Photo courtesy CASA Soccer League
The CASA Soccer League is the Delaware Valley’s largest amateur soccer league.
As part of our coverage of local soccer, we’ll be featuring match reports from games played in CASA’s top six divisions. This week’s reports cover the games played last weekend, the fourth matchday of CASA’s Fall season.
Thanks to CASA’s president, Nolan Bair, and his writing team across all divisions for compiling the match reports and to PSP’s Paul Catrino Jr. for coordinating.
Reporting by: Charlie Shea
FC Tigre 0 – 2 South Philly United
South Philly United went top of the table with a 2-0 win against FC Tigre over the weekend. South Philly #10 Dominic Dipaola scored a brace in a match-winning performance and was MOTM. Philly captain Patrick Brewster was happy with the result, especially considering his squad had no subs all game. “We sat in quite a bit and tried to be intentional about attacking given our numbers.” Their first goal ended up coming via a deflected cross, while the second was a great first time finish from Dipaola with 5 minutes left which put the game away. “Great team win all around given the situation,” said Brewster. FC Tigre fall to 2-2, sitting midtable on 6pts. South Philly will look to keep the momentum going against bottom of the table Vidas United, while FC Tigre will play midtable rivals YTP FC.
South Philly United: Goals – Dipaola (2)
Stoney United 3 – 2 Philadelphia Corinthians FC
Stoney United came back from an early 0-1 deficit to beat Philadelphia Corinthians FC 3-2, scoring late to break a 2-2 deadlock and leave with all three points. “We conceded early but steadied after that… We made some adjustments at half time and had the better of play for most of the second half,” said Stoney captain Evan Carabelli. While Corinthians did tie the match at 2-2 off a corner, Carabelli thought it was against the run of play. “We knew we were going to have a few more chances so it didn’t shake us that much. We scored almost immediately after.”
Corinthians captain Sam Vale echoed similar points from the other side – “I think when we pulled the game back at 2-2 we got a little ahead of ourselves.” Despite the loss, he gave credit to CB James Henessey. “He’s an unknown hero for us at CB week after week.. He’s solid, and gives us the ability to attack because of his solidity.” Stoney will play struggling Icarus FC next week, while Corinthians will have to rebound against the strong FC SouthHouse.
Philly Corinthians: Goals – Underwood (2) Yellow: Hull
Stoney United: Goals – Omene, Martin, Bruhn / Yellow: Glodi
Philadelphia Heritage SC 0 – 4 YTP FC
Philly Heritage SC’s woes continue, this time suffering a 0-4 defeat at the hands of YTP FC. Ira Woodruff, YTP Centerback, was MOTM. “Ira was a beast on defense, didn’t let anyone beat him. On top of getting a goal as well which is nice from your CB”, said YTP captain Giancarlo Granese. For Heritage captain Ryan Pereus, this was the teams overall most consistent performance as a squad. “Less breakdowns than any other game. Small stuff we got to fix.” YTP are two wins on the trot and look forward to a tough fixture against midtable rivals FC Tigre, while Philly Heritage play the threatening FC Misconduct, who’ve yet to drop points this season.
Philadelphia Heritage: Yellow – Reis
YTP: Goals – Turci, Grotti, Woodruff, DeLuca
FC Misconduct 5 – 1 Icarus FC
FC Misconduct put in a complete performance in their 5-1 weekend thrashing over Icarus FC. FC Misconduct MOTM Blake Fink scored a hat trick. “Icarus is always a tricky matchup for us,” said Fink, “but we felt like we were in control the majority of the game on Saturday.” FC Misconduct makes this three wins from three, and they look to keep it rolling next week against Philadelphia Heritage SC. Icarus continue to struggle towards the bottom of the table, with an upcoming fixture against Stoney United.
FC Misconduct: Goals – Fink (3), Bollinger (2)
Icarus FC: Goal – #19
FC SouthHouse 5 – 1 Vidas United
FC SouthHouse cruised to a 5-1 win against Vidas United, highlighted by a Finn Reese hat-trick. “Finn will steal the headlines with his hat trick, but I saw many positives,” said SouthHouse captain John Trueman. In particular, new signing Tommy Ryan looked right at home in the midfield “and was immense in dictating the match.” For Vidas, it was a case of fading down the stretch. “The game was fairly even until the 70th minute, and fatigue got the best of us after.” said captain Nolan Bair. Trueman echoed that sentiment, “we played some outstanding link up in the first 60 minutes, and that enabled us to turn the screws on the tiring Vidas team the last half hour… As they say, the long run puts the tiger in the cat.”
