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Green Hope 3 vs. Leesville 2
Green Hope welcomed Leesville Road to Falcon Stadium on Wednesday and found
a way to win 3-2 against the 2004 State Champions.
Following the loss to Jordan on Monday, a few line-up changes were made:
Taylor Estrada moved to forward to link up with John Hindman, and JP Lebiecz
moved from outside midfield to center midfield. Mike Fox started at left
midfield and Justin Taylor moved from forward to right midfield. In goal,
starter Eric Santilli was given the night off to rest and sophomore keeper
Alex Long was given the opportunity to show his talents.
The game started with Leesville applying high pressure all over the field,
which seemed to fluster the Falcons early. Leesville won the ball, came down
the left side and buried a shot in the net. Green Hope down 0-1. The Falcons
battled back and Taylor Estrada was in the right place at the right time when
Leesville's keeper and a defender collided on a high ball. The ball dropped to
Estrada's feet and he calmly put it home from 18 yards. 1-1.
In the second half, Leesville played a deep cross that Alex Long came out to
snag out of the air, but the ball just escaped his right hand and dropped in the
6 yard box. A mad scrum ensued with Leesville finally getting a foot on it to
pound a short range shot in the net. 1-2.
Green Hope increased the pressure, and it paid off when Thomas Lindsey was
taken down in the Leesville penalty box. The ref awarded a penalty shot. Ryan
Dowd stepped up and drilled a low hard shot that was saved by the 6'6" Leesville
keeper, but Dowd had the presence of mind and discipline to follow up on his shot
and tap it in for the 2-2 tie.
With less than 2 minutes to go, Green Hope got another free kick at the right
side of midfield. With time winding down Leesville brought everyone back to defend
on the top of the 18. Most of the players were on the left side of the field for
the long cross. Jared Dapkevich, always aware on the field, noticed Chao Han was
isolated one-on-one down the right flank. Dapkevich astutely played a crisp and
accurate 40 yard pass to Chao, who beat his man and served it into the box where
Estrada deftly redirected into the corner of the net for a 3-2 lead. Time expired
shortly after that, and the Falcons gained their first win of 2006 to even their
record at 1-1.
Overall, Green Hope played poorly and again struggled with their
passing and movement off the ball. There were some bright moments,
but the team gave the ball away entirely too often - both under
pressure and without pressure. However, the good news may be that
winning a game where they played so poorly gives the team great
hope that when they start playing better by possessing and moving,
they could dominate! Only time will tell! Go Falcons!
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