SPAL Buffalo FC 3 - Cheektowaga 0

Muggy, humid evening at Nichols as both squads showed ready to play with 3-4 subs each. Great crowd on hand and a thank you to everyone that came out in support. Cheektowaga had a great early opportunity that somehow snuck through the defense on a missed clearance attempt, but the shot went wide. SPAL pushed play from that point on and never looked back. With the exception of a few tactical fouls between 20-25 yards out, Cheektowaga did not threaten with any quality opportunities. We had the better of the chances throughout the first half, but a combination of poor finishing and great goaltending by the Cheektowaga keeper led to a 0-0 halftime score.

We remained confident that we would pull off this win and pushed the pace more in the second half, where #21 took over on the finishing sheet. Our first goal came off a great run from #9 leading to a difficult low shot that Cheektowaga GK couldn't handle; he gave up a nice rebound that was neatly tucked into the corner. The other 2 goals were a great individual effort and gave us the comfortable lead that we'd been looking for in many of our playoff/cup matches. The third goal really sealed the win as Cheektowaga looked gassed and frustrated.

Same 2 teams match up again on Sunday for divisional glory as well.

Cheers.

#25 was the Hat Trick Hero in the 2nd half for us, not #21. #21 didn't make the game.

too many Ryan C's.