Wise words, captain. SouthHouse will look to keep their momentum going with an upcoming fixture against the strong Philadelphia Corinthians – “I anticipate a high paced game, half decent soccer, and plenty of goals,” said Trueman. For bottom of the table Vidas, they’ll have to try to right the ship against top of the table South Philly United.
FC SouthHouse: Goals – Reese (3), Leibensperger, Some
Vidas United: Goal – Gibbs
Cracovia 3 – 5 Hunting Park United
It was a thrilling match at Bryn Athyn College which saw Hunting Park United score three in the last fifteen minutes to beat Cracovia 5-3. Hunting Park’s Chris Banks scored a hat trick and was MOTM. “Whew…” said Hunting Park captain Andy Kim. A chippy game throughout, 5 yellow cards were shown, 4 to the victors and 3 in specific for tactical fouls against Cracovia striker Alex Miller.
It was a frustrating result for Cracovia captain Eryk Tylek after letting points slip, “For some reason we can’t kill the game and hold on to a lead.” Miller in particular put in another great game for Cracovia, drawing the attention of HPU all game. “He’s the guy that creates all of our scoring opportunities either for himself or for others.” Cracovia look forward to a game against midtable rivals Glenside Celtic Rovers, while Hunting Park will look to play FC Bobert Munich.
Cracovia: Goals – Miller, Muscaro, Beauchamp / Yellow – Tochinsky
Hunting Park: Goals – Mulvihill, Strelnikoff, Banks (3) / Yellows – Molloy, McKinney, Gallagher, Mulvihill
Reprting by: Romeo Julmiste
Lost FC 0-5 Rebels
In the breakfast matchup of the day, Lost FC may have skipped the most important meal of the day before this game due to Rebels coming in and absolutely running away with the match. Djibril Drame for Rebels certainly had his Wheaties as he notched himself a brace. With their first win in a tightly contested division, Rebels find themselves on the outside looking in at sixth place. The massive blow out win and a clean sheet should give them a lot of confidence heading into their next matchup against struggling Mark Wahlberg’s Cousins.
Rebels: Goals- D. Drame (2), S. Drame, Hilliard, Kelly
Oaklyn United 3-8 Rose Tree Gunners FC
Most squads in their inaugural season tend to experience some growing pains, struggle for positive results and have a main goal of not being completely ransacked by the veteran squads around them. Clearly, Rose Tree Gunners did not receive this memo. The Gunners are currently streaking, winning three on the bounce coming into this game to start the season, and they had no problems adding a fourth straight win to their tally. The Lions of Oaklyn United have certainly been an exciting team in the division and this matchup was shaping up to be a hard fought battle but one player in particular for RTG FC put an end to that speculation.
Trevor Babin completely bossed the game in which he scored a hattrick and notched a hattrick of assists! With another win for the Gunners, they feel extremely confident as they sit in pole position and now the question should be asked; who will be able to silence their rampant artillery? Fellow league debutants SC Corinthians are next up for Rose Tree as they will be looking for the three points to launch themselves back into the playoff conversation.
Rose Tree Gunners: Goals- Babin (3), Haseltine (2), Lessig, Montesdeoca, Sy
Oaklyn United: Goals- Feldman, Hickman (2)
Mark Wahlberg’s Cousins FC 2-2 Rowan Club Soccer
Perhaps the most intriguing matchup on the docket can be found between the two teams most desperate for their first wins. MWC FC and RCS are both currently in the relegation spots and were hungry to claw themselves out of the bottom. The Wahlberg squad were off to a great start as they scored two goals late in the first half to see their confidence skyrocket going into the second. Unfortunately, that confidence boost was short lived as a costly error by The Cousins’ goalkeeper led to Rowan grabbing a critical goal back.
MWC fought hard to regain the momentum but conceded a penalty a few minutes from time which was decisively dispatched by Rowan and found both teams sharing the points. The Cousins sit in ninth place and face a Rebels team who will be looking to make it two in a row going into week 5. Rowan are in last place and face an extremely tough opponent in Brothers of the Gourd who currently occupy fourth place.
