City Stars Advance To Semi Finals With 4-2 Defeat Of Western Mass
August 13, 2008 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Cleveland City Stars News Release
The Cleveland City Stars advanced to the ULS-2 Semi Finals with a 4-2 victory over Western Mass.
Cleveland will travel to Richmond to face the 2nd place Kickers on Saturday August 16th. In This Issue City Stars Advance To Semi Finals With 4-2 Defeat Of Western Mass
City Stars Advance To Semi Finals With 4-2 Defeat Of Western Mass On what can only be described as a quintessential soccer evening, the Cleveland City Stars hoped to keep their championship dream alive with a win over the Western Mass Pioneers. The brutally entertaining match ended the Pioneers season as they fell to the now semi-final bound City Stars 4-2. The Stars will travel to Richmond on Saturday to face their nemesis in the second round of the USL-2 playoffs.
Tonight's match wasn't missing anything. It had more than its share of drama including bookings, sending offs, spectacular goals made, tremendous saves, tension and of course a victory for the good guys.
The third meeting between these two clubs this year started out as a contentious affair. The Pioneers accumulated nine fouls and a yellow card by the 27th minute and by the end of the half the Western Mass head coach had been sent off for the second time at Krenzler this season. By the end of the 98 minutes of sparring both teams had tallied 23 fouls and Western Mass earned seven cards to City's three but the Pioneers ended the match a man down after Frederico Molinari was sent off in the 68th minute.
The sedate Martin Rennie showed no nerves prior to the match feeling his team was really beginning to gel at just the right time. "We are coming off a win over Charlotte on their home pitch and they have been the best club all season. And our keeper has the best goals against average in the league," he explained. In fact, behind Charlotte, the Stars have given up the fewest goals on the year and Reed, getting the start tonight, managed to hold the ever pesky Pioneers to just two scores on their 9 shots.
Floyd Franks, who unfortunately left the game early after some trouble with his knee, was not able to score a goal for his mom as he had promised, but was instrumental in setting up the first goal of the match. The Pioneers earned their first booking in the 12th minute and two minutes later the Stars got the crowd into it for a different reason. City grabbed an early goal when Jason Hotchkin received a ball from Franks and sent it into the box finding the head of Schulte. The ever dependable captain directed the header over the gathering crowd and dropped it into the corner of the net past a diving Matt Glaeser.
Just another two minutes ticked off the clock before Western Mass equalized. Too many bodies had congregated in the box creating enough of a cushion for #13 Jeff Deren to send a floater off the underside of the crossbar. Eric Reed got a hand on the rebound but was unable to keep it from finding its way to the wrong side of the goal line.
Derek Potteiger was pleading with the ref in the 23rd minute as he picked himself off the ground. The ref wisely allowed the Stars to play advantage as Jason Hotchkin received the ball on the outside. He touched it inside to Ryan Stewart who flicked it on to the Stars' intensely creative forward Sallieu Bundu. Bundu blasted the ball into the right side netting. By the time Glaeser reacted to the shot it was past him for City's second score of the night.
The referees in tonight's match were as much a part of the action as the players and fans. Their conscientious efforts kept the energized sides in check just enough to make the game both entertaining and stressful for Stars fans. Things got just a bit dicey in the 43rd minute when Pioneers Forward Neil Krause collided with Eric Reed as he came out on the ball. Reed was vulnerable as his came off his line and Krause's forearm left him on the ground. Krause was carded, and a minute later the Pioneer's coach was also booked sending him to an early locker room visit.
Even though the pace of the second half was much slower there was still enough action to keep the crowd involved and energized. In the 47th minute Eric Reed was forced to make a diving save on a low ball to maintain the advantage for the Stars. At the other end of the pitch Pioneers keeper Matt Glaeser made two gutsy saves within two minutes first punching the ball out of his box nearly out of it himself, and then heading a ball past a charging Godfrey Tenoff as he sought to capitalize on a breakaway. Even with 4 goals scored on him, Glaeser was easily the defensive player of the match for Western Mass.
It wasn't until the 64th minute that Western Mass was able to equalize for a second time. Similar in build up to their first score, #22 Neil Krause received a ball from Omar McFarlane at the top of the box and powered the ball past the sure hands of Eric Reed.
Four minutes later the antics resumed. As Adriano Sella picked himself up off the pitch, Federico Molinari was being escorted off the field. Jason Hotchkin took the resulting free kick, once again finding the head of 6'4" Musa Otieno. Otieno finished in classic style, with a snap of the head putting the Stars ahead for the third time on the evening, and this time for good.
The final nail in the coffin for Western Mass came in the 89th minute when the Stars put the game away. The teams traded punches for several minutes each time down the field ending in either a near miss or a tremendous save. But Glaeser's luck ran out when Adam Ruud, who had recently been subbed in for Ryan Stewart, sent a shot across the goal which brought Glaeser to the turf. He managed to keep it out of the net but failed to secure it leaving the ball and an open net for Sallieu Bundu. Bundu didn't hesitate to capitalize on the gift putting the ball into the net for the City's fourth on the night.
Even with a two goal cushion the 4 minutes of extra time seemed interminable to the City Stars faithful as they waited for the final whistle which would mean another victory in the first round of the playoffs. The cheers are still echoing from the 1,600 plus in attendance as Cleveland prepares for their trip to Richmond on Saturday.
The Richmond Kickers are set to host the Cleveland City Stars again. There is already a rich history for these two teams, even though the Stars have only been in the league for two seasons. Richmond kept the Stars from advancing in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup last season, and was responsible for City's only loss in 2007. The Kickers were on the winning end of the last matchup between the two teams and City would like nothing better than to redeem themselves in their next meeting.
The Green Army has organized a road trip to Richmond for Saturday August 16th. Vans will leave from the City Stars home office in Twinsburg at 10:00 a.m. The cost per person is $35.00 which includes transportation and game ticket. Spaces are limited so book early. For more information contact the Stars at 216 916-6586 or check out the website at www.clevelandcitystars.com
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United Soccer League Championship Stories from August 13, 2008
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