EYS Turbos vs. Jersey Stars River & Bridgewater SA Cosmos - Game Recaps

Post date: Apr 9, 2018 4:50:00 PM

Two for One special!! It's been a busy couple of weeks, but better late than never. Here are the game recaps from the 1st two games of the season:

EYS Turbos vs. Jersey Stars River (3/24/18)

The EYS Turbos kicked off the EDP Spring 2018 season a couple of weeks ago on the road in Orange, NJ against the Jersey Stars River squad. The Turbos were playing their first game in the North Red division after moving up a bracket from the previous season. The competition is going to be a little tougher, but the Turbos are up to the challenge.

In what's been a surprisingly cold spring, the Turbos lucked out a little on the weather and got a relatively warm day for the game. The weather was great...the field, not so good. The Turbos showed up to a field not marked for soccer, and with pop up goals for the game. It wasn't ideal, but both teams would have to make due.

After not playing a regular season outdoor game since the Fall, the Turbos didn't seem to miss a beat at the start of the game. They were down a couple of players due to injury, and would lose another during the game, but they battled on. They got out to a fast start and created plenty of chances early from the wings. Both N. Osorto and I. Nieves had great opportunities on shots from their wings that went just wide early on...and they would have more as the game went along. In the 7th minute, the Turbos finally opened the scoring as L. Henriques stole a ball on the backline and send it up the wing to N. Osorto. Using his speed, he was able to blow past a defender and send a cross into the middle where I. Contreras was waiting in the penalty box. He pulled the ball down with a nice first touch on the ball, and finessed a shot into the back of the net to the keeper's right!

Turbos lead 1-0 in the 7th minute!

The score would remain 1-0 for most of the remainder of the first half, but not because of lack of effort by either team. The Jersey Stars team would put plenty of pressure on themselves after giving up the opening goal, but the back line of N. Henriques and L. Henriques would do their job in keeping the chances limited and to the outside. When they were able to break down the defense, G. Falcon did his part in diving all over the penalty area to parry shots away. Just as the half was ending however, the Jersey Stars team would break through....twice. Once on a free kick from just outside the penalty box. It was a perfectly placed shot over the wall and to the left of G. Falcon...there was not chance of keeping it out in the 28th minute. Then, in the 29th minute, the would strike again to take a 2-1 lead just before the half.

Turbos down 2-1 at halftime.

The Turbos would be dealt another injury blow to start the 2nd half. Goalkeeper G. Falcon, who had been battling a heal injury since the Ironbound Tournament, was unable to continue. The pain was too sharp and he could hardly keep any weight on it. I. Nieves would man the goal for the second half.

Down another player, the Turbos would battle on. The second half started with the Turbos having to withstand a lot of pressure early on. The Jersey Stars team pushed forward hard and tried to test the new goalie often. I. Nieves was equal to the task. In the 45th minute however, they were able to squeeze another one through a maze of legs that deflected to I. Nieves' left and into the back of the goal.

Turbos down 3-1 in the 45th minute.

Down..but not out. The Turbos were determined to turn this one around quickly. They turned the pressure right back on the opponent..but not before another injury hit them. C. Henao would go down just after the Turbos gave up the 3rd goal and would have to sit out for most of the 2nd half. M. Shamy would take up hold in the center midfield position and do a terrific job of distributing the ball and winning 1 on 1 battles. He found O. Rico on the right side midway through the 2nd half, who ripped a shot on goal that the keeper was just able to get his hands on. in the 49th minute...the Turbos would pull one back. Having recovered from his injury, C. Henao was driving his defender crazy on the right side. After taking a ball deep down the right side, he cut back quickly and lay a ball back across the middle to D. Zokner. He would leave no doubt as he took the pass in and blasted a shot into the right side of the net!!

Turbos down 3-2 in the 49th minute.

With time running out, the Turbos had to push up field a little more. This meant extra work for N. Henriques and L. Henriques on the back line. Not only would they have to cover their defensive end, they had to push up to the midfield and join the offensive play a little more. They did both beautifully! Together, they cut off almost every pass that was sent their way, and when the passes did get through, the used their speed to run back and shut the offense down. In the 54th minute, their play from the back helped lead to the goal that would pull the game even. N. Herniques ran back to cover a run down his wing. He shut the Jersey Stars forward down, stole the ball, and quickly switched sent it upfield to D. Zokner in the middle. With 3 players on him, D. Zokner turned back and sent the ball to his left back L. Henriques. With pressure coming on, L. Henriques was able to sidestep a player and send the ball up the wing to N. Osorto on the left side. He looked up and saw D. Zokner pushing up from helping on defense and making a run up the middle of the field. He wasted no time and took a one time shot off the pass from the wing. The shot was headed on goal, when a Jersey Stars player lifted his hand and knocked down the shot in the penalty box. Penalty Shot earned for the Turbos!

