Goose Eggs Mean Points Split

Match Report by Stuart Wallington

August 22, 2004 - Calgary, Alberta

On a cool, dreary day neither team could muster a goal.

The first chance of the game fell to the Mustang’s Ernesto Zapata whose side-footed attempt on goal from a free-kick was palmed away by the Minnesota keeper.

Minnesota had their first attempt on goal in the 16th minute, when Marco Ferruzzi had a shot from 30 yards out that was easily smothered by Pfannenstiel.

5 minutes later Ernesto Zapata had another shot on net, this time from 25 yards out, but the ball skidded just wide right of the post.

In the 34th minute the ball was scrambled in the Minnesota box and Mesut Mert ran on to it but his shot crossed the front of the net and went just by the left post.

15 minutes later Minnesota had a great chance to score the first goal, but two great saves from Pfannenstiel , the first off his chest then the rebound was palmed away for a corner.

On 59 minutes Minnesota’s Dave Castellano got his head on a well placed cross from the right-wing, but the ball sailed over the cross-bar.

At the 64 minute mark, Conrad Smith broke through the Minnesota defence, but cracked the ball wide of the left hand post

In the 80th Zapata’s shot from 25 yards out was lobbed over the keeper, but looped over the cross-bar as well.

The score after 90 minutes: 0 – 0

4 minutes into over-time, Smith once again could have been the hero, when he ran on to a looping pass from Steffen Holdt, but his shot was put over the cross-bar again.

In the 97th minute Geert Brusselers broke through Minnesota’s box, but his shot was also wide of the mark

The last chance of the game fell to the Mustangs in the 107th minute, when Conrad Smith was put through and blasted a shot on target from 20 yards out, but the keeper made a great save to keep the game goal-less.

Referee: M. Navarro
Attendance: 450

D'oh! Not Again!

Match Report by Stuart Wallington

August 17, 2004 - Calgary, Alberta

In an un-eventful game the Wave United took all three points.

Milwaukee came closest to scoring the first goal of the game when in the 2nd minute, Beasley free kick came off the right hand post

The Mustangs first opportunity of the game came in the 17th minute off of a neat give and go between Conrad Smith and Mike Pavicic, but Pavicic’s weak shot was easily saved by the Larkin.

13 minutes later the Mustangs had a chance to take the lead but Sergei Raad’s header was well over the cross-bar

On the 39 minute mark, Conrad Smith took a shot from 30 yards out, but the ball was well held by Larkin.

The Half – time whistle blew with honours even on the score board.

The first and only goal of the game came four minutes into the second half when Schmidt danced around the Mustangs defence and poked the ball by the out-stetched arms of Pfannenstiel and into the right side of the net.

On 74 minutes Milwaukee’s Burk’s shot just veered wide right of the Mustangs net And didn’t trouble Pfannenstiel.

2 minutes later Nik Zuniga broke into Milwaukee’s box down the left hand side but a well timed tackle kept the ball from going in on net

In the 81st minute Lutz made a great save of a shot from 15 yards out.

The ‘Stangs Aaron Richer had a chance in the 84th minute but his bullet drive was turned away nicely by the keeper.

The last chance of the game fell to the Mustangs when C.J. Pesneker fed the ball to an on-rushing Jordan Gillespie, but his shot went wide right of the net.

Final Score 1-0 Milwaukee.

Cautions: Yellow( Holdt) 42nd
Yellow (Walls) 55th

Referee: Silviu Petrescu
Attendance: 850

Late Afash Goal Seals Timbers Playoff Spot

Match Report  by Allison Andrews of "The Timber Mill"

Timbers forward Fadi Afash was only on the field for a total of six minutes against the Calgary Mustangs on Thursday night, but his one shot on goal, with a minute left on the clock, was the difference as the Timbers clinched a playoff spot with a 2-1 win over the Mustangs in front of 5,377 at PGE Park. Alex Bengard had the first Timbers goal on a first half penalty kick, while Geert Brusselers scored for the Mustangs. It was an emotional night at PGE Park as it was the first game since beloved Timbers icon Timber Jim had lost his 17 year old daughter Hannah Serrill in an auto accident last week. Timber Jim attended the match along with Hannah's daughter Keiana. Pictures from the pre-game ceremony can be found by clicking the link above.

This was a match that was all about momentum, and in the first half, the Timbers would control the run of play for just about the entire 45 minutes. Four minutes in, the Timbers had their first good opportunity when an Alex Bengard free kick forced an awkward save from Mustangs goalkeeper Lutz Pfannenstiel, who fumbled the shot off his chest but was able to recover before the Timbers could find the ball. Four minutes later, Calgary's Damir Jesic found the ball at his feet inside the Timbers box, but Portland's Brian Winters was able to clear the ball off his feet with a sliding tackle that cleanly took the ball off the Calgary striker's feet.

In the 11th minute, Portland's Byron Alvarez made a deep run inside the
Calgary box, but his low shot was blocked wide by Pfannenstiel. One minute later, Bengard forced another low save by the Calgary goalkeeper, this time an awkward save to the far side as Bengard had cut back and was going for the far post, but the Calgary keeper was able to get just enough of his hand on the ball to tip it wide.

Three minutes later, the visitors had an excellent chance to take an early lead when Geert Brusselers found himself open at the top of the box after a nice pass was chipped back to him, but the Calgary midfielder may have rushed the shot a bit and put it several yards over the bar. One minute later, the 16th minute, Calgary had another good chance when a pass slipped through the box Steffen Holdt, whose shot six yards off the back post was blocked wide by Portland defender Lee Morrison.

The Timbers were finding alot of success moving the ball through midfield, using Bengard and Andrew Gregor to work the ball forward, while Calgary was looking for quick counterattacks, but were finding little success as their strikers were not able to gain any numeric advantage even when the could gain possession of the long passes coming from the defense.

In the 26th minute, Portland's Jake Sagare made a cut back across the top of the box, but hit his shot from 20 yards just wide to the right. The Timbers continued to control much of the run of play for much of the next fifteen minutes, but the Mustangs were falling back more, and the Timbers were having more trouble getting the ball into the box. For this fifteen minute span, neither team had a shot on goal.

It looked like the game was going to head into halftime scoreless, but in the 40th minute, a push in the back of Timbers forward Alan Gordon by Calgary defender Angelo Sestito on a cross into the box was called by referee Yader Reyes. For only the third time in 2004 the Timbers took a shot from the spot, and for the third time Bengard did the honors, going to the keeper's left for the first time, but converting his third in three tries to give the Timbers a 1-0 lead.

Four minutes later, the Mustangs nearly leveled before halftime when a deflected shot rebounded to Holdt, but his volley from 25 yards out was a yard or so over the bar. At the half, the Timbers would hold a 1-0 lead.

Calgary would come out of the locker room a rejuvenated side, and for the first twenty minutes or so of the second half, it was all Mustangs. Three minutes into the second half, Jesic once again had the ball on his feet inside the box, but once again his shot was blocked wide before it could get to the goal. In the 52nd minute, Brusselers thought he saw Timbers goalkeeper Josh Saunders off his line and let go a shot from 45 yards out that barely went a foot or two over the bar.

In the 54th minute, Calgary's Jordan Gillespie made a nice run into the box and briefly had an open look from about 15 yards out, but mis-hit the ball and put it high and wide to the left as he attempted to go for the upper left corner. Three minutes later, the Timbers had their first good chance of the half when Gordon managed to tap the ball around a charging Pfannenstiel, but pushed it too close to the line and was on a bad angle when he attempted to curl the shot.