Mark Wahlberg’s Cousins: Goals- Oliveira, Heckman
Rowan: Goals- Troia, Yeung
Sports Club Corinthians 2-4 Berber United
The last game on the day for Tercera saw two teams looking to make a clear push for playoff positions early on the season. Berber United lost 3-2 last weekend against the division leaders RTG FC, so their incentive was to get back on track. Sports Club Corinthians notched their first ever win in the league against Lost FC so they were poised to build on those three points. Alas, things did not go as planned for the men in white and black. A brace by Smail Azizi and down to nine men in the game had Corinthians reeling and opened the rest of the match up for Berber to tack on another two goals to get their second win of the season.
A game bogged down by questionable calls, hard challenges, and ample frustration, Corinthians were displeased to have taken home this loss. The loss drops them down to seventh place but they reamin only 2 points out of a final playoff spot. Corinthians will have a massive clash in front of them as they go into week 5 seeking to be the first team to force Rose Tree Gunners FC to drop points. Berber United look to make it two in a row for a massive duel for second place against the current occupants of that spot, Upper Darby FC.
BU: Goals- Azizi (2), Kara, Akouba
SCC: Goals- Bal, Smith
FC Burlington 1-0 Dead Ball SC
The first of only two games in the division this past weekend found newcomers Dead Ball SC facing a Burlington side fresh off of their first dropped points of the season in a high scoring draw against Fishtown FC. Burlington certainly would have wanted to build on the goal scoring that they displayed last weekend but DBSC had other ideas. Dead Ball put up a miserly defensive display chock full of tough physical play. The Schnauzers are not a team to be easily pushed around as they put in their fair share of hard tackles in a seismic display of blue collar football. That was the majority of the play in this game sprinkled in with missed chances from Burlington.
The Schnauzers looked in trouble as they went down to ten men late in the second half. FCB would certainly seem content to walk out of the game with a point but a never quit attitude bolstered Burlington as they were able to steal all three points a few minutes from half off a well timed through ball and a toe poke from the Burlington striker into the net. The dogs had their day. FCB find themselves currently occupying the top spot in the Cuarto division and will have a tough task ahead against a Club Sandwich side who sit three points behind them in fourth place.
FC Burlington: Goals- M. Marshall
Club Sandwich 5-2 UCFC
In the final game in the division on the day, Club Sandwich found themselves five goal winners against UCFC. Sandwich opened the scoring with a goal by McKinnon to give them some momentum and ease nerves. UCFC responded quickly and decisively with an absolute screamer from 35 yards out that gave the Club Sandwich keeper no chance.
The game was tightly contested in the first half with neither team giving an inch. A few minutes before half, Sandwich once again took the lead off of a succulent cross dispatched calmly into the bottom corner. Club Sandwich took the energy from the goal into the second half and grabbed another goal to put a bit of daylight between themselves and their opponents. UCFC continued to put the pressure on Club Sandwich as they have been desperate to end their early season skid and move out of last place. The pressure paid off as they were able to make it 3-2 off of a Club Sandwich own goal and the push for the equalizer mounted in earnest for UCFC. Club Sandwich were not going to allow their lead dissipate as they were able to put two more goals away late in the second half to put the game out of reach.
“It was a hard fought game by both sides” said Paul Lampazzi, Club Sandwich captain. Another tough game should be expected in week five as Club Sandwich turn their sights to a clash with FC Burlington that is sure to shake the table. UCFC will try once again to get their first points of the season as they face fifth place Fishtown FC.
CS: Goals- McKinnon, Ruzycki, Bown, Kiefaber, An. Begolly
UCFC: Goals- Gaffney, OWN GOAL
Reporting by: Michael McKinney
Philly Skyliners FC 4 – 4 Portugoal
Week 4 for Quinto started off with a match up between the high scoring and high maintenance Philly Skyliners FC and the still winless Portugoal. Fresh off a 0-0 draw against OAC, Portugoal found themselves without their starting goalie. Skyliners wasted no time and jumped out to early lead but Portugoal scored quickly after the opening goal, bringing it level 1-1. Portugoal found themselves down 3-1 mid way through before mounting what would have been a glorious come back win as they carried a 4-3 lead late into the game. What could have been a great 1st win for Portugoal turned into a disappointing tie as they let Skyliners sneak one by with less than 5 minutes remaining. The result moves Skyliners into 3rd place while the winless Portugoal find themselves still stuck in the bottom half of the standings in 7th place.