D. Zokner wasn't feeling the pressure. Having just come off an indoor season that saw two games go to penalty shots to decide the winner, he'd been here before. He positioned the ball on the penalty spot...started his run, and GOAL! He blasted a shot high and fast over the Jersey Stars keeper!

Turbos tied 3-3 in the 54th minute!

Having just tied the game, the Turbos kept the pressure on. They came close as C. Henao and M. Shamy both had chances late, but just couldn't find the back of the net. On the other side, I. Nieves had to make a couple off saves on odd man rushes to keep the game tied.

The final whistle would blow...and a hard fought game would end tied at 3. The Turbos had to overcome injuries, a very strangely set up field, and a lot of players in new positions..but managed to battle back from 2 goals down to come away with a draw on the road!! GREAT TEAM EFFORT!!

Final Score 3-3!!

(DNP but with us in spirit: D. Quishpi & D. Lyons)

EYS Turbos Scoring Summary:

GOALS:

I. Contreras (7th minute)

D. Zokner (49th & 54th minutes)

ASSISTS:

N. Osorto (7th minute)

C. Henao (49th minute)

EYS Turbos vs. Bridgewater SA Cosmos (4/8/18)

Game 2 of the EDP Spring season almost didn't kick off. The Turbos were originally scheduled to play this game away at Bridgewater. Their natural grass field was waterlogged, and the game was initially postponed. After a lot of scrambling around, both teams were able to manage an agreement to play the game in Elizabeth at Kenah Field. The Turbos would be the away team on this Sunday, on their home field.

The Turbos would get a bit of good news for the game against Bridgewater. Their goalie, G. Falcon was finally back and feeling close to 100% after dealing with a heal injury for the past month. Defender D. Lyons was finally back after having been cleared to play from a shoulder injury. ..and making his Turbo debut after practicing with the team for the past month was J. Agudelo.

It was a cold Sunday afternoon when the game kicked off at 3pm at Kenah Field...but you would never be able to tell by the way the teams came out ready to play. Both teams took a few minutes to feel each other out...and the Turbos seemed to figure their opponent out pretty quickly early on. The Turbos took the offensive early and often. In the first 15 minutes of the game, they created chance after chance after chance...but just couldn't find the back of the net. L. Henriques hit the post twice in the span of 5 minutes on terrific feeds from I. Nieves and O. Rico. I. Nieves would also find the post in the first half off a great ball from the back by N. Henriques that sent him in on goal. If score was kept by how many posts were hit..the Turbos were clearly winning this one!!

In the 23rd minute, the Turbos decided it was finally time to put one in the back of the net. Of a great team play, the ball started out on the right side of the field, and ended up as a goal on the left side. O. Rico would play a ball from the right wing into the middle to M. Shamy. With no clear shot on goal, he laid the ball off to his left to J. Agudelo. He would turn and send a ball towards the left side of the goal..and it looked like it was going just wide when out of no where N. Osorto would dive in with his left foot and bury the ball in the back of the net!!

Turbos lead 1-0 in the 23rd minute on a great team goal!

The Turbos were on the board..and hungry for more! Just one minute later, in the 24th minute, they would make it 2 on some terrific passing!! Right from the kick off, the Brigewater team tried to get in deep to the offensive zone. D. Lyons would cut off a pass and send it up to C. Henao in the midfield. He would play a quick 1 touch ball back and forth with I. Nieves on the right that shifted the defensive to the right side of the field. When he got the ball back, C. Henao looked up and saw J. Agudelo running in from the left and trying to get behind 3 defenders. The pass couldn't have been any more perfect. C. Henao sent a through ball between the defenders and onto the foot of the charging J. Agudelo at forward. With a quick touch ahead to play the ball into space for himself, J. Agudelo was in one on one with the goalie and made no mistake as he slid the ball into the back of the net for his first goal with the Turbos!

Turbos lead 2-0 in the 24th minute!!!

With a 2-0 lead late in the 1st half...the Turbos were still looking for more. In the 27th minute...they would extend the lead to 3. The 3rd Turbo goal would come off a scramble in the penalty box. It started on the right side with O. Rico sending a ball into the middle. M. Shamy would attempt a couple of shots on goal that bounced back to him and eventually he would send a pass up to J. Agudelo who would pick up the loose ball and slip another one past the keeper!

