10-man Rino”s hang on for victory
Kickoff: 3:00 pm Saturday, October 30th at Percy Perry Stadium
For the second consecutive week Rino”s CAT team went on the road, and came home with three points. However, what should have been a comfortable victory ended with a frenetic finish as defender Stefan Caulfield was ejected for illegally denying the Wolves an obvious goalscoring opportunity with his hand!
Stefan actually pulled some gloves out of his back pocket and started the game between the sticks as scheduled goalkeeper Jeff Thom was late to the game. He did an admirable job pitching a first half shutout and prompting some to question if he had actually played the position on previous occasion. At the other end of the pitch, the Wolves keeper had a half to forget as he dropped an Adam Crowe corner kick into his own net giving the visitors a 1-0 lead. Shortly thereafter Tim pritchard broke in from the right-side and managed to catch the keeper out of position as his cross-cum-shot (yes, I”ve been waiting to use that term all year) looped over his head and nestled gracefully into the back of the net. The nightmare wasn”t over however, because young midfielder Corby O”Genski started a messi-like run from just inside half, took on what looked like the entire Wolves team, and miraculously found himself bursting through one-on-one with the bewildered keeper who he easily slotted the ball past.
A comfortable 3-nil half-time lead brought a slew of changes for the visitors. Meanwhile the home team re-organized, and looked sharp to start the half. They began attacking in waves, and were rather fortunate to be awarded a penalty on an innocuous hand ball call. Seeing them convert the unjustly awarded penalty seemed to spur on Rino”s as the 2nd half strike partnership of Max Kaplan and evergreen Ben Cougny started looking dangerous in the attacking half of the pitch. On one foray forward Cougny managed to beat his man one-on-one and slipped the ball into Kaplan who one-timed it into the net, restoring the 3-goal lead. However, this didn”t discourage the Wolves who kept pushing forward looking to stay in the game. A nice passing play and a through ball cut through Rino”s defence and lead to a well taken For Las Vegas Blackjack, the following rules are in effect:Take note that Las Vegas casino rules differ tremendously from European casino rules. goal. 4-2 and the Wolves were still pressing. Then things got crazy. Goalkeeper Jeff Thom had the ball at his feet and looked to pass it out, but instead of finding a teammate delivered it to a Wolves forward at the top of the penalty area! Looking to recover the ball he raced toward the player who tried to go around him, in the ensuing collision the ball popped up in the air and headed towards the net, but Stefan had other ideas. While we”re not sure if he was confused by his first half in goal, or just looking for a vacation from soccer he reached out and swatted the ball away with his hand! The referee had no choice but to award a penalty and eject Stefan from the game. On the ensuing penalty the Wolves striker hit the post and then smashed the rebound into the net. The referee appeared to signal a goal, but amid the protestations of the entire Rino”s squad, realized his error and correctly awarded Rino”s a goal kick. Disaster averted, and Rino”s hung on with 10-men to get the win.
Team: Caulfield, Khosrovi(Simey 78), Chow, McArthur(Thom 45), Simey(Crompton 45), O”Genski(Thompson 45), Crowe(Shih 45), Arceneaux, Nolan(O”Genski 67), Pritchard(Kaplan 45), Ford(Cougny 45)
Final Score: Wolves 2 – Rino”s 4