BUSS 4 - Yemen Elite 0

Unfortunately "The Cage" was not playable yet so we had to play at Lackawanna High School's soccer field yesterday. It isn't the worst field in the Premier division that I have seen so far (Clarence) but the combination of a lack of width plus the muddy conditions (from being played on at 4pm) made things tough for both squads. Possession was difficult at times with players in close proximity to one another on almost every touch.

We brought 20 players, including Abdi Sabtow and Mo Hussein, fresh off suspension and injury respectively, while Elite had 12, with a 13th coming a bit into the first half.

In the 4th minute Yony Guardado did well to get to a Musse through ball a split second before the Elite defender, poke it between his legs and walk in one on one with the keeper. Yony was able to slot it to his right between the keeper and the post to put us up early.

1-0 BUSS

Things died down for a little bit with both teams having a hard time keeping possession for more than a few passes before an errant pass went to a defender. Kovan played well for Elite, creating a few decent chances but didn't have his finishing boots with him on the day.

At minute 23, Mo Hussein, in his first game back from a nasty MCL injury, finished off a nice spell of possession by putting the ball 5 hole on the Elite keeper after a smart pass from Hunter Sherman. Hunter could have taken an off balance shot but was able to find Mo to double the lead.

2-0 BUSS

At half time we all sort of realized that we had missed a few quality chances that could have put the game away early. Abdi Sabtow, Hunter Walsh, Kyle Clifford, and George Tor all wished they could have back a miss or two. We had the better of the possession in the first half. I would say somewhere around 60-65%. We knew that Elite would come at us hard in the second half.

In the 60th minute Dan Tarbell beat his man down the line and placed a beautiful pass across the box to a waiting Hunter Sherman. The big man doesn't miss from there and lived up to his moniker as he put the ball past the keeper.

3-0 BUSS

To seal the game Abdi Sabtow walked in one on one with the keeper after a nice give and go (or a one-two, whichever you prefer) with Yony Guardado, and slipped the ball far post.

4-0 BUSS

The game ended that way. Elite had a few decent chances but Drew Colosimo earned his second clean sheet of the year with very little to do.

Ahmad Adil was a monster on the back line for Elite. He seemed to constantly find the ball on his head, snuffing out our attack and clearing the lines. Mateo was his usual silky smooth self, although it didn't seem like he had much help to work with and therefore was fairly silent on the day.

Man of the match for this week goes to Yony Guardado. Yony was able to remain consistent with his touches, despite the small field and weather. He was tremendous on the first goal of the game and his transition to attacking CM halfway through the game was seamless, creating chances with his passes including the final goal.

Yemen Elite is always a favorite opponent of mine, personally. In talking with Faress after the game it seems like the Yemenese community is not as involved as it once was. Some of my favorite BDSL memories are of playing in "The Cage" while getting heckled by the opposing teams fans. It seems like that has been forgotten since they have a different home field. In fact, we had more fans than they did...which is a shame.

Hopefully they can right the ship because the BDSL is a better league with teams like Yemen Elite in it.

As far as BUSS goes, we play BSC International at 6:30pm this Thursday at West Seneca Soccer Complex to advance in the Tehel Cup. Then we come back home to D'Youville after Memorial Day to take on Roos June 4th. So far we have given up 1 goal in all competitions this season. We are hoping to keep it that way.

Good game to Elite and good luck the rest of the way.