In the 63rd minute, Calgary got the equalizer when Jamie Auvigne made a run down the left side and dropped a nice pass to Brusselers, who put a nice shot into the upper left corner from about 8 yards out to level the score at 1-1. While the Mustangs had carried the run of play for the past twenty minutes, they seemed to respond to tying the score by dropping back to secure the draw rather than go for the win, so for the rest of the match it was one-way traffic as the Timbers were on an almost constant attack until the final whistle.

The Timbers nearly regained the lead almost immediately, when Gordon got free into the box, but Pfannenstiel managed to get enough of the shot to slow it down, and defender Aaron Richer cleared it off the goal line. For the next twenty-five minutes it would be all Timbers as they fought desperately to get the go-ahead goal.

In the 67th minute, an Alvarez pass to Bengard inside the box was blocked off the Timbers' midfielder's foot as he turned to shoot, and was deflected right to Pfannenstiel. One minute later, Gordon was once again inside the box and his shot from 12 yards out forced a kick save from the Calgary keeper.

In the 77th minute, second half Timbers substitute Scott Benedetti jumped on a ball that rebounded out to him near the top of the box, but his shot from 20 yards out was tipped just wide by the Calgary keeper. Four minutes later, Alvarez found Gordon in the box, but his attempt to turn and shoot was just wide to the left. In the 82nd minute, Pfannenstiel once again made a great kick save, this time on an Alvarez shot from 12 yards out. Two minutes later Alvarez had a good opportunity on a header off a Scot Thompson feed, but his shot from just six yards out grazed just wide of the left post.

Forward Fadi Afash came on as a Timbers substitute in the 84th minute, and his only shot on goal would come just as the clock changed over to the 90th minute, but it would be the shot that counted as he perfectly timed his header off a Hugo Alcaraz-Cuellar cross, and directed the shot just inside the left post as he got to the cross just before Pfannenstiel, and flicked the shot into the net to give the Timbers a late 2-1 lead.

The Mustangs would get one more chance however, when a low corner kick into the box was kicked at by four or five different players, rebounding around wildly as each team claimed a handball on the other, but eventually the ball was cleared and the final whistle blew. With the victory, the Timbers claim the first spot in the 2004 A-League playoffs, and also win their 16th game in a season for the first time in the A-League.

Josh Saunders recorded two saves for the Timbers, while Lutz Pfannenstiel recorded eight for the Mustangs.

Referee: Yader Reyes
Att: 5377

Last Second PK Kills Mustangs

Report by Sergio Teixeira - A-league.com Match Reporter

August 10, 2004 - EDMONTON - In a storyline typical of their inaugural season, the Edmonton F.C. overcame a 2 goal deficit to beat the Calgary Mustangs 3-2 in dramatic fashion at Foote Field.

The sparse, yet vocal crowd of 537 including a loud, traveling contingent from Calgary, were treated to a good display of soccer, goals, controversy, a post game melee and free shirts thrown at them at halftime by the local diehard soccer fans - www.90minutes.ca.

Edmonton FC fielded their normal formation of Nic Stankov in goal, Chris Devlin, Robin Hart and Simon Kassaye in defense, Paul Dhaliwal, Gordon Chin, Nikola Vignjevic, Captain Kurt Bosch and Sean Fraser in midfield and the dynamic duo of Fred Akok and Sipho Sibiya up front.

Calgary also went with a 3-5-2 system using Lutz Pfannenstiel between the pipes, Zvonko Pavicic, Charles Peszneker and Angelo Sestito in defense, Jamie Auvigne, Geert Brusselers, Steffen Holdt, Damir Jesic and Sergei Kolomiets-Raad in midfield and the tandem of Mesut Mert and Walter Otta as strikers.

Calgary got on the scoreboard early with Mert putting the ball away after some confusion in the Edmonton box at the 9' minute. Edmonton came back somewhat with Sean Fraser having a good run in the Mustangs box but running out of bounds with the ball at the 12 minute mark.

A minute later, Jesic broke away on Edmonton's right flank and Devlin did well to block the shot that Hart was able to clear away from danger. The see-saw continued with Sibiya losing control of a well placed cross from Fraser at the 17' minute.

The Mustangs could have gone up 2-0 within a minute when Devlin's missed clearance allowed 3 Calgary players to run in unopposed, but Brusselers' shot went wide to the relief of Devlin,Stankov and the home crowd.

Edmonton came right back gaining a free kick outside the Calgary box at the 20' minute, but Vignjevic's shot went sailing high over the bar. Shortly after, Ibrahim (Ebo) Mollaibrahimagaoglu came in for the less than 100% Devlin, shoring up Edmonton's defense. At the 22' minute, Hart took a free kick and passed it to Chin whose shot also went over the bar.

With Calgary trying to pressure the Edmonton defense, Vignjevic intercepted the ball in his own half, took it upfield, created some nice passing and Captain Kurt ended up with the ball, but nothing came of it.

At the 26' minute, Vignjevic again was the instigator, passing with Sibiya and Akok, who ended up cutting in to the box and unleashing a shot that was well blocked. Calgary came back on the counterattack and a simple cross from Auvigne ended up on finding a rising Otta whose header went straight in the net to make it 2-0 for the visitors.

Kassaye was issued a yellow card after grabbing on to a Mustang's jersey a minute later as the frustration began to show. But the home team would not go down without a fight and at the half hour mark, Kassaye found Sibiya whose pass through traffic ended up at Akok's feet who put it in the back of the net. 2-1 Calgary.

Both teams continued to attack with neither one dominating the match, and an injury to a Mustang player delayed the match for a couple of minutes. After play resumed, both teams continued on as previous, with Edmonton outhustling Calgary in the dying minutes, especially some nice passing between Chin and Akok.

With the clock ticking down and with excellent possession by Edmonton, Captain Kurt crossed the ball to the right side of the field where Fraser made no mistake in finishing and tying up the game at 2 goals a piece.

The visitors took advantage of the break in play and made some substitutions with Jordan Gillespie coming in for Jesic and Nicolas Zuniga taking off Mert. The game restarted with both teams level and at the 52' minute Edmonton could have taken the lead with Sibiya being brought down in the box although Referee Paul Ward awarded Edmonton a free kick. The ball ended up being cleared to Chin who crossed it to Sibiya but whose shot went wide.

Two minutes later, Kassaye impressed the fans, going up field and having a go with his shot that also went wide. Calgary came bak two minutes after that, gained a free kick that did not result in much. Three minutes after that, Stankov was on target as he knocked the ball down and out to safety after a dangerous spell of Mustang possession and passing in and around the Edmonton box. Chin was able to get the ball after Stankov's timely clearance, ran it up field and had a shot on goal that unfortunately went right at the keeper.

Calgary kept pressing and at the 61' minute a 2 on 2 rush forced Stankov to come out to challenge and luckily he blocked the shot but the ball looked as if it was going in before Hart cleared the ball away and made a beautiful save. At this time, Nic Reyes came on for Holdt. A few minutes later, Calgary gained a corner kick and the shot skimmed over top of everyone's heads in the box and out. Another corner for Calgary at the 69' minute also did not amount to anything.

Edmonton snapped out of their mid-game funk and at the 73' minute, Dhaliwal jumped up for a crossing ball, colliding with Pfannenstiel who held on to the ball but took his time getting up. Two minutes later, Ebo made the safest play possible giving Calgary a corner kick. The Mustangs kept possession, made a nice run into the box and as usual, Stankov was there to save the day.

Four minutes afterwards, Vignjevic made a nice move sending the defender the wrong way and took a shot that bounced making Pfannenstiel scramble at the last minute to cover it up. Calgary came right back and a shot go just wide.

