Bella Vista FC

Race St won the BVFC championship, but was it deserved? YES! …

From one point of view, one would ask, how could a team with 8 draws including both their playoffs (albeit winners from pks), eventually end up at the top. Race St won only 3 games in the entire season and postseason (not including pks), hardly a profound achievement. But in the style that the Giants claimed the NFL crown a couple of years ago, the last place qualifiers dig deep and fight persistently till the final whistle blows. Amidst the echoes of Vatche’s team-building rants, and Chris Bull’s geico-gecko style calls to action, there is a sense of belief in themselves, that throughout the season, they have been kings of comebacks - to Draw! But 8 draws!? Yes, look deeper, and one would see that many of them, especially the most critical games, were Race St coming back to WIN a draw after being down goals. Both the playoff games were exactly this story. Race st were down 2-0 to Bonte and in the last quarter of the game, they were able to draw. In the final, Race St were down 1 goal, and they were able to draw. Hence, what makes a champion? Persistence!

Perhaps the lesson for the others is that, whether you’re up or down, one’s persistence in finishing strong is incredibly important, especially in a battle of wills where Race was triumphant. As they say, “it ain’t over till it’s over.”

Congratulations Race St on a second BVFC Championship.

This was the year of irony. Irony of the final standings: Bonte wins the league, ends up 4th. The top 4 teams that made the playoffs ended up in reverse order! Race, Fuego, Vesuvio and Bonte.

It was a double feature today at Sack’s field for BVFC soccer.

At noon, Vesuvio and Bonte squared off for the third place spot and a lively game was soon underway. The day was spectacular and the field had greatly improved since last week’s mud-fest. The Waffles and Calamaris put on an offensive show with almost back and forth attacks and goals. Team captains will have to fill in the details but at the end of regulation time, Vesuvio emerged victorious 4 - 3. Overall, a fun game that was greatly enjoyed by both sides and the smattering of spectators. Vesuvio takes 3rd place in the league tournament, and Bonte misses the podium for the first time in 2 seasons after an impressive regular season run.

The main event, between El Fuego and Race Street Cafe, for the coveted BVFC cup started shortly after 2PM. Both teams came out strong, but Race was clearly in control in the first 20 - 25 minutes with most of the action in the midfield. By the midway point, Fuego really stepped up their pace and capitalized on a stupid defensive error that put
Riqui in a 1 on 1 with the Race keeper, Alex. Riqui placed a nice shot into the right corner. At the half, Fuego lead 1 - 0.

In the second half, Race Street started off rather flat but managed to find their mojo once again through hard work in the midfield and defense. The pressure paid off with a nice cross from the right corner deep in Fuego territory, straight to Cullen waiting in front of the goal. Cullen made a nice header past Victor the keeper for the tie. After fighting for the rest of the half, it was clear we were heading into OT and possibly PKs.

20 minutes of OT were exciting and full of attacks and opportunities but neither team could convert so it went into PKs. Even in PKs, the result was drawn out due to some great saves by the keepers, as well as some near misses by some of the shooters. After 8 rounds, Race St. won on a great shot from Jon Elison. Race now becomes only the second team to have 2 titles under its belt (along with Bonte).

In what will soon become another BVFC classic, Bonte Cafe and Race Street clashed in a thrilling match last Tuesday at palumbo field. At the end of a long night, after double overtime and Penalty kicks, Race St. came out on top.

Both sides showed up in numbers, bringing their heavies in an anticipated re-match of last season’s final championship game. Of course, last November Bonte slipped in an unanswered second half goal to take the Championship. This season, Race st was looking to change the outcome, and Bonte was looking at the opportunity to advance and defend their crown for an unprecedented third time.

Both teams started off strong with a number of shots for both sides that were managed by the keepers. The half ended in 0s

in the second half, Bonte came out screaming and put more pressure on the Race back line. It paid off in a brilliant penetration by Nacmy to the race line where he passed off to another waffle for the goal. Soon after Race back, Juan, fouled Steffen in the box, earning a PK that was converted by Glen. It was now 2-0, Bonte.

