BSC Inter: 1 - Roos: 4

Great night for a run out at OP (field is in terrific shape).  Must say Reid was the difference maker today with ruthless finishing on two mistakes from our backs in the first half.  Our new addition Peter Montante got on the board in his debut, which is a statement from our wingers (outside of Pannulo), so hopefully there is more to come once he catches up to form.  Roos opened 2-0 from sustained pressure.  Lots of youth in the mid that looks promising for them and it would appear that there is room for more chemistry.  On the other end Inter put together several dangerous counters through Occhuito and McManus that forced Slaybk into a handful of critical saves.  That said, Greg did get caught off his line on Inter's goal from a set piece.  There is something about seeing a nine foot tall keeper get a ball looped over his head that is simply mesmerizing, but  all that aside it was a strong game from him and Arcara.    

Second half was all over the place.  Very little possession from either side and a lot of physical play around the park.  Inter brought the pressure early to try and lock up the score, but we couldn't find that last touch clear on net.  Around 25 in, Roos found their third goal off a broken corner.  The ball wasn't completely cleared off the initial effort and Roos played it back in to an open (was it Schuler?) who turned and finished well.     At that point both teams generally settled into cruise control.  Inter pushed a high line hoping to capitalize off turnovers, and Roos found a late fourth goal on a breakaway from midfield.  Arcara did well to save the initial effort but the follow-up was calmly placed.

All in all, great weather and conditions out at the Composite Site.  Can't complain despite the scoreline and ... seriously, what the hell was with that ref?  Weird calls against both sides.  Oh well.  Doesn't look like any long term injuries resulted out of the encounter (though I feel like I've been passed around a prison) so all in all a much better experience than simply forfeiting like we did to Sharpshooters last year.  

Good luck with the rest of the cup Roos.

Not too much else to say really. Minehan is usually good with his reporting and here is no different. I'll just give some more details I suppose. Ref unit was pretty good I thought. No complaints from us at all.

Again we had a soild group and bench so we made that work for us again. 1st have we held the ball for stretchs while BSC looked to find McManus and then have him find guys on overlaps. We nearly got a goal ten in when Reid his the near side post after beating his defender. He wouldn't be denied for long though as Reid's first came when Garrett Rehner (quickly becoming a favorite player of mine on the team) played a nice over the top pass to Scott Schuler. Schuler in turn found a streaking Reid who's pace gave BSC Inter fits yesterday. Reid hammered a blast that rooted Arcara for the 1-0 lead maybe 20 minutes in. Reids second came 7 minutes later where a solid spell possession from us ended with Mike Skrypczyk found Reid again and this time a toe poke gave us a 2-0 lead. Their goal came just before have and it was one where I'm not sure if that was the intended result of Montante's chip. At first look it was him just trying to flick on the ball but if it was intentional it was a super play by him. From our perspective, at we let off after the 2nd and made it easy for them to get back into the game. Phil made some different line ups to get guys more PT and it led to a little bit more disjointed performance end of half from us. Really after we got the 2nd we shifted back down into 1st gear and gave them life.

The 2nd half pace was much slower though and still mainly controlled by RFC. They had a chance to make it 2-2 in 2nd but Greg made a nice save and they really didnt have much in the way of chances after that. 3rd goal was a Reid corner that was only cleared to the 18'. Andy Nati scooped up the ball and found Skrypczyk alone in front for his first of the year. And with minutes to go Richie Gordon continued his selfless passing for us with a simple ball to Schuler who had a breakaway from 40 yards out. Arcara did well to stop first but Schuler scored on his own rebound. Then came my favorite moment of the game were Mike Gandt tried to dribble through all the BSC Inter defense (a few guys twice) but seemingly refused to shoot the ball. Good times Gandt. End whistle 4-1 Roos onto Rd 2.

All credit to BSC Inter though. Despite no subs they played hard all game.  McManus did a great job as their target man and gave us some issues in the 1st. I can see now why they claimed I over looked him last year in my awards. He really was their best player yesterday. Arcara was also as good as advertised in my first time seeing him in game. A really solid keeper with a cannon of punt. They are def a good team and can make the playoffs in Championship with their hot start. Best of luck to them this season. Good group of guys.

Schieber "not much really to add here" ...four massive block paragraphs later...

Its how i trick you into reading them all. Nice to see a wedding doesnt keep you off the forums.