Portugoal: Goals – F. Fazzolari, D. Gomez, R. Gomez, J. Rocha
Skyliners: Goals – T. Keith (2), K. McDermott, M.Oppong
Inter Phila 2 – 4 Mighty Mutts
Mighty Mutts have finally earned the right to be called Mighty after a thrilling come from behind victory against a Inter Phila team that can’t seem to see a game through to the end. In a very chippy and physical match, Inter jumped out to a early 2-0 goal lead that carried through to the start of the 2nd half. I don’t know what team manager Jim Craig did or said to his team at half time, but whatever it was worked extremely well. Inter found themselves chasing down the center forwards and attacking midfielders of the Mutts for the rest of the game. An unrelenting press from the Mutts backline and defensive midfielders resulted in numerous giveaways and poor passing from Inter. Slowly but surely, the goals started pouring in and the oh so Mighty Mutts got their first win of the season as they net 4 unanswered goals by Santos Antonio in the 2nd half. The 4-2 result finds Mighty Mutts in 8th place and Inter Phila still occupying 10th place.
Mighty Mutts: Goals – S. Antonio (4) / Yellow – D. Andrew
Inter Phila: Goals – G. Bagramyan, T. Kozhan / Yellow Cards – A. et Shumski, D. Apet
Philadelphia Spartans 3 – 2 Grape Train FC
A well rested Grape Train FC headed into their afternoon match against the Philadelphia Spartans after incurring a self imposed bye last week. Spartans got an early first goal that was countered by a brace from #10 Huber from Grape Train FC. The majority of Spartans said Huber was the most impressive player on the pitch for Grape Train FC. Not to be outshined by a single player on the other team, Philadelphia Spartans rallied back and got 2 goals in the 2nd half to see Grape Trains lead vanish along with any chance of them getting their first win of the season. The loss has Grape Train FC sitting in 9th place and the win keeps the Spartans sitting pretty in 5th place.
Grape Train FC: Goals – Huber (2) / Yellow Card – Huber
Spartans: Goals – Savage, Hanuscin, Borden
Oaklyn United Academy 1 – 6 Drexel Hill Elite FC
The final game for Quinto division kicked off just after 4pm and saw the undefeated Drexel Hill Elite FC take on a defensive minded Oaklyn United Academy team. Drexel Hill comes off an impressive week 3 win in a goal fest against Illyrians and OUA battled it out with Portugoal to the tune of a 0-0 draw. Drexel Hill came out firing on all cylinders as is expected and Oaklyn sat back and tried to absorb the offensive pressure so they could counter in transition. Unfortunately, Drexel Hill had much different plans and managed to put up 6 goals in a game against a normally sturdy Oaklyn defense; one that has only allowed 7 goals total on the season. Drexel Hill continues their 5th division domination as they remain in 1st place with goal differential of 14. With the Skyliners draw and New Wave not in action, Oaklyn United keep the the 4th place position warm… for now.
Goals: Drexel Hill Elite FC Hakeem (2) ,Kollie (2) ,Cedric , Mohammed
Goal: OUA Rossio
FC BTC 1 – 5 Boys Do Cry
Saturday morning action in Sexto started with a rather lopsided affair. The impressive playmaking of Steve Tice and Boys Do Cry took on a valiant BTC FC team that plays hard but has issues with ball control and maintaining possession. 20 minutes is all it took for Steve Tice to score a another brace in a 5-1 result for Boys Do Cry. Another Man of the Match performance from Steve Tice, another high scoring performance overall from BDC and their first clean sheet of the year has Boys Do Cry nipping at the heels of Rapid Daybreak FC. The winless BTC FC maintain their 10th place spot looking up at the rest of the division. Boys Do Cry who now take over 2nd place, hope to keep their win streak alive next week as they take on Rapid Daybreak FC in a rematch of last years semi-final match up that saw Rapid get the 1-0 win.