At the 80' minute Dhaliwal making his best Roberto Carlos impression, took the ball upfield along the left flank crossed it to Akok who passed it to Vignjevic who passed it to Captain Kurt whose shot went wide. That would prove to be Dhaliwal's last play as he was replaced by Desmond Tachie soon after.

At the 86' minute, it was Tachie who would save the day as he was left behind in the Edmonton box with two Mustangs, but managed to clear the ball and send it upfield. Edmonton won a free kick a minute later which gave way to a corner kick. Vignjevic took it, Fraser headed it, but it was knocked out for another corner. On the right side, AHrt took the corner, but Calgary were quick to clear.

A minute after, Edmonton had another corner kick and this time, it made its way to Chin whose shot was deflected out to Captain Kurt whose shot went wide. Akok was called on the offside with a minute left in regulation time, and this allowed Calgary to gain momentum as the game came to a close.

Before the extra time commenced, Edmonton coach Ross Ongaro went with a more defensive set-up substituting Sibiya in favour of defender Liam DeSilva. With Edmonton hanging back more, Calgary found a little bit more working room and pressured the home side. Three minutes in, Calgary had the Edmonton net in its sights, but Hart was there with a last second tackle that cleared the ball from danger.

Edmonton did manage to gain some free kicks, with Vignjevic's effort blocked at the 95' mark and Tachie narrowly missing a header two minutes later. Calgary came right back gaining a free kick of their own at 99 minutes which Hart was able to clear, and winning a corner kick in the last minute of the first half of extra time. Fortunately, the ball went right at Stankov who got the ball up to Akok, who crossed it to Vignjevic who passed it to Fraser who had a weak finish this time.

Both teams regrouped for the last 10 minutes and in the 101 minute Kassaye had trouble with the initial missed pass reception and the followup clearance attempt. Calgary gained a corner, kept possession and the resulting shot went wide with a big 'WHEWWW!' from the stands.

At 106 minutes, Fraser made a beautiful move to get out of Edmotnon's defensive zone, ran it in to the Calgary box, did a give-and-go-with Vignjevic, but the ball ended up going wide. Calgary looked dangerous two minutes later walking the ball in to the Edmonton box but getting stripped of the ball at the last moment. On the counterattack, Akok was brought down gaining Edmonton a penalty kick in the final seconds of the game.

After some protests from the Mustangs, a yellow card to Pfannenstiel and Sestito, Vignjevic calmly took the shot and put it away for Edmonton's fourth victory of the year. With the celebrations going full force, Auvigne was a bad boy and unnecessarily earned himself a red card.

The fans gave their heroes a standing ovation which the players warmly returned. With the victory, Edmonton edges out Calgary in the A-League's Western Conference basement and puts themselves 3 points shy of Montreal for the Voyageurs cup - a fan Cup awarded to the Canadian team with the best overall record against fellow Canadian teams - www.voyageurscup.ca.

Referee: Paul Ward
Att: 527

Mustangs Extend Undefeated Streak To Four Games

August 8, 2004 – Calgary, Alberta

In a match that could have been won and could have been lost, Calgary settled for a 1-1 draw with the visiting Portland Timbers.

Under threatening skies, the match began slowly as the two clubs tried to measure up each other.

Calgary had the first chance of the afternoon, in the 20th minute, when Sergei Kolomiets-Raad made a fine move on the touchline and cut the ball across the Portland box, but it was just behind an open Walter Otta, who was lurking 4 yards from goal.

Two minutes later the Mustangs would threaten again, as Jamie Auvigne tried a powerful left-foot shot from 25 yards, but his effort sailed wide of the right post.

Portland’s first opportunity came in the 25th minute when Alan Gordon got clear on the 12 yard mark, but slid his shot just past the left upright.

Finally, the deadlock was broken in the 27th minute, on a wonderful passing build-up from Kolomiets-Raad and Mesut Mert, which resulted in Otta getting the time and space to pick his spot and drive it past Portland keeper, Josh Saunders, into the right corner of the net.

Portland tried to answer back five minutes later, when Gordon had a free header to the left of the Calgary net and forced Lutz Pfannenstiel to push the ball around the near post and into the side netting.

The 36th minute saw Calgary come close again, when Geert Brusselers’ close-in header was deflected wide after a fine cross by Otta.

The last chance of the half fell to Portland, as Byron Alvarez stole the ball from Calgary’s Angelo Sestito at the top of the box, but his shot was fired well left of the Mustangs’ net.

HALFTIME SCORE: Calgary 1 – 0 Portland

Calgary’s Steffen Holdt did a little thievery of his own in the 57th minute, as he picked the pocket of the Portland defender and rounded his marker to have a shot on goal. Unfortunately, the shot was aimed right at the chest of Saunders, who made the easy save.

After a number of Portland substitutions, the tide of the game began to swing in the Timber’s favour, as the fresher legs began to threaten the Calgary defence.

Alvarez powered through the Mustangs’ Mike Pavicic in the 67th minute, and shot from a tight angle, but Pfannenstiel did well to get low and cover the angle and the shot rolled through the 6 yard box and away from danger.

Portland’s pressure was rewarded in the 72nd minute when substitute, Fadi Afash, outjumped his marker at the far post, after a perfect cross, and headed the ball past a sprawling Pfannenstiel.

The 85th minute saw Portland nearly take the lead, when Jake Sagare found enough space to unleash a cannon from the top of the box and forced a diving save from Pfannenstiel.

Seconds later, Calgary thought they should have had a penalty kick awarded, as Otta had been sent through on the Portland goal and was brought down simultaneously by the defender and the Timbers’ keeper, but the referee signaled for the play to continue.

The final chance of regulation fell to Portland, but Afash’s 87th minute header, from a cross by Sagare, slipped right of the post.

Overtime witnessed a similar pattern, and Portland threatened again in the 100th minute as Edwin Miranda tried his hand on a 28-yard free kick, but his attempt flew just over the bar.

Portland came close again in the 107th minute when Daniel Antoniuk managed to bring down the ball with his toe at the right of the Calgary net and drive towards goal. Pfannenstiel rushed out to cut off the angle and block the shot, but suffered a boot to the head that found him down in the pitch for a few minutes. Pfannenstiel did manage to shake off a broken nose and finish the game.

Walter Otta nearly grabbed the points for Calgary when he was played through on a nice ball by Nik Reyes, but he was bothered enough by the defender to fire his shot high and wide.

Portland would have the last chance of the match, off a corner, when Lee Morrison met a long corner and directed a header towards the top-left corner of the Calgary net. The ball sailed achingly over the crossbar.

After a bright beginning where Calgary controlled much of the first half, they were lucky to escape with a point.

The Mustangs travel to Edmonton on Tuesday to play their provincial rivals, Edmonton FC. Match time is 7:30 PM Mountain Time.

Scoring:
27:00 – Calgary – Otta (Holdt)
72:00 – Portland – Afash (Alcaraz-Cuellar)

Referee: Daniel Belleau
Attendance: 1002

Mustangs Are Making Waves

Gleaned from the Milwaukee Wave United website:

Mustangs Edge Wave United 4-3 in Overtime

Midfielder Mesut Mert scored a goal 16 minutes into overtime to enable the Calgary Mustangs to defeat Milwaukee Wave United 4-3 in an A-League contest Friday night at Uihlein Soccer Park.

A stunned crowd of 2,195 saw Mert convert on a header from eight yards out off a serve from Geert Brusselers that began with a counterattack following a Milwaukee turnover at midfield. The Calgary win extended the Mustangs' unbeaten streak to a season high three straight games (2-0-1) while Wave United saw its own winless streak extend to four straight outings (0-3-1).

