Fury FC Grow First Place Lead with Big Win in Texas
September 6, 2015 - North American Soccer League (NASL)
Ottawa Fury FC News Release
OTTAWA, ON- Ottawa Fury FC grew their first place lead to five points Saturday night with a 1-0 victory over the San Antonio Scorpions thanks to Oliver's second goal of the season. The Scorpions were reduced to 10-men in the 38th minute after Zourab Tsiskaridze was shown red after receive a second yellow. Ottawa's second half goal and Romuald Peiser's tenth shutout of the season was all the Fall Season leading Fury FC need to collect their first-ever victory over San Antonio and extend their road unbeaten streak to six games (3W-3D-0L). "It's a game that we controlled from start to finish and totally deserved the three points," said a proud Marc Dos Santos following the match. "Our guys never got away from our game plan and even with the red card and playing against 10 players we stayed calm and under control."
"This is a very important win in our run towards the post-season and I am very proud of this group."
Milton Palacios produced the best chance of the first half, but miss-fired on his close range shot. Ottawa held 64% possession in the opening five minutes but we unable to penetrate beyond the Scorpions back line with their opportunities on goal coming from distance. San Antonio lined-up in a 5-4-1 formation making little room for movement in front of the Scorpions goal.
Zourab Tsiskaridze received a yellow card in the 22nd minute and sixteen minutes later was shown another yellow for a reckless challenge on Mauro Eustaquio that produced a red card and San Antonio playing out the duration of the match with 10-men. The Scorpions also lost assist-leader Billy Forbes to injury and if that wasn't enough the temperature was over 30 degrees at kick-off.
It was a heated opening 45 minutes in many ways, but it ended scoreless.
Playing a man-up, Fury FC dictated the pace of the second half and were rewarded with an early goal. After sure-goal was cleared off the goal line off an Ottawa corner, Paulo Junior sent the ball back into the box finding an unmarked Oliver who headed his second goal in as many games passed Daniel Fernandes in the San Antonio goal. To Ottawa's good fortune, they not only had a man-advantage, but had statistics on their side ... Fury FC are 9W-2D-0L when scoring first this season.
Ottawa continued to press as they send cross-after-cross into the box, but the Scorpions remained compact and aimed to hit on the counter attack. After subbing in former Vancouver Whitecaps striker Eric Hassli, the Scorpions threaten with a handful of dangerous opportunities, but Fury FC defended as a unit blocking several shots and Peiser was always there to stop anything that made its way through.
Peiser tenth shutout of the season leads the NASL and helped Ottawa grow its lead to five points over second place New York who lost 2-0 to the Tampa Bay Rowdies earlier in the evening. Fury FC returning home to TD Place next weekend (September 12) to face the Fort Lauderdale Strikers at 3pm before heading out on the road for three games in eight days. Saturday's match is part of #IHeartSoccer weekend. Fans are asked to share the love for the game on Twitter using the #IHeartSoccer hashtag for a chance to win club seats to Saturday's match, field access during warm-ups and Fury FC merchandise. Tickets to the match against Fort Lauderdale and all remaining Fall Season matches are available at OttawaFuryFC.com.
North American Soccer League Stories from September 6, 2015
- Fordyce Free Kick Earns Valuable Point for Eddies in 1-1 Draw Versus Minnesota - FC Edmonton
- Minnesota United Settles for 1-1 Tie with FC Edmonton - Minnesota United FC
- 10-Man San Antonio Fights Valiantly But Ultimately Falls 0-1 - San Antonio Scorpions
- Fury FC Grow First Place Lead with Big Win in Texas - Ottawa Fury FC
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