’s game saw Brauhaus defeat BV 4 - 2. Game report from BV captain Stephanie Singer:

“We lost 4-2. We dominated the 1st half. They had a few chances off free kicks and capitalized. Close match until the end. Thx to mike geller for volunteering to ref. Alex, reggie and 2 other scored for them. I think both tonys scored for us”

Hopefully more details will come, particularly about goal scorers and such.

The Beer boys look mighty thirsty now. Prost!

Vesuvio seems to be the “James Brown” team early this season, securing the award for the hardest working squad around. Already 3 games under their belts and the season is just over a week old.

Vesuvio’s last game saw them rack up their first victory with a solid showing against El Fuego.

Captain Graff writes:
“Game 3, we beat El Fuego 4-2. Nick scored first for us, then they came back and equalized from Stan I think from a corner. 1-1 at half. Then in the second we got 3 (Drew, Scott H and Drew again). Theirs was scored by Kate I think. Good game all around. Richard reffed with Lance, Glen and Bula on the lines.”

With this win, the fighting Vesuvians erupt into 2nd place in the standings!

Saturday’s game between Race St. Cafe, and the BVFC team (formerly BVB) ended in a 2 - 2 tie.

Here is the game report from BV Captain, Q:
“Race Street 2 - Bella Vista 2 - In an evenly played, back and forth game, the two teams battled (dribbled) to a draw. BV opened up the scoring in the first half with a nice shot from Eduardo Guevara. Race countered, taking advantage of a softer than expected clearance and an open net, with one of Race’s taller members heading the ball home against the talented but Lilliputian BV defense. With the score tied up at the midway point, BV looked to do a better job of controlling the midfield. It wasn’t too long before BV was rewarded with another goal from Eduardo Guevara, albeit on a rolling shot that slipped under a diving Alex Dewes. Nine times out of ten Alex stops that shot, but luck is the residue of hard work, and the goal was well earned. And so it was, too, for Race Street, rewarded for the increased pressure they put on the BV back four with a copycat goal against an unfortunate Sal Zullo. Both teams had chances to put themselves ahead in the latter stages of the match, with Bill Inden of BV coming closest with a blistering strike that hit off the crossbar. The draw was an accurate reflection of the parity between the two teams and, as Race co-captain Lance pointed out, the general level of parity between all squads this season.”

and the rebuttal from Race captain, Lance:
“Eduardo scored an early goal for them.  We countered with a goal from Matt on a great header off a set piece.  Eduardo scored again in the second half.  We again countered with a goal from Vatche.  We played with 10.”

This seems to put Race St. in an early lead for the coveted BVFC cup! Will it last? This game also puts BV striker and the pride of Argentina, Eduardo Guevera in a 3 way tie for the 2nd place “Golden Boot” award along with Mike Geller and Drew from Vesuvio with 2 goals a piece. The Golden Boot leader is no other than Race’s own Vatche Manoukian with 3.

Team Vesuvio, under the leadership of Ben Graff and James (Big English) Holt fought their way back to tie the next match against the Brauhaus Beer Boys lead by Stu and Ezra.

Details From Captain Graff:
“Our game 2, against Brauhaus, they scored two in the first half, one off a beautiful shot from Loren the other from Dave Petit. We came back with 2 in the second, Mike Geller from the outside and then Geller again on a PK after a handball. Ended 2-2. Good game, thanks to Lance, Q and Ricky for reffing.”

I said it before, Brauhaus boasts a talented roster and when they start clicking, other teams will have trouble standing up to their offensive punch. Vesuvio is solid as usual and continue to be the “come from behind” masters. Good show!!!

The BVFC 2009 championship kicked off with long time rivals Bonte and Vesuvio.  Bonte, a brand new squad, and Vesuvio, a roster that boasts some of the league’s finest players.  Vesuvio began with an unrelenting assault on the Bonte D, that resulted in half a dozen chances, and a goal by Marcus, who was able to navigate some muck to get by Haines and finally Josh the keeper.  Bonte got better as the game went on, and began to create chances.  Before the end of the first half, a cross from Billy on a counter attack left Bula alone against former waffle Fabio.  The score was 1-1.  James, Vesuvio’s star midfielder, pulled his hamstring, and he may be going to England for treatment.  In the second half, chances were plenty for both teams.  Bonte capitalized with a blistering shot from 24 yards by Glenn Wilken, that was perfect.  2-1 Bonte.

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Other results:

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Race St (a concoction of last years champions Bonte and finalists Race), were impressive with a 3-1 win over Brauhaus. Race St. striker, Vatche, came up big with 2 goals, while Chelsea Ben put the third in from an impressive free kick outside the box.

The Beer boys managed to get on the board after a blistering shot from inside the box from newcomer Chris Arnold was saved most impressively by Race keeper Alex only to be cranked in on the follow up by BH all Italian striker, Vincenzo Berghella.

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On Sunday, BV, playing with only 8, were able to hold League favorites El Fuego to a 0-0 draw until halftime.  In the second half, the Burritos scored  1 to win.