Wave United initially took charge of the match when it scored twice in the first 15 minutes. Johnny Torres took a lead feed from Greg Howes to bury a shot past goalkeeper Lutz Pfannenstiel in the 13th minute, while teammate Todd Dusosky (from Howes) converted from the top of the penalty area just two minutes later to make it 2-0.

However, the Mustangs battled back to tie it up (2-2) before halftime, getting goals from Brusselers (27th minute) and Conrad Smith (36th minute) to even the score.

Dusosky tallied again on a turning shot from the top of the area in the 59th minute to put Milwaukee on top 3-2. But the Mustangs responded again, with Nick Zuniga scoring in the 80th minute to make it 3-3.

Pfannenstiel finished the night with nine saves on 22 shots faced, including a brilliant stop on a six-yard volley by Dusosky in the 79th minute that would have put Wave United ahead 4-2. Milwaukee ‘keeper Jeff Richey suffered the loss as he finished with just one save on eight shots faced. The season series between the clubs is now even at one-game-apiece, with the final two games of the series slated for Calgary’s McMahon Stadium Tuesday, August 17 and Thursday, August 26.

Scoring:
13:00 - Milwaukee – Torres (Howes)
15:00 - Milwaukee – Dusosky (Howes)
27:00 - Calgary – Brusselers (Mert)
36:00 - Calgary – Smith (Kolomiets-Raad)
59:00 - Milwaukee – Dusosky (Hammes)
80:00 - Calgary – Zuniga
106:00 - Calgary – Mert (Brusselers)

Referee: Fotos Bazakos
Attendance: 2195

A Dish Best Served Cold

August 1, 2004 – Calgary, Alberta

In a match that they clearly dominated, Calgary was rewarded with a well-earned 3-0 victory over the visiting Seattle Sounders.

Two goals by Damir Jesic and a beautiful cracker by Mesut Mert meant that Calgary would enjoy the full three points for the first time in ten matches.

Calgary began brightly enough and were rewarded with an early goal in the 12th minute. A cross was flicked into the Seattle box by Walter Otta and landed dangerously between a number of players. It eventually found itself at the feet of Jesic, whose shot deflected off a Seattle defender and found the back of the net, past a stunned Preston Burpo.

Seattle nearly countered right away, when Roger Levesque was sprung by Darren Sawatzky, but the play was judged to have been offside.

The 32nd minute saw the goal of the season, as Mesut Mert opted to try his luck from 35 yards out. He unleashed an absolute cannon that flew over a sprawling Burpo and just under the crossbar.

At the stroke of halftime, Calgary’s Conrad Smith, having been inspired by Mert’s goal, fired a blast from 30 yards that Burpo did well to parry and track down the rebound.

HALFTIME SCORE – Calgary 2 – 0 Seattle

Seattle came out from the break with a little more urgency and Jonathan Bolanos pounced on a failed clearing attempt in the 47th minute, but his shot sailed well over the bar.

Two minutes later, Seattle had it’s best pressure of the night as Welton made a great turn at the top of the box, but fired high. Seconds later, Levesque had a good shooting opportunity, but a last second intervention by Aaron Richer slowed the shot so it posed no problem for Lutz Pfannenstiel to scoop up.

The Mustang’s Walter Otta sliced a shot just wide of the right post in the 62nd minute, after Jamie Auvigne had been sprung to the left side of the box and cut it back into the middle.

Sergei Kolomiets-Raad put a slight scare into the Seattle keeper in the 70th minute, when his cross attempt was tipped up by Burpo and landed in the 6 yard box, but the Seattle stopper was able to gather it up before any Calgary player could get to it.

The 74th minute witnessed a pretty give-and-go play between Jesic and Auvigne that resulted in Jesic crossing into an open Steffen Holdt, but his volley grazed the outside of the right post.

Seattle tried to mount some late pressure and nearly potted a free-kick attempt in the 88th minute. The attempt skimmed just over the Calgary bar.

Levesque managed to get himself free on a cross in the 88th minute, but his powerful header found the side netting.

Finally, in their desperate attempts to score, Seattle was caught on the counter attack. Kolomiets-Raad ran down the run touchline and switched the ball into Conrad Smith who, in turn, fed a perfect through ball to Jesic who slid a one-timer inside the right post.

For Jesic, the two goals came as great relief after what has been a relatively frustrating season, thus far.

Scoring:
12:00 – Calgary – Jesic
32:00 – Calgary – Mert
90:00 – Calgary – Jesic (Smith)

Referee: Scali
Attendance:1043

Holdt's Heroics

July 30, 2004 - Burnaby, B.C.

Steffen Holdt scored an absolute cracker in the dying seconds of extra time to stun the Whitecaps and ensure that Calgary would have a share of the points on this evening.

In a tightly played first half, Vancouver had early chances on headers from free kicks, with Dave Morris going wide at 14' and Justin Thompson powering one right at keeper Lutz Pfannenstiel at 17'. Morris then blasted a volley just wide from in close at 20'.

Calgary's best chance of the first half was a powerful 20-yard shot by team captain Geert Brusselers at 25' that curled just wide of the near post.

Vancouver almost opened scoring at 53' when referee Dave Gantar awarded a penalty kick after Jason Jordan was fouled from behind by defender CJ Peszneker to the right of goal. John Sulentic took the spot kick, but Lutz Pfannenstiel dove to his right to make the big stop.

VAncouver finally opened the scoring in the 60th minute when Jason Jordan positioned himself perfectly to slip by his marker at the top of the box and drive towards goal.  Jordan made no mistake as he slid the ball past a diving Pfannenstiel and into the right corner of the Calgary net.

It looked as though Vancouver would enjoy all three points, before Holdt managed to create enough space for himself, 22 yards from goal, and unleashed a cannon to the top-right corner of the Vancouver net, past a fully outstretched Alex Marquez.

Both teams had great chances in overtime. Jason Jordan at 96' from a very sharp angle on the left, flipped the ball past the onrushing keeper, but CJ Peszneker made a superb play to hook the ball off the goal line a split second before it went in.

Then in the final minute (110') Calgary's Steffen Holdt almost scored again, but pulled his shot just wide from good position.

Scoring:
60:00 - Vancouver - Jordan (Griffiths)
90:00 - Calgary - Holdt (Reyes)

Referee: David Gantar
Attendance: 4853

Can't Buy A Win

July 28, 2004 – Calgary, Alberta

On a night when Calgary played well enough to win, they suffered yet another heart-breaking loss in the dying minutes of the match. Alan Gordon’s header in the 85th minute was the difference as the Mustangs fell to the Portland Timbers 1-0.

Calgary began brightly enough and Mesut Mert came close in the 15th minute when, after some lovely passing by the Mustangs, he unleashed a low shot that rolled wide left of the Timber’s goal.

Two minutes later, Mert had another opportunity when he latched on to a deflected cross by Sergei Kolomiets-Raad, but his 20-yard volley slid wide right.

Both Calgary and Portland enjoyed good spells of possession in the first half, but neither keeper was troubled much.

Portland caused a bit of concern to the Calgary keeper, Lutz Pfannenstiel, in the 32nd minute when Alan Gordon rose above his marker to head for goal, but his attempt flew too high.

In the 37th minute, Portland’s Byron Alvarez made a nice turn, but his shot from the top of the box slid just left of the post. Seconds later, Gordon again headed over after being fed by Hugo Alcaraz-Cuellar.