Turbos lead 3-0 in the 27th minute!!!

Just as the half was drawing to a close, the Bridgewater team would pull one back. They would get the ball past the midfield and catch the Turbos on a counter attack. They charged in 3 on 1. With some good passing of their own, they would send the ball to the right side where their winger was one on one against goalie G. Falcon. The Bridgewater winger ripped a shot on a goal that G. Falcon was able to make the initial save on, but the rebound bounced away and the Bridgewater forward would poke in for the final goal of the first half.

Turbos lead 3-1 at the half.

The 2nd half was very similar to the first at the start. Both teams again took a while to adjust to each other. When they did, the Turbos again started putting plenty of pressure on. Again, the Turbos would just miss on multiple chances. I. Nieves had a shot ring off the post early in the half. M. Shamy picked up a loose ball in the penalty box and sent it just wide of goal. I. Contreras would play several balls wide to his left and right from his forward position to wide open wingers N. Osorto and O. Rico, but both would send chances just wide of goal. D. Quishpi sent a shot towards goal on a free kick from about 30 yards out that went just wide to the left of the goal. The Turbos were pressing hard...the ball just didn't want to go in!

Finally, in the 38th minute, the Turbos would get the 4th goal the so much deserved. L. Henriques and H. Henriques would combine to stop an attack by the Bridgewater team and move the ball around between them, forcing the opponents to come out of position in the midfield. N. Henriques would play the ball up the field to I. Contreras who was alone against 3 defenders. He would hold up the play and wait for reinforcements to arrive and eventually find D. Quishpi who slammed the ball into the back of the net!!

Turbos lead 4-1 in the 38th minute!

With just over 20 minutes left to play, the Turbos would continue to press for more goals, but so would the Bridgewater team as they tried to pull the game back. G. Falcon, D. Lyons, D. Quishpi, N. Henriques and L. Henriques would have their hands full the rest of the way. The opponents pushed everyone up and tried to limit the midfield play by playing balls deep into the Turbos defensive end over the top. The strategy eventually paid off for them in the 41st minute as they pulled on back to make the score 4-2.

Turbos lead 4-2 in the 41st minute.

The Turbos almost pulled one back just minutes later as N. Henriques stepped up on a play to cut off a pass and send a ball towards goal from near the midfield line. The ball bounced around and between the keeper's legs, but he was able to pounce on it before it crossed the line. Minutes later, the Bridgewater team would pull one back as the sent a long ball up the left side of the field trying to catch the defense pulled up. G. Falcon saw that his defenders were pushed up helping on the play and jumped off his line. He ran to to try to beat the rushing left winger to the line. It was a foot race to the ball, unfortunately the Bridgewater player go their first and was able to get the ball up quickly down the side and sent one into the open net.

Turbos lead 4-3 in the 48th minute.

The Turbos would bunker down and calm the game down the rest of the way. In the last 2 minutes of the game, they pushed hard for a 5th goal to get some breathing room, but again bad luck would keep the ball out of the goal as N. Osorto put some great pressure on down his left wing and sent a ball into C. Henao in the middle. He took a shot on goal, but deflected of a Turbo in front and went just wide of the post. The Bridgewater team would make one final push at the end of the game and get a shot on goal off a corner kick, but G. Falcon would jump on it and keep the ball out of goal.

After one last Turbo rush, the ref finally blew the final whistle!!

Turbos win 4-3!!!

It was another hard fought game, and the Turbos would walk away victorious. The scoreboard wasn't indicative of how well the Turbos played on this day, but they got the result they wanted!! Great job Turbos!!!

(DNP but with us in spirit: D. Zokner)

EYS Turbos Scoring Summary:

GOALS:

N. Osorto (23rd minute)

J. Agudelo (24th & 27th minutes)

D. Quishpi (38th minute)

ASSISTS:

J. Agudelo (23rd minute)

C. Henao (24th minute)

M. Shamy (27th minute)

I. Contreras (38th minute)

The Turbos will play their next game on Saturday, April 14th at 5pm at Kenah Field in a Crossover game against Cedar Stars SI from the top bracket in the EDP league. This upcoming game will not have in impact on league standings, but will give the Turbos some great competition against a team in the top bracket of the league.

LET'S GO TURBOS!!!

HAVE FUN!

PLAY HARD!

SHOW RESPECT!