6/20/08

United 89 participated in their second straight Region III trournament and were placed in one of the so called "group of death" with the defending national Champion North Texas Andromeda.

Temperatures for the first game were in the mid 70s at the 6PM kick-off... a far cry from last year's monsoon rainstorms.

Game 1 - Arkansas

United began the  game on the offensive, putting alot of pressure on the Arkansas defense. But a quick clearance found an Arkansas forward one-on-one with United keeper. Ross Power, who forced the player wider than he would have liked and the eventual shot went wide. A second attack left an Arkansas mid open at the top of the box and his shot hit the post and went wide. That would be the last opportunity for Arkansas. Although the game had been played mostly in the Arkansas half, those quick clearances caused a lot of headaches for United.

Things settled down for United when Mike Czulinski found the back of the net in the 25th minute, when a cross into the 6 yd box fell at his feet. The weather then turned bad and the game was stopped for 30 minutes (5 minutes left in the half). Both teams came back to finish the half  1-0 in favor of United.

In the second half, a resurgent United again played attacking soccer and a poor clearance by the Arkansas defense found Andrew Chavarria with the ball 28 yds out. With the keeper cheating forward, Andrew placed his shot in the upper 90 pushing the score to 2-0.

At that point, Arkansa had no choice but to push forward and were suceptible to counters. Brilliant combinations between Czulinski and Dany Cates found Dany in the box for the 3rd United goal. The goal was followed by Czulinski’s 2nd of the game when multiple one touch combinations found the back of the net.

Jugal Dalal joined the crowd by placing his corner kick in the far post as the keeper was unable to get to the ball. Byron Quinatoa finished the day by tucking in a superb pass from Jugal from the top of the box.... Max points for the game

Game 2 -   South Texas. You must stay with your man on set pieces!

United failed to do this and handed South Texas a 3-0 win that was a lot closer than the score suggested. Three spectacular saves by the South Texas keeper (one literally from the line) kept United scoreless. A very strong team that passed and moved very well, South Texas was the better team that day.

Game 3 - Defending National Champions North Texas - Andromeda 90

Not the kind of game you want to come into, needing a win. A win for United would have placed them in the next round.  United fought toe-to-toe agtainst a much bigger Andromeda team, and had some opportunities sail wide or high.  A depleted United gave up two late goals to drop the game 4-0.

A great regional with the weather much more cooperative than last year.