The 42nd minute saw Calgary’s Damir Jesic head a corner from Mert just wide of the right upright. Calgary claimed a push in the back as Walter Otta was shoved from behind on the play, but the ref chose to ignore the protests.

The last chance of the half came in the 44th minute, when Kolomiets-Raad was fouled 25 yards from goal. Geert Brusselers stepped up and fired the free-kick just over the bar.

HALFTIME SCORE – Calgary 0 – 0 Portland

In the 57th minute, Conrad Smith found himself onside, after a great through ball by Mert, but his blast flew wide-left of the Timber goal.

Two minutes later, a perfect feed from Jamie Auvigne found Brusselers behind the last man, but his attempt to chip Josh Saunders didn’t have enough power and landed safely in Saunders’ arms.

Portland’s Jake Sagare fired a 30-yard well high of the mark in the 64th minute.

A miscommunication in the 65th minute nearly yielded the first goal, as the newly returned Aaron Richer failed to click with Pfannenstiel in the six yard box and Gordon managed to get a shot off that Pfannenstiel did well to get low and block.

Calgary should have taken the lead in the 68th minute, as a Conrad Smith pass found Mert clearly through, but he blasted over from 12 yards..

Three minutes later, it was Smith who had a chance at goal, as he made a fine, long run to the left corner flag, beat the Timber defender, drove toward the goal and forced a good leg save by Saunders.

Calgary’s frustrations for the year were summed up in the 85th minute, as Mert’s tight angle rocket from the right side clanged off the far post and rebounded straight out to a Portland defender. Portland controlled the ball and worked their way down the pitch. Shawn Saunders sent a perfect, in-swinging cross from the right side and Gordon nodded it into the far corner of the Calgary net, past a helpless Pfannenstiel.

Once again, Calgary paid for their lack of finishing and the match slipped through their fingers.

Calgary’s next match will be shown live on FOX SPORTS WORLD on Friday, July 30th, as they travel to Vancouver the play the Whitecaps.

Scoring:
85:00 – Portland - Alan Gordon (Shawn Saunders)

Referee: Kevin Duliba
Attendance: 1374

Missed Opportunities

Match Report by Stuart Wallington

July 25, 2004 - Calgary, Alberta

On a hot and sunny day in Calgary the visiting Lynx outshone the Mustangs.

It didn’t take long for the first goal when Mike Pavicic gave the ball away to John Nusum about 25 yards in front of his own net. From there the ball was fed to a wide open Gerba who slotted in his first goal of the match.

2 minutes later Conrad Smith had a good chance from about 18 yards out, but just blasted it wide over the Lynx net.

The ‘Stangs got on the board in the 15th minute when Jamie Auvigne played a great through ball from just outside the right hand corner of the 18 yard box onto the feet of Conrad Smith, who had blown by a Lynx defender, and struck the ball well into the back of the net.

In the 18th minute Lutz palmed the ball over the cross-bar from a well placed header to keep the score even.

The Lynx second goal came on the 23 minute mark, when the Mustangs defense parted, allowing Gerba to run onto the ball and place it past the out-stretched legs of Lutz Pfannenstiel.

One minute later it was hand-bags at ten paces, when there was pushing and elbowing in Calgary’s 18 yard box. One player from each side was sent off with straight red cards, Holdt for Calgary and Faria for the Lynx.

29th minute. Goal!! Off of a corner from the left side, Mesut Mert played a beautifully flighted ball onto to the far post, Geert Brusselers jumped well to head the ball into the top right corner.

In the 40th minute the Lynx Nusum was in on goal, but Lutz was there to make a finger-tip save and inch it over the top left corner.

In the 42nd minute Geert Brusselers made a great pass to Conrad Smith, but his shot also sailed over the cross-bar.

On 45 minutes Gerba got another great header on net, but Lutz was on hand again to get his hand on the ball and play it over the bar for a corner.

HT: 2 – 2

In the 50th minute the Lynx got their 3rd goal when Munthali ran down the left flank past a porrous ‘Stangs defence and played a nice ball through to Charles Gbeke who placed the ball into the open goal.

73rd minute. The Lynx almost got their 4th goal when Charles Gbeke turned with the ball in the ‘Stangs box, but fired the ball just over the cross-bar.

The game was almost tied-up in the 90th minute when Jordan Gillespie beat 2 defenders down the left hand side of the pitch and fed the ball to an on-rushing Zuniga, who just missed getting a touch on it with his out-stretched foot.

Final: Lynx 3 – 2 Mustangs

Goals: Lynx Gerba,(8,23) Gbeke (49)
Mustangs, Smith (15) Brusselers (29)

Referee: M. Navarro
Att: 1753

Zut Alors!

Match report from the Montreal Impact website:

MONTREAL, July 21, 2004

Eduardo Sebrango scored a goal and set up Zé Roberto’s, Wednesday, to lead the Montreal Impact to a 2-0 win against the Calgary Mustangs. The game was played in front of 9,752 spectators at Claude Robillard Stadium, the second largest attendance in club history. The team record of 9,894 fans was established the week before, on July 14.

The Impact had a 17-5 edge in shots on net. Fred Commodore and Zé Roberto had three shots apiece.

"We came out with a lot of determination and confidence, and we dominated. But we need to finish off these types of games in the first half," said Impact head coach Nick DeSantis, alluding to his team’s numerous scoring chances.

Sebrango scored the opening goal at the 23rd minute of play. From the middle of the field, Sandro Grande sent a long ball in front of Sebrango, who was making a run on the left side. The Impact striker caught up to the ball and placed it inside the far post.

Sebrango allowed Montreal to double its lead at the 44th minute. After carrying the ball deep into the Calgary zone on the left wing, he made a low, hard cross that Roberto deflected behind goalkeeper Lutz Pfannenstiel. It was Roberto’s first goal this season.

Sebrango who tore his ACL last year, has therefore scored for the third time in his last three games and the fifth time this season.

"They told me it would take time to come back from an injury like this," said Sebrango, who had to leave the game at the 60th minute after suffering a cut just above the eye. "You just need to keep working. I feel that my game is improving, and I’m feeling more confident."

Goalkeeper Andrew Olivieri picked up the shutout in his first career start in the A-League. The 23-year-old Montrealer made his biggest save at the 50th minute, when he blocked a close-range header by Walter Otta by diving to his right, and then turned around to pick up the loose ball near the goal line.

"The whole team played well defensively," said Olivieri. "I can’t give enough credit to the back line, they did a really good job. In games like these, you have stay focused because you never know when a ball will come through."

Scoring:
23:00 - Montreal: Sebrango (Grande)
44:00 - Montreal: Ze Roberto (Grande)

Referee: Dominic Rossetto
Attendance: 9752

Toppled In Toronto

Using match reports from Rocket Robin and Lynxsoccer.com

July 18, 2004 - Toronto, ON

In a very exciting and entertaining match between two struggling teams, the Toronto Lynx managed to snatch a goal in the early seconds of overtime to earn a 2-1 victory over the visiting Calgary Mustangs.

With Calgary is in the midst of a lengthy road trip, it was no surprise that the Lynx dominated early on.

In the 6th minute Toronto's Shawn Faria stepped into a shot 10 yards outside the box that was steered up and over the net by Calgary keeper Lutz Pfannenstiel.

But it was Calgary who opened the scoring in the 10th minute.  Mesut Mert made a rush down the right side and unleashed a low shot, just inside the box, that was pushed around the post by a diving Bryheem Hancock. On the ensuing corner kick, Mert's perfect ball found the head of newcomer, Walter Otta, who headed past Hancock to score in his first match with the 'Stangs.