Facing a big loss, Race really stepped up and pressed like mad. This soon earned a PK in the Bonte box. Vatche took it, and then it was a 2 - 1 game. Race then played like a team possessed, and were literally all over the pitch and the effort paid off with a cazy box-bouncing, redirect off of Heri’s anatomy to tie the game with 20 seconds left.

Due to the late hour, ref and captains decided to go straight to PKs. See the video for the outcome.

Race advances to the final for the second season in a row and is looking for a second championship. Bonte will now battle Vesuvio for the third place spot. Fuego advances to the final for a second time (since 2007) and is looking for their first title. Big thanks to Dave and the rest of the helpers running lines

(Thanks to Charlie Flowe for the video)

2nd Semifinal (Bonte v. Race St.) to be played Tuesday Nov 17 at 8pm at Palumbo.

El Fuego and Vesuvio engaged in an epic battle on the muddy Sacks pitch on Saturday. Although the early game was cancelled, the captains for this one agreed to play. Conditions were improved by a lot of groundskeeping work by James and Zach sweeping out the larger puddles. We agreed that, while the pitch was not in the best shape, it would be equal for both teams and would at least be softer.
Each team had pretty full squads, with Kate missing through injury for Fuego and Gabe (injury) and Eli (moved to Colorado) missing for Vesuvio.

The game went back and forth, with the teams tied at the end of 90 minutes 2-2. Goals for Vesuvio by James and goals for Fuego by Stan and Riqui. Due to concerns about diminishing daylight to play in, the captains and refs (thanks Dave and Lance, plus Heri for the first half) decided to do two 10 minute extra periods instead of 15, no golden goal. During the first extra time period, Riqui scored for Fuego. Vesuvio battled hard for an equalizer to take it to pk’s, but were unable to get the tie. Fuego therefore qualified for the final of the BVFC cup by a score of 3-2 after 110 minutes.

Great game, lots of fun, competitive but respectful. Thanks again to the refs.  Ben

Bonte, even though they lost 5-3 to Vesuvio yesterday in an exciting match, had the best overall performance winning with 22 points.  Bonte is looking for their 3rd title in a row.  Standings have been updated

El Fuego had the best defense only allowing 11 goals the entire season.  El Fuego is the only team in the top 4 without a title yet.

Vesuvio had the most aggressive offense scoring a remarkable 32 goals.

Saturday, Bonte plays Race St at noon at Sacks field.  El Fuego plays Vesuvio in the second semi at 2pm.

Vesuvio is now safely into the playoffs.

Race St is also virtually into the playoffs, unless Brauhaus win 17-0 in their final game.

So, the final spot is between El Fuego and Brauhaus.  Brauhaus must win.  El Fuego need only one win of their last 3 games.   The big showdown happens this Saturday at high noon at Sacks field where Fuego and Brauhaus meet to decide the final playoff spot!! Bring the family out to watch on a beautiful Saturday afternoon…

El Fuego

 STANDINGS UPDATED

In a match that was more competitive than the final score, Race Street defeated Brauhaus 3-0 on Thursday night.  This game was fiercely fought in the midfield, but the combinations worked by Cullen, Vatche and Heri proved to be too much in the end.  Cullen scored at the end of the first half on a very neat one-two overlapping run with Heri.  Race had a number of chances in the shadows of the North end of Sacks in the second half, with Vatche keeping up his goal-per-game pace.  Cullen added his second for the team’s third ignoring a difficult angle.  Race defenders Doug, Jon and Juan held dangerous Brauhausers Adel and Loren under wraps, and Alex made a couple of very nice saves on their limited chances.

I don’t know if Riqui sent one in, but Fuego beat Vesuvio 2-1 Saturday. Conrad reffed. It was a very good game, hard fought but fair. Kate scored first for Fuego, first half ended 1-0. Tim scored in the second half to equalize, then Matt Rankin got the winner. - Ben Graff Reports

This past Tuesday, Bonte got its second win of the season with a 4-2 win over BV.  The game was well fought.  Bella Vista are a team to reckon with when a full squad.  BV scorers were…   while the first 2 goals for Bonte were by Glenn Wilken, who then assisted Andy for the 3rd on a fast break, and Kris’s header in the last 4 minutes of the game made it 4-2.

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.