Cleveland City Stars Go To Top With 1-0 Win Against Harrisburg
Published on August 3, 2007 under United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Cleveland City Stars News Release
Cleveland On a beautiful night in Cleveland, the City Stars took on the Harrisburg City Islanders in a game that would determine first place in the USL Second Division. The Division leading Richmond Kickers were off tonight leaving the door open for either Harrisburg or Cleveland to take first place with a win.
Harrisburg and Cleveland entered the game tied for second place with 35 points, although, the City Islanders still have a game in hand. The game marked the final regular season home game for the City Stars and they had put up an impressive 6-0-3 home record thus far in their inaugural season.
The City Stars were fast out of the gate with a quick goal from a penalty kick. Forward Ian Leibbrandt was brought to the ground by two City Islanders defenders and the referee made no hesitation in pointing to the penalty spot. Chris Lemons stepped up and made no mistake opening the scoring in the 8th minute.
The rest of the first half was relatively calm with neither side making a serious attempt on goal.
In the second half, the City Islanders came out of the dressing room in determined fashion attempting 9 shots. Hunter Gilstrap, however, was equal to the task in the City Stars net making several key saves to keep Harrisburg at bay.
Both sides made a flurry of substitutions trying to find a decisive end to the game. It was not to be, however, and the City Stars picked up their tenth win of the season.
The game marked the end of the City Stars regular season at home to which Defender, Jack Cummings remarked, "It was an intense ninety minutes, but it was great to achieve this victory. It is very satisfying to be in first place and I want to thank all of the fans for their support".
Game MVP Goalkeeper, Hunter Gilstrap echoed the comments of Cummings, "It was a game without a lot of rhythm, but we worked as hard as we could and the ball bounced our way today. I want to give all of the credit to the ten guys in front of me".
With the victory of the City Stars improve to a record of 10-1-8 (38 points) to stand at the top of the USL Second Division table, even if it is only for a day. Harrisburg and Richmond return to the field on Saturday night as the race for first place in the division heats up.
The City Stars play Richmond Kickers in their last game of the season. It is a game with playoff ramifications and may well decide who wins the league and who gains home field advantage for the playoffs.
Should the City Stars win home field advantage in the playoffs, tickets will be available through the team website at www.clevelandcitystars.com
Thank you to all the fans for making the inaugural season such a success.
United Soccer League Championship Stories from August 3, 2007
- Cleveland City Stars Go To Top With 1-0 Win Against Harrisburg - Cleveland City Stars
- Islanders Drop 1-0 Decision to Cleveland - Penn FC
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