The Lynx continued to put pressure on the Calgary defenders.  In the 15th minute Ali Gerba worked his way past a Calgary defender, in the box, but his shot was stopped by Pfannenstiel.

Later, David DiPlacido and Darren Baxter worked a give-and-go but DiPlacido's blast just missed the upper right corner.

In the 23rd minute, Baxter sent a cross to Ali Gerba that eluded a defender but Gerba couldn't get enough on the left foot attempt.

Calgary threatened again when Jordan Gillespie delivered a nice ball to Sergei Kolomiets-Raad streaking down the right side but his well struck shot was handled nicely by a diving Hancock.

Toronto came out like gangbusters in the second half, but Gerba and John Barry Nusum could not put away their chances.

They were finally rewarded in the 53rd minute, when Baxter's corner found Andres Arango, who outlept his marker and headed his first of the season to tie the match at 1-1.

The turning point came in 62nd minute, when Arango brought down Otta inside the penalty area, resulting in a penalty kick.   Calgary's other new arrival, Ernesto Zapata, stepped in and looked for the low right corner but Hancock guessed right and made a diving save to keep the score level.

The Lynx' best chance to take the lead in regulation came in the 64th minute.  Baxter's free kick from 30 yards bent towards the upper-left corner but Pfannenstiel managed to punch it away.

The match was headed to dreaded overtime.

Toronto's decisive strike came shockingly quick into the first overtime period.  Just 30 seconds in, Toronto's Lewis Blois rushed down the left wing, off the kickoff, and crossed a perfect ball into the path of the charging Gerba, who jabbed his foot out to poke it into the far right corner from 5 yards.

According to a Toronto match reporter, Robin G.,  "The Lynx had, by far, the greater number of chances, outshooting the Mustangs by a 2-1 margin, although so many of their shots were off target. Lynx goalie, Bryheem Hancock, had to be sharp or this game would have got away. The longer the game went on, the more confident the Mustangs became."

Calgary will now lick it's wounds and try to salvage something from this long roadtrip, as they travel to La Belle Province to play the Montreal Impact on Wednesday evening.  Game time is 5:30 PM MT.

Scoring:
10:00 - Calgary: Otta (Mert)
53:00 - Toronto: Arango (Baxter)
91:00 - Toronto: Gerba (Blois)

Referee: Simon Moreatroyd
Attendance: 3462

Mustangs Mauled By Minnesota

With info gleaned from: http://www.mnthunder.com/news/Display.php?NewsItemId=959

July 15, 2004 (St. Paul, Minn.)  

The Minnesota Thunder laid an old-fashioned whoopin' on the Calgary Mustangs as they defeated the visitors 3 - 0 in St. Paul on Thursday.

The Thunder got a goal each from Kevin Friedland, Dustin Branan, and Melvin Tarley, while Joe Warren notched his 11th shutout of the season in securing the win.

The Thunder opened scoring early in the 14th minute when Chris Brunt drove a long diagonal ball from the right side of the field into the goal box. Midfielder Kevin Friedland cut through the box, in front of his defender and headed the ball past the charging Calgary goalkeeper Lutz Pfannenstiel to give the Thunder the early 1-0 lead.

The Thunder struck again in the 21st minute when they earned a corner kick. Jeff Matteo sent a curling ball into the center of the goal box and Dustin Branan easily out-jumped his man to head the ball into the back of the net past the helpless Pfannenstiel.

The Thunder easily knocked the ball around the lackluster Calgary side and had numerous other chances to score as they out-shot Calgary 9-1 in the first half.

The second half saw much of the same as the Thunder dominated play and created chance after chance on goal.

The Thunder were rewarded with their third goal of the game in the 56th minute, when forward Johnny Meyongar brought down a long ball just outside the Calgary goal box. He played his second touch over the Calgary defense to Melvin Tarley, who lofted the ball over the charging Pfannenstiel into the far right corner of the goal.

“It’s a good result for us. We dominated the game, controlled it, defended really well and we deserved to win.” said  Thunder coach,  Buzz Lagos, who earned his 300th A-League coaching win tonight.

Calgary will have to be concerned with the fact that they have given up four goals from the heads of their opponents in the past two matches.  They seem to be easily beaten in the air, at the moment.  The Mustangs were also outshot 17-4 on the night.

With the win, the Thunder improve their season record to 9-4-3 (W-D-L). The win gives Minnesota sole possession of second place, moving ahead of the Portland Timbers.  The Thunder are now two points behind the Western Conference leading Vancouver Whitecaps.  Calgary remains dead last with a record of 2-3-10.

The Mustangs will try and right the ship on Sunday, when they travel to Hogtown to take on the Toronto Lynx.  Calgary's lineup will be bolstered by the return of Mesut Mert, who spent the last week with the Canadian National Development Squad.  Game time is 4:00 PM MT.

Scoring:
14:00 - Minnesota: Friedland (Brunt)
21:00 - Minnesota: Branan (Matteo)
56:00 - Minnesota: Tarley (Menyongar)

Referee: David Simon
Attendance: 3234

Winless In Wisconsin

July 14, 2004 - Milwaukee, WI

Goals by Conrad Smith and Steffen Holdt weren't enough, as the Calgary Mustangs dropped a 3-2 decision to Milwaukee Wave United on Wednesday evening.

Milwaukee were powered by two goals from Todd Dusosky.  Chad Dombrowski also replied for Wave United.

All of the goals came in the first half.

Dusosky opening the scoring in the fifth minute when he placed a header past Calgary goalkeeper, Lutz Pfannenstiel, from seven yards out. 

Smith replied in the 20th, when he met an inswinging cross from Geert Brusselers, and his 10 yard header beat Wave United keeper Jim Larkin.  

Dombrowski gave United the lead again in the 34th minute when he converted on a header from close-in off a Johnny Torres corner kick . 

Calgary's Holdt answered just two minutes later as he was able to slide a shot past Larkin from eight yards out after a failed clearance by Milwaukee. 

Dusosky's second, just three minutes from the half, sealed the three points for the home squad when he was able to corral a long pass from Ibrahim Kante and touch the ball past the charging Pfannenstiel from the middle of the box.

Calgary will hope to recover quickly, as they travel to St. Paul to play the Minnesota Thunder tomorrow evening.

Scoring:
5:00 – Milwaukee – Todd Dusosky (4) from Hammes
20:00 – Calgary – Smith (4) from Brusselers
34:00 – Milwaukee – Dombrowski (3) from Torres
36:00 – Calgary – Holdt (2) – unassisted
42:00 – Milwaukee – Todd Dusosky (5) from Kante

Referee: Troy Cohrs
Att: 1254

The Win's the Thing

http://www.aviatorshangar.com/results/06-28-2004.php

Match Report by Strobe_z - 28 June 2004

Alberta Derby: Part 3... The Aviators strike back!

After allowing the Calgary Mustangs to spoil their first two encounters with late goals to draw even, the Edmonton Aviators tried a new tactic - hold off on the scoring until OT, that way they can't even things up.

After 10 games and a 105 minutes, the Edmonton Aviators finally scrapped out a 1-0 win over their provincial rivals, the Calgary Mustangs - their first win ever!

Looking for a little spark of offense, Ross Ongaro started with a physical presence up front with Chris Devlin providing support for the vetern Sipho Sibiya. The experiment seemed to be working early as Edmonton had much of the early run of play. Devlin and Sibiya provided a strong central anchor in the middle while Sean Fraser used his blinding speed to good use. Blazing past the Calgary defense time and time again, Fraser was able to run straight on to goal, however once again it was the finishing that let down the Aviators.
Weathering the early pressure, Calgary was able to maintain their defensive shape and provide some clever counter-attacks, putting together a total of 4 shots on goal..