Boys Do Cry: Goals – Tice (2), Eider, Maresca, Medina
FC BTC: Goal – Wiese
Still Processing FC 1 – 5 Rapid Nightfall FC
When Still Processing took on Rapid Nightfall FC, they hoped to have worked through the struggles of the last 3 weeks that saw 14 goals get passed their goalie. Unfortunately, their defensive adjustments did not get them the result they were looking for. Another game played, another 5 goals scored by a surging Rapid Nightfall team. Still Processing FC did manage to get one passed the keeper for Rapid Nightfall FC but the damage had already been done. The now 5th place Rapid Night Fall FC look to keep their momentum going into week 5 and the 7th place Still Processing FC have some serious defensive/goalie issues that need to be attended to ASAP if they wish to break into the top half of the standings anytime soon.
Still Processing FC: Goal – B. Donovan
Rapid Nightfall FC: Goals – A. Freire, #10, #12, #00, #22
Telle Bouche FC 4 – 2 FC Delta
Telle Bouche kicked off the 11:45am game against FC Delta with a mind set that they weren’t going to let FC Delta run up the scored they way the have the past 2 weeks. FC Delta was fresh was off a 5-0 victory over Still Processing FC, yet Telle Bouche came out punching and scored 3 goals in quick succession. Right before halftime, FC Delta would cut Telle Bouche’s lead to 2 with the nearly last kick of the first half. FC Delta, determined to get points and move up in the standings, got another goal and brought them within 1 as the score sat at 3-2 for a large portion of the 2nd half. Telle Bouche would get the insurance goal they were looking for as they put the game away late in the 2nd half to secure the win and their position in 6th place. FC Delta lands in 3rd place as they suffer their first loss of the season.
FC Delta: Goals – Forsakang, Hailu
Telle Bouche FC: Goals – Liberkowski (2), Gibert, Phy
Rapid Daybreak FC 6 – 5 Chamounix
Rapid Daybreak FC and Chamounix managed to put up a 6-5 score line that saw hat trick’s from players on both sides and a stunning game winning goal that solidified the match as must see CASA action. Rapid Daybreak continue to dominate teams that are in the opposite end of the standings as 1st place RDFC have not yet faced a team that sits higher than 6th place so far this season. RDFC look ahead to their potential toughest test yet in their match up against Boys Do Cry. Chamounix tested Rapid Daybreak FC and almost got out of the match salvaging a point but the excellent playmaking ability and game winner from RDFC’s Ashiotes saw the current division leaders take all 3 points and first place in the Sexto division. Even with the loss, Chamounix move up in the standings from 10th to 9th place and will look to adjust defensively against a hungry FC Delta side.
Rapid Daybreak: Goals – Bevington (3), Ross (2), Ashiotes
Chamounix: Goals – McKenna (3), Acaster, Muldoon
Honey Badgers FC 5 – 5 FC Ladder 15
The final game for Sexto saw a match that had a little bit of everything. You had a hat trick, a pair of braces, FC Ladder 15 forwards running efficiently and directly at the opposing backline and impressive midfield buildup from a trio of Honey Badgers FC players. Neither team seemed to be able to make the tactical adjustments needed to put the game away as FC Ladder saw a 4-1 lead at half turn into a 4-5 deficit. Despite their efforts, Honey Badgers failed to hold onto the lead and the come from behind bragging rights as they give up the game tying goal with very little time remaining.
The game also had more than its share of fouls, the cards came out and in all colors as #11 Josh Hudson for Honey Badgers FC saw red literally and figuratively and was sent off for violent conduct. As with all red cards, a review from the Disciplinary Committee will make sure any additional action taken will be justified and fair. The 5-5 result finds both teams stagnant in the standings with Honey Badgers FC remaining in 4th place and FC Ladder 15 sitting in 8th place. Will FC Ladder 15 climb their way out of the bottom with a win over BTC FC next week? How will the Honey Badgers respond against Rapid Nightfall FC without having #11 on the field next week and possibly longer depending the outcome of his red card? Next week will be a test for both teams; Honey Badgers trying to remain relevant in the top of the standings and FC Ladder 15 looking to climb out of the bottom of the division.
Honey Badgers: Goals – Martins, Ramos (2), Johnson (2) / Yellow Cards – Johnson. / Red Card: #11 Josh Hudson
FC Ladder 15: Goals – Cruz-Nunez (3), Gonzales (2) / Yellow Cards – Francisco, Smith
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