Silver Knights Roll over the Heat 24-9
January 18, 2015 - Major Arena Soccer League (MASL)
Syracuse Silver Knights News Release
SYRACUSE, New York - The Syracuse Silver Knights (7-6, Eastern Division #2) destroyed the Harrisburg Heat (0-10, Eastern Division #5) 24-9 Sunday afternoon at the War Memorial.
With the win, Syracuse improves to 3-0 all time against Harrisburg.
Just over a minute into the match the Silver Knights struck first on a mistake by Heat goalkeeper Doug Petras. The Harrisburg net-minder misplayed a pass off of the wall on the right side of his goal and Anthony Grant had a tap in making the score 2-0.
With 8:09 to play in the first the Knights doubled their lead thanks to Kenardo Forbes. Darren Toby found some space on the left side and squared a ball for Forbes. The Jamaican placed his shot into the bottom right corner of the net to put Syracuse up 4-0.
Two minutes later Neto scored another two-pointer for the Orange, Silver and Black from a tight angle. The forward received a pass on the right side of goal and squeezed a shot past Petras making the score 6-0 in favor of the 'Cuse.
At the 4:33 mark, the Knights went up 8-0. Slavisa Ubiparipovic crossed a ball from the left to Grant who scored a second goal from close range with his right foot.
At the 1:55 mark in the first Harrisburg got on the board through Jade Mesias who put the score at 8-2. The ball trickled out to the forward on the left side of the area and he calmly finished the chance to cut his team ' s deficit to six.
In the second quarter it was more of the same for Syracuse. Cory Elenio put pressure on Petras after he had a received a back pass and the keeper weakly cleared the ball. The pass ended up going right to Nate Bourdeau and the midfielder had a wide-open net to shoot at. He rolled the ball in putting the Knights up 10-2.
At the beginning of the second half Grant completed his hat trick for Syracuse. The Knights had a two-on-one in Harrisburg ' s half and Bourdeau led the charge. He managed to find Grant in the middle and the forward then slid the ball under Petras making the score 12-2.
With 5:07 to go in the third Chris Hall capitalized on a mistake by Knights goalie Rick Pflasterer to score. The former Cornell keeper was under pressure and he played a ball off of the wall to the left of his goal that went right to Hall. The Heat forward shot a three-pointer into the wide-open net putting the score at 12-5 in favor of the Knights.
Postgame Pflasterer said, "[Hall ' s] three point goal pretty early on was on me." He went on to say however that today ' s result "turned out well."
Just seconds later the Heat made it 12-7. Bradley Kerstetter received a cross on the left side of Pflasterer ' s goal and buried his shot into the right side of the net.
Early in the fourth quarter Grant scored his fourth goal of the day to make the score 14-7 Syracuse. The Jamaican forward was open on the left side of Petras ' goal and slipped his shot inside the near post.
A minute later the Heat answered off of a set piece to put the score at 14-9. Patrick Thompson got into the middle of Syracuse ' s defense and finished a closed range one timer from the right-sided free kick.
Seconds after that though the Orange, Silver and Black responded with yet another goal of their own. Neto struck a shot from outside of the arc on the right that deflected off of a Heat defender and beat Petras. The Brazilian ' s three-pointer made the score 17-9 Knights.
Two minutes later Grant had a breakaway for the 'Cuse and Petras saved his shot but could only push it away. The rebound found Forbes and he finished off the chance to put the Knights up ten, 19-9.
With 4:31 to play in the match, Neto recorded his hat trick to put the Knights up 21-9. He got in between two defenders in the Heat ' s penalty area and ripped a shot leaving Petras with no chance.
Marcos Chantel made the score 24-9 on a dead center three-point shot just two minutes after Neto ' s power play strike. Chantel was not properly closed down and ripped his shot passed Petras into the right side of the net for the final score of the match.
After the game Coach Tanner said, "We ' re very happy [with this weekend]. We ' re above .500 so we ' re relevant again...I thought the fans were incredible, the energy in the place was great and anytime you can go 2-0 in a weekend it ' s a good weekend. "
The Orange, Silver and Black next play the Heat once again at the Farm Show Arena in Harrisburg Saturday at 7:05 pm. The Knights return home from their road trip February 19 th to play the Chicago Mustangs (7-5, #2 in Central Division) at 7:00 pm. Tickets to all Silver Knights home games are available at the CNY Family Sports Center, online at www.syracusesilverknights.com or over the phone at 315-303-7261.
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- Silver Knights Roll over the Heat 24-9 - Syracuse Silver Knights
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