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| Bavarians are NATIONAL CHAMPS Again !!! |
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July 26 - The Bavarian Majors defeated Emigrantes from Brockton MA, 4-3 (3-1) in penalty kicks in Orlando Florida.
The game started out perfectly with Neil Dombrowski scoring in the 9th minute off of a Kyle Zenoni corner. The half seemed destined to end 1-0 until an obvious offsides gave Emigrantes an opening right before the half which they took full advantage of, halftime score 1-1.
The second half saw a defensive miscommunication give Emigrantes a 2-1 lead in the 59th minute. Within 5 minutes Chad Dombrowski received a yellow card for a foul, followed by an immediate red for dissent. The Bavarians had their work cut out for them.
The Bavarians pushed forward and created several great opportunities but the Emigrantes goalkeeper was up to the task saving everything that was thrown at him. He even stopped a penalty kick in the 73rd minute when David Peplinski was taken down in the box.
In the 90th minute with everyone pushed forward Matt Schmidt played a long ball to the back post which Giovanni Luna re-directed to the near post then Scott Dombrowski calmly laid the ball back to Kyle Zenoni who scored it from close range, erasing his missed penalty from earlier. Final Score at regulation 2-2.
In over-time the Bavarians again took control of the game and scored an unbelievable goal in the 100th minute. Neil Dombrowski lined up a free-kick from about 30 yards out to the left of the 18 yard box. The free-kick bent and curved its way at 60 mph into the highest point of the upper far corner, a goal that would be on any professional league goal of the year list. On a side note Neil's play in the final prompted the USASA National Coach to come over to the bench and get his contact information. Unfortunately in the second over-time having used all of their substitutions (four) and playing with ten players, Martin Castro got tackled very hard from behind causing him to tear his hamstring. The Bavarians valiantly tried to hold on and Martin even came back and just stood on the field not being able to move, but space and tired legs gave in as Emigrantes scored in the 108th minute. At this point both teams were both physically and mentally exhausted. Final score after over-time 3-3.
Penalty kicks are always more mental than anything else and the Bavarians showed how tough they really are.
Craig Posselt - Scored
Emigrantes - Saved by Matt Schmidt 1-0
Neil Dombrowski - Scored
Emigrantes Scored 2-1
Kyle Zenoni - Saved
Emigrantes - Saved by Matt Schmidt 2-1
Nathan Sabich - Scored
Emigrantes - Saved by Matt Schmidt 3-1 Game Over
The Major Team now will embark on a 10 day tour of Germany which starts on July 31st that also turns into a celebration of its 6th National Championship.
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