Photo courtesy of Bethlehem Steel
Bethlehem Steel bagged two late goals to defeat Toronto FC II 2-0 on Thursday night and moved into 5th place on the United Soccer League Eastern Conference table.
Congolese winger Michee Ngalina got the Steel on the board with roughly 20 minutes to go, after he gathered Drew Skundrich’s through ball and finished around a charging goalkeeper. About 12 minutes later, second-half substitute Aidan Apodaca made it 2-0 and sealed the win when he slotted home a Brenden Aaronson dish.
Bethlehem, sitting on 36 points, has now won four of its last five matches and is three points back of Louisville City in 4th, despite playing at least two more matches than any other side in the conference.
In between the two scores, Faris nearly added his own, but watched a bending shot clank off the post. Skundrich threatened from inside the penalty area early in the second half, while a dangerous shot from captain James Chambers was also blocked away by Toronto keeper Caleb Patterson-Sewell in the opening five minutes.
Bethlehem’s next match will be at home against Ottawa Fury on Wednesday, 5 p.m.
Lineups
Bethlehem
Jake McGuire; Matt Real, Brandon Aubrey, Matt Mahoney, Olivier Mbaizo; James Chambers, Drew Skundrich; Chris Nanco (Santi Moar 62’) Omar Holness (Brenden Aaronson 45’), Michee Ngalina; Faris (Aidan Apodaca 79’).
Substitutes not used: Tomas Romero, Ben Ofeimu, Prosper Chiluya, AJ Paterson.
Toronto FC II
Caleb Patterson-Sewell; Tim Kubel, Lars Eckenrode, Robert Boskovic, Kyle Bjornethun (Terique Mohammed 77’); Gideon Waja, Dante Campbell (Noble Okello 63’), Tsubasa Endoh; Matt Srbely, Aidan Daniels, Shaan Hundal (Malik Johnson 63’)
Substitutes not used: Borja Angoitia, Jordan Faria, Olakunle Dada-Luke.
Goal summary
Bethlehem: 70th minute Michee Ngalina (Drew Skundrich)
Bethlehem: 82 minute Aidan Apodaca (Brenden Aaronson)
Discipline summary
Bethlehem 18th – Yellow, Chris Nanco (foul)
Toronto 38th – Yellow, Shaan Hundal (foul)
Toronto 61st – Yellow, Gideon Waja (foul)
Toronto 65th – Yellow, Matt Srbely (foul)
Ref: Matt Franz AR1: Gregory Irwin AR2: Josh Bovet 4TH: Ryan Trombetta
Really have been paying attention to the Steel this year and I like what I see. It looks like the team has figured out how to incorporate 18-20 year old players that are outside of the Academy to develop for the first team or maybe even sell. With five young African players recently added it gives the team another resource to compete while adding value to the Steel as they move you the table.
This has definitely been the most “impressive” season for Steel. They should really be in 4th above Louisville if they had taken care of business in a few matches. All of the African players they have brought in have looked promising.
I suspect this guy won’t see much time until next season.
What’s the international slot situation in USL?