Soul Battles Rhode Island Oceaneers to 1-1 Result
October 26, 2014 - International Basketball League (IBL)
Jersey G-Force News Release
Elizabeth, NJ - The Ironbound Soul Soccer Club (3-1-3, 12 points) got out to an early 1-0 lead on Saturday night at Williams Field, but a 65th minute equalizer by the visiting Rhode Island Oceaneers (1-3-3, 6 points) would force the home side to settle for an eventual 1-1 draw. The lone tally for the Soul came in the 6th minute off the foot of #7 forward Christiano Franocis, who finished a feed from #10 forward Maximiliano Garcia.
"Rhode Island is a much better team that their record shows," Soul assistant coach Jason Manso remarked. "Still, no excuses, and I feel that we should have walked away with a win tonight. We missed on some opportunities, missing some open shots and breakaways. Unfortunately, we were down three key players on our team (Ryan Adelaye, Sebastian Orozco and Alex Christian, Jr.), which kind of threw things out of whack and made it take a while for guys to settle in. We are not happy about a tie at home, but we will look to steal some points when we head to their place now."
Returning home for the first time in four weeks, the Soul wasted little time in gaining the early advantage on the Garcia to Francois notch. The scoring series started off a throw-in on the left sideline, where the ball was knocked around until being dropped back to #5 defender Leonel Funes. Once receiving possession, Funes looked upfield and delivered a hard roller to Garcia on the left flank, and he immediately began streaking towards the frame before sending a cross to the mouth of the goal. The beneficiary of the distribution was Francois, who was able to quickly finish and acquire a 1-0 advantage for his team in the 6th minute.
The score was nearly stretched to two goals just four minutes later, with #2 midfielder Jonathan Bilbao earning a breakaway into a 1v1 situation with Rhode Island netminder Chris Mara after splitting the Oceaneers central defense. However, his ensuing strike was just wide of the right post.
The Soul was again very unlucky in the 55th minute after a rough tackle gave them a free kick from about 35 yards out. Putting the ball into play was Garcia, who hammered a direct shot off the crossbar. The rebound was then headed back towards the frame by #11 striker Almir Batista, only to see his attempt hit the crossbar as well before finally being cleared away by Rhode Island.
The Oceaneers then began to push on the offensive end of the field, and their efforts would be rewarded in the 65th minute. After the Soul defense was unable to boot away a dangerous ball that bounced around its penalty area, midfielder Isaac Addai made the home side pay by slotting the ball into the back netting.
With the tally, Rhode Island seemed to initially grab hold of the momentum, but the Soul would eventually level the field once again until the final whistle hung the official 1-1 result.
International Basketball League Stories from October 26, 2014
- Soul Battles Rhode Island Oceaneers to 1-1 Result - Jersey G-Force
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