LOS BANDITOS
To The Seven Seniors I Have Had The Privilege of Working
With For The Past Four Years.
Your Commitment, Your
Dedication, and Your Love Of The Game Has Produced Some
Of The Best Soccer Brown
University Has Ever Seen.
Best Of Luck With Life,
Love, And The Beautiful Game
After a stunning rendition of our National Anthem by the younger and more musically gifted of the McDuff brothers, the game kicked off, and almost immediately Gavey muscled his way past a defender to produce the Bears first corner of the game. Dyl drove in a brilliant ball, that was flicked over by Markes and
volleyed beneath the Bulldog keeper by the versatile Big Ben!
1-0 Good Guys in the first two minutes!
Unfortunately, this stunning effort was soon followed by a bit of lazy defending as a collection of awkward
tackles produced several free kicks for the Bulldogs and the ball pinballed its
way through the Bears’ box. After a series of good battles from our midfielders Gavey, Tmac
and Tariq, one of these challenges led to a counter and a rip from Tariq just high over the bar.
However, this aggressive and physical battle of the middies would persist throughout the rest of the game.
While there was one scary giveaway in the back by Captain Duff, it was thankfully
blasted harmlessly over by the Bulldog's overeager striker. Meanwhile, the Bears' offense found itself with
several quick breakaways including a Remick layoff to Belair who scuffed it
wide, and a brilliant streaking run from Gavey that produced a cross and header from Bizzle that was brushed just wide.
Then came the goal of retribution. Off yet another Bulldog
corner scrum, the Bears failed to make first contact and a Yale midfielder
punched the ball against the crossbar. As the Bears looked helplessly on, another Yale
player pounced upon the rebound and smashed in into the back of the net to draw
the Bulldogs level. 1-1.
This unfortunate turn of events was followed by a dominating
response from the Bears who surged forward offensively producing chances with
Gavey and Ben both having speculative efforts that were saved. Then after a
free kick from Tmac that was turned over by Dyl, Yale countered and found
themselves on a breakaway only to be denied by the strength of Schloss.
Besides this one attempt, the remainder of the half belonged
to the Bears who pushed forward with chance after chance only to be met with
questionable challenges, a lack of sympathy from the ref (including a clear
PK after Gavey was crushed in the box on a “double leg tackle”), and some
convincing acting from the “Yale School of Drama” as the half came to a close.
----
After Yale took off in the opening minutes of the game, the
Bears once again established their dominance with Tmac’s interpretive movement
section “Dancing with Bulldogs” and a succession of shots and crosses that
continued to be pushed just wide by the stingy Yale keeper. As the Yale
cameraman put it “Where was this team in the first half?” Our offense
continued to press forward and create chance after chance, led by a bandaged
Belair, the tornado Tmac and some brilliant work on the flanks.
Although the vast majority of the game was played in the
Bulldogs half, for some reason, we still found ourselves struggling defensively
as Yale was able to counter off our intensive offensive pressure. Flurries of corners
and crosses came in from Dylan and Gavey on the flanks, Tmac danced through
dumbstruck defenders, headers glanced wide for Big Ben and Belair, shots flew
over for Tariq and Voltaire, but the ball remained net-repellent, as the hungry
Bears continued to knock on the Bulldog’s door
After a bizarre yellow was awarded to the young Akeel (apparently for getting fouled?) and one last breathtaking effort from the ole
noggin of Big Ben, regulation puttered to a halt, as the Bears faced another nerve-wracking
overtime.
---
During O.T. the Bears intensified their command over the
Bulldogs with quality possession and good off the ball movement even after 90+
minutes of play. Though the first period ended without much fanfare, as the
second and final period began, the Bears produced their best chances of the
game. First it came with a 20 second scrum in the Bulldog box, reminiscent of
the youth league “beehive” tactic where players kicked wildly and frantically
at the ball as it bumbled its way through the 18'.
Next it was Tmac’s chance to turn up the heat as he sent a
laser just wide of the net, and followed this effort up a minute later with a
brilliant cross to Bizzle, who knocked it just over the goal. And finally came the
glory run of Pepeciño, as he duked one defender, than another, pushing the ball
effortlessly forward, across the box, and striking a low hard drive that ricocheted off the back post and trickled across the face of the Bulldog net untouched. It
was this dazzling effort that seemed to epitomize the Bear’s misfortune as the
final whistle sounded, revealing truth behind the old adage “sometimes the ball
just doesn’t bounce your way”.
It was a solemn ending to a game well played by the Bears. With this stalemate and the discovery of Cornell’s victory over Dartmouth came the
painful realization that our shot at the Ivy League Title was no longer in our
hands, dependent upon Cornell dropping points to Columbia, and on a victory
against Dartmouth.
On a happier note, shoutout to First Team Capital One Academic All-District
Honor recipients Dylan Remick and Sam Kernan-Schloss
Up next, the final game of the regular season for the Bears
will be played at Dartmouth, and broadcast nationally via the Fox Soccer Channel at 7 p.m.
Stay tuned!
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