The only booking of the match came in the 44' off a hard Mesut Mert tackle.

The second half started much the same as the first, with Edmonton pushing forward in an attacking formation. However, Calgary's defense seemed to have a better handle on Fraser's flanking runs and were able to shut them down much earlier. Still, sensing a possible victory was in the cards, Ongaro decided to take off holding midfielder Ibrahim Mollaibrahimagaoglu in the 50' and add the more offensive Paul Dahliwal to the mix. Five minutes later, at the 55' mark, Ongaro added Chris Lemire on for Sipho Sibiya. Calgary then subbed on Nicholas Zuniga for Sergei Kolomiets-Raad in the 62'.

The moves proved better for Edmonton as they were able kept up the offensive pressure; Dahliwal made some inspired moves on the wing to work his way into the box, narrowly missing Lemire with the pass. Calgary's best chance of the half nearly broke Edmonton's heart when a nice cross into the area sent Aviators 'keeper Campi scrambling off his line to smother the ball at the feet of the attacking Calgary player. In the ensuing scramble, Calgary was able to get two shots off before having the ball cleared from with in the Edmonton box.

Edmonton answered the challenge with 4 shots of their own - two high quality shots within minutes of each other, as both Lemire and Chin rang shots off the Calgary crossbar. In an all out effort to secure a victory for the home-town fans, Ongaro emptied his arsneal, bringing on the speedy Freddy Akok for Chris Devlin in the 70' while Calgary countered by bringing on Jordan Gillespie, for Steffen Holdt in the 75' and Damir Jesic and Mark Slade for Zdravko Savic and Conrad Smith in the 77'.

Despite stacking the offense, neither team could get the breakthrough they needed for the victory, Edmonton subbed off the tired captain Kurt Bosch for Vikram Kaushal just before the end of the match, in the 93'.

With missed chances once again on the minds of the Edmonton faithful, the game went into overtime. Both teams traded chances in the 1st OT period, but Edmonton refused to accept yet another draw. In the 105' minute, Chris Lemire wove some magic through a tired Calgary defense, fed the pass off to Gordon Chin, who turned on the ball to shake his marker and snapped another lighting shot into the top right corner of the net past the diving Lutz Pfannenstiel - a near carbon copy of his earlier chance.

A Goal! A Win! The first ever in Aviators history. In celebration, Chin was swamped by his Edmonton teammates; hoisted up by his ankles over the shoulders of the considerably taller Jose Luis Campi.

Goals:
EDM: Chin 105'

Referee: Paul Ward
Att: 2437

Like Kissing Your Sister

June 25, 2004 – Calgary, Alberta

A beautiful volley by Nikola Vignjevic and a penalty by Jamie Auvigne meant that the Edmonton Aviators shared the points with the Mustangs on Friday evening.

Edmonton dampened the enthusiasm of the 3198 Calgary supporters (even more so than the weather) in the 4th minute. Vignjevic found himself with time to tee up the ball and blasted a looping 30-yard volley into the top left corner of the Calgary net, past a stunned Lutz Pfannenstiel.

Calgary nearly evened the score in the 11th minute as Conrad Smith tried his luck from 27 yards out, but his attempt slid achingly wide of the left post.

Eight minutes later, Edmonton’s Sean Fraser ran on to a nice flick by Kurt Bosch, but his shot from 15 yards sailed wide of the mark.

In the 23rd minute, Steffen Holdt latched onto an inswinging cross from Sergei Kolomiets-Raad, but his header attempt landed safely in the arms of Edmonton keeper, Jose Luis Campi.

The 33rd minute saw Raad make a nice run down the left touchline and drive towards the net, before he laid the ball nicely into the path of Geert Brusselers. Unfortuntely, Brusselers’ shot from 10 yards was aimed straight at the rain clouds and sailed high into the stratosphere.

Halftime score: Calgary 0 – 1 Edmonton

The second half began with Holdt driving towards the Edmonton net, but his right-foot blast missed wide right.

In the 57th minute, Edmonton’s Chris Handsor turned his marker inside out, in the Calgary box, but could not find the net from 12 yards out.

Finally, in the 78th minute, Calgary was rewarded for their controlling play when Mesut Mert was taken down in the Edmonton 18-yard box. The referee immediately pointed to the spot. Jaimie Auvigne calmly stepped up and slotted the penalty kick home while sending Campi the wrong way.

Calgary had one more chance to win the match in regulation, but Holdt’s attempt snuck just right of the goal.

The match was going into overtime.

Calgary had a number of dangerous chances in the extra periods but just couldn’t find the back of the Edmonton net.

Mert nearly ended it in the 95th minute as his shot from the right side took a touch off of an Edmonton defender and Campi managed to get his fingertips on the ball to steer past the far post.

Four minutes later, a Calgary shot took a number of deflections before Holdt headed into the path of Mert. The Calgary midfielder only had the keeper to beat but Campi managed to get a hand on it and the ball squeaked past the right post.

Mert was denied, once again, in the 101st minute, as his header sailed wide of the mark. Damir Jesic walked the ball in before feeding Zdravko Savic on the right touchline. Savic drove to the endline and crossed the ball to an unmarked Mert, who was shocked to find his header not bulge the twine.

The last great chance of the night fell to Edmonton, as Freddy Akok launched a powerful blast that Pfannenstiel stopped at full stretch. The rebound came straight out and Daniel Drummond, having a clear shot, thundered a blast that was blocked by a diving Calgary defender. An offside flag finally ended the danger.

Final Score: Calgary 1 – 1 Edmonton

Goals:
04:00 – Edmonton – Nikola Vignjevic
78:00 – Calgary – Jamie Auvigne (PK)

Referee: Mauricio Navarro
Attendance: 3198
Weather: Hard rain in first half, clearing in second half

Calgary Lays a Whoopin' on Vancouver

Match Report by Stu Wallington - June 18, 2004 - Calgary, Alberta

On a spectacular night in Calgary, the Mustangs played perhaps their best game of the season.

Zdravco Savic had the first chance of the game when his header went just wide over the top left corner of the ‘Caps net.

Vancouver’s first attempt at net came in the 10th minute when Alfredo Valente shot just over the cross bar.

Conrad Smith had his first shot on net in the 20th minute but the low shot was easily saved by Alex Marques.

Fourteen minutes later, Mesut Mert passed to Smith from the left corner but Conrad couldn’t get over the ball, and Marques once again had the easy save.

Goal!! In the 18th minute Conrad Smith got his head on a great cross from Sergei Raad and placed the ball neatly into the top right hand corner of the net.

In the 35th minute Vancouver’s troubles hitting the net continued when Steve Kindel once again blasted the ball over the cross-bar.

Goal!! In the 42 minute Geert Brusselers collected the ball from the 30 yard line and out ran through the Caps defense into the box, and flicked the ball on to the feet of Smith, who easily slid the ball into the back of the net.

Only two minutes later the ‘Stangs were rewarded with their third goal when Sergei Raad made a magnificent run down the right wing and fed the ball through the box, which took a slight deflection off of Conrad Smith right to Mesut Mert who bulged the back of the net.

HT 3 – 0

Vancouver came close again in the 47th minute, but again, the ball was shot wide right over the Mustangs net off of the foot of Dave Morris.

At the 53 minute mark, Steffen Holdt blasted a shot from 25 yards out but the ball curled the wrong way and swerved wide right of the Vancouver net.

