Chargers Win Game Four in Night of “Firsts”January 23, 2004 – Soccerzone – Portage, MichiganThe Chargers played the Denzo Tsunami team, a team they beat 5-3 last September 12th in the Fall outdoor season (see “Dual in the Dark” game summary). Given the prior score line, the game could have been a close match up. This was not to be the case, however, as the Chargers took control of the game late in the first half and ended up scoring the most goals in a game since the team started last May. The first half started with both teams playing rather flat and very few chances being created. In fact, the game remained scoreless for the longest period in Charger’s history. It wasn’t until the 18th minute of the first half that a goal was scored, when Denzo found a girl open in front of the net. This was the first time that the Chargers would find themselves down by two goals since losing a game in early May last year. Within a minute, however, John Marucci (New Product) put a shot past the Denzo keeper to narrow the Denzo lead. The Chargers then went on a three goal scoring spree late in the half with veteran Charger Keith Weitz (Dec Tech) tying the game on a nice shot with 4:45 left, Marcus Schoenherr (Collections) sliding a goal past the Denzo keeper with 3:10 remaining, and Catie Lewis (Collections) deflecting a shot off of a Denzo defender with 1:25 left. Score at halftime: Chargers 4, Denzo 2. The second half started off with the Chargers continuing the dominance that depicted the final five minutes of the first half. With three minutes gone in the second half, it was Chris Young (Collections) scoring on a well-placed shot. Then it was Stacie Vezeau notching her second goal of the season with a fantastic left-foot volley to make the game 7-2. The dominance continued and within the next seven minutes of play Schoenherr, Pete Rose (Collections) and Lewis all scored. Lewis’ goal was a well-taken penalty kick. Score with 10 minutes remaining in the game: Chargers 11, Denzo 2. The Denzo team did manage to net one more goal, but the Chargers followed up with three more of their own, with goals from Ken Fouts with 4:15 remaining, Rose with one minute remaining, and Schoenherr with just 10 seconds on the clock. Final score: Chargers 14, Denzo 3. “This game is difficult to comment on” said Marucci, “we were pretty flat for most of the first half, followed by a plethora of goals from various players. I was thrilled to see that eight different people scored. Even though they scored first and put us in a hole, I knew we could come back, I knew we had potential to out score them, and we did. Two people that stood out to me were Ken Fouts and Jessica Awe, both of whom out hustled their opponents on defense and won many loose balls. I’d have to put Kevin Tenant in this group as well. These three won so many loose balls and their hustle started many successful counter attacks. On offense, Marcus and Catie both had solid games and Stacie scored our best goal of the night. We’ve gone 26 wins, 1 tie and 0 losses since May 30th. Overall we are 27-1-2 since we started in May. Congrats to everyone.” The next Charger’s game will be on Thursday, January 29th at 8:35pm at Soccerzone in Portage. Everyone is invited to come out and cheer on your Chargers. |
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