Calgary Storm Match Reports by Jason Kmet
May 17, 2003 -- El Paso 1 at Calgary 2
CALGARY OUTLASTS EL PASO 2-1
If there was a game that could show the few Calgary Storm faithful that this sophomore club had improved, this was it. The El Paso Patriots came into town with an unremarkable 1-3-1 record, tired from a game less than 24 hours ago in Vancouver, and playing in unfamiliar cold and windy weather on the road at Foothills Park. If there ever has been a game Calgary should win, this was it. The Storm did their job and defeated the Patriots 2-1 and recorded their second win after five games this season. Last year it took until July 28th and their 21st game to accomplish the same feat.
The first real scoring chance occurred in the 13th minute when Richard Henry of the Storm put a ball through to Nicolas Zuniga who made a break for the goal. Patriots’ keeper Scott Alexander came out to challenge, forcing Zuniga’s shot high just over the bar.
El Paso’s first chance was in the 20th minute when Michael Griego took a shot on goal from in front of net, but American keeper David Wiebenga, in his Storm home debut, made the save.
A Patriot player fell at the center spot in the 26th minute, which gave Sean Fraser a path towards the net, but Guillermo McFarlane made a good defensive recovery and blocked Fraser’s shot at close range.
El Paso started to pressure after the half hour mark, but the only real shot on goal came from Omar Millen on the far left side which Wiebenga easily handled. The half ended as a scoreless draw.
The Storm scored their first goal at Foothills this season in the 53rd minute. Liam DeSilva made a pass to Zuniga, who put the ball right at Fraser’s feet. From there, the Storm striker blew past the Patriot defender and took a shot. Alexander got a piece of it, but it still went past him into the netting.
A couple of minutes later, Fraser had another chance but his 35 yard shot went over the bar.
In the 57th minute, the Storm was awarded a penalty kick. An El Paso player was called for a handball while in the penalty area. Zuniga was selected to take the penalty, and he easily converted.
The combination of Sean Fraser and Richard Henry will provide Storm fans with a lot of excitement this year. In the 66th minute, the duo completed a neat give-and-go play which included a back heel pass by Fraser to the breaking Henry. The Jamaican national’s shot went right to the keeper, ending that threat.
The Patriots had a couple of chances shortly afterwards. In the 72nd minute, Carlos Martinez took a shot that went wide. Three minutes later, Millen’s attempt from 25 yards out was high and wide. El Paso was able to break the shutout in the 78th minute when Griego’s free kick from 20 yards went past the Storm wall and into the bottom right corner of the goal.
In the 80th minute, the scrappy Patriots were finally able to antagonize the Storm into making a big mistake. A Patriot was taunting Zuniga on the far side of the field. Zuniga retaliated by kicking the Patriot, resulting in a red card.
The shorthanded Storm was able to hold on for the final ten minutes of regulation time. Shortly into injury time, Jose Abarca had a good chance to tie when he attained possession in front of the Storm net, but he hit it too high. The final score was Calgary 2 El Paso 1.
| Lineups: |
| Calgary: David Wiebenga, Liam DeSilva, Tommy Wheeldon Jr, Ajai Authers, C.J. Pesznecker, Jordan Gillespie, Conrad Chala, Richard Henry, Nicolas Zuniga, Ian Dawes (Sean Fraser 25th), Mark Korthius |
| El Paso: Scott Alexander, Sidnei Dos Santos, Carlos Martinez, Guillermo McFarlane, Ahmed Figueroa (Javier Carrasco 67th), Freddy Juarez, Pablo Cabrera, Sem Lopez, Omar Millan (Jose Abarca), Michael Griego, Tim Pierce |
| Goals: |
| Calgary: Fraser (53rd), Zuniga PK (57th) |
| El Paso: Griego (78th) |
| Cautions: |
| Calgary: Korthius (43rd), Authers (79th) |
|
El Paso: Dos Santos (15th), Millan (21st), Griego (57th) |
| Ejections: |
| Calgary: Zuniga (80th) |
| El Paso: none |
| Attendance: approximately 350 |
| Weather: cloudy, windy (in first half), 7C (45F) |
STORM WARNINGS: Ian Dawes left the game with an injury…Nik Reyes, Brett Bachelu, and Jamie Auvigne all missed the game with various injuries. Auvigne was slated to be captain of the squad but has not dressed this season for the club. He is out indefinitely…Keeper David Wiebenga is a grad of Truman State who has USL experience with the PDL Kansas City Brass and spent last year with the D3 Pro Arizona Sahuaros…Defender Thomas Wheeldon Jr. returned to action after missing a game due to suspension…Jamaican Jermaine Richards did not dress, presumably because the Storm had already dressed the maximum number of imports allowed…The Storm will play a friendly on Sunday against the “Sons of Italy” from Winnipeg. They are the reigning Canadian Senior National Club Champions…Calgary’s next home game is on Thursday against the Seattle Sounders at 6:30pm.
WHERE ARE THEY NOW? The most famous Storm alumnus is goalkeeper Lars Hirschfeld. The Edmonton native is now considered Canada’s first choice keeper. He left the Storm last July to join English Premier League giants Tottenham Hotspur. He successfully made the jump from the A-League to the EPL and dressed as Kasey Keller’s backup early in the English season. He eventually was loaned to Second Division Luton Town where he saw some action until he injured his hamstring. This injury has kept him out of action indefinitely. It is not known if he will be ready for the Gold Cup in July.