Vancouver had a free – kick from 25 yards out in the 60th minute, but the wall did its job and the ball was deflected out for a corner.

Vancouver’s frustration started to show in the 61st minute when Davide Xausa took down Chris Kooy then proceeded to stomp on his back. Luckily, only a yellow was shown, but it could easily have been a red.
In the 66th minute Conrad Smith beat off two defenders, back-heeled the ball to Mesut Mert, but his blast from 15 yards out curled away from the top-right corner.

Vancouver had their best chance of the game in the 70th minute on a scramble in the Mustangs box, but the defenders and Lutz Pfannensteil kept the ball out.

In the 88th minute Vancouver had their last chance to make the game respectable, but Dave Morris’s deflected shot was tipped by the left post by Pfannensteil

Final score: Vancouver 0 – 3 Mustangs

Goals:
Cal - Smith, 18min.
Cal - Smith, 41min.
Cal - Mert, 43min.

Referee: Bernhardssen
Att: 1867

Calgary Has Little Impact

June 13, 2004 - Calgary, Alberta

A first-half penalty kick by Patrick Leduc and a second-half header by Frederick Commodore were the difference as the Montreal Impact thwarted the Calgary Mustangs 2-0 on Sunday afternoon. The rain held off just long enough in this match that featured more yellow cards than dangerous scoring chances.

Montreal opened the match with two players landing in the referee Silviu Petrescu’s book inside the first ten minutes. Ze Roberto was shown the yellow for a clumsy challenge in the 7th minute and Montreal keeper, Greg Sutton, was booked less than 30 seconds later for delaying the game.

Yet, the referee’s biggest decision came in just the 9th minute as he judged a Calgary challenge on Antonio Ribeiro, just inside the Mustangs’ box, was worthy of a penalty kick.

The Impact’s Leduc calmly stepped up and placed a powerful shot into the bottom right corner of the net, after sending Lutz Pfannenstiel the wrong way.

Calgary’s captain, Geert Brusselers, also made it into Mr. Petrescu’s little black book in the 33rd minute due to a tackle from behind.

Neither club tested the opposing goal keeper to any great extent during the first half and the first 45 minutes ended at 1-0.

Montreal made a change early in the second half, as Nicola Budalic was replaced by Frederick Commodore, and it showed dividends almost immediately.

Commodore met a perfect inswinging cross from Jason DiTullio and his powerful header thundered into the top right-hand corner of the Calgary net. Ditullio had made a break down the right touchline and crossed the ball into the Calgary box, about ten yards from the Calgary net, and Commodore had created just enough space for himself to put the ball into the back of the Mustangs’ goal.

Both clubs made a number of substitutions, trying to find more goals, but most of the remainder of the action came in the final 10 minutes of the half.

Montreal substitute, Darko Kolic, showed his pace in the 81st minute, as he ran down the right side of centre, but his blast from an angle was aimed straight at the chest of Pfannenstiel.

Commodore tried to increase the Montreal lead, two minutes later as he made two cuts through the Calgary defence, at the top of the Mustangs’ box, and put the ball on his good foot, but his effort sneaked just past the left post.

Tensions nearly boiled over in the 87th minute as Calgary’s Conrad Smith rather foolishly jumped into Sutton, after Sutton had gathered in the ball at the top of the Montreal box. Sutton took exception to the play and gave Smith a shot to the head with his forearm. The players exchanged words and both teams gathered, but cooler heads prevailed and Smith was shown the yellow.

Montreal suffered an injury scare, late in the match, as DiTullio collided with Zdravko Savic. The play looked innocent enough, with Savic catching DiTullio as he went for the ball, but DiTullio stayed down and was being attended to for a long time. It appears to be a possible knee injury.

Three minutes of extra time produced no more chances and the match ended 2-0.

Goals:
09:00 - Montreal – Patrick Leduc (PK)
61:00 – Montreal – Frederick Commodore

Referee: Silviu Petrescu
Weather: mix of sun and clouds
Attendance: 879

Double Overtime Heartbreak

Match report by Ron Stickney: http://seattlepitch.tripod.com/matches/2004/jun6.html

The Seattle Sounders needed extra time to beat the visiting Calgary Mustangs 2-1. After a scoreless first half, Calgary struck first when Nikolas Reyes' shot up the middle took a lucky deflection off a defender. Seattle came back when Welton earned a penalty kick that was converted clinically by Kyle Smith. Just into the second period of extra time it was Welton with the winning goal, his third match winner in four matches. Welton has already earned most of his 2004 salary.

The lineups surprised us. Seattle started a decidedly defensive lineup against a foe they had beaten at home 5-0 recently. The Sounders came out in a 4-4-2 lineup where only two of the midfeilders, Viet Nguyen and Jason Farrell, were known for their offensive skills. Calgary, meanwhile, started with a more offensive 3-4-3 lineup. Shouldn't it be the other way around?

First Half

It was Seattle in the early going. In the 2nd minute a throw-in play led to Nguyen's shot from close in that was deflected wide by goalkeeper Lutz Pfannenstiel and cleared by the defense. Welton's nice cross from the left gave Levesque a shot from close that went a yard wide of the far post. A Farrell free kick went past goal for Ryan Edwards, whose shot at the near post was saved by a diving Pfannenstiel.

In the 20th, Farrell worked a give and go with Chad Brown inside the penatly area, but shot over the bar. Sean Henderson seemed surprised to find himself open for a shot from the top right of the penalty area and shot over the top far corner. Nguyen's long free kick just missed the top far corner, but Pfannenstiel was there just in case.

Calgary's first shot came in the final minute of the half when Mesut Mert's cross on a free kick play gave Jamie Auvigne a header that missed the top far corner by a yard.

Halftime: Seattle 0 - 0 Calgary

Seattle shot first in the second half when Farrell's short feed gave Nguyen a 23-yarder up the middle that was saved high by Pfannenstiel.

49' Reyes. Reyes found space for a 25-yard shot up the middle and it deflected off defender Ryan Edwards' leg to the center of the goal while 'keeper Preston Burpo had already launched himself towards the lower right corner. Burpo tried change directions in mid air, but you can only do that in cartoons. Calgary had scored on their second shot of the match. 1-0 Calgary.

Seattle responded with plenty of pressure on Calgary's goal, especially after bringing in offensive-minded substitutes Smith and Darren Sawatzky. Defender Marco Velez was up on the right for a chance under pressure but shot over the bar. A 30-yard rocket up the middle by Farrell went right into Pfannenstiel's bread basket.

Calgary took their last good shot of regulation time in the 55th when an 18-yarder forced Burpo to dive forward for the save.

Just on, Sawatzky was served on the right with acres of space and sent in a cross worth finishing, but Welton under pressure couldn't quite reach the ball.

73' Smith (PK). Welton was served a square pass in the penalty area and was knocked over from behind by Geert Bursselers trying to take it. Young referee Yader Reyes pointed to the spot and Brusselers complained in vain. Smith accurately put the penalty kick low into the left corner. 1-1.

Seattle had their chances in regulation time. Nguyen's cross to the far post might have been finished by Smith or Levesque, but Levesque's header went over the bar. Velez tried a blast from 30 but was yards high. In the 82nd Levesque carried up the middle for a pressured shot from 25 that slid barely wide of the left post.

Regulation: Seattle 1 - 1 Calgary

Extra time was uneventful until the 98th minute when Calgary's Brusselers shot from a free kick wide of the left side of the penalty area, but he shot wide of the near post.

For Seattle, Sawatzky's 30-yard low shot was a yard wide of the near post.

For Calgary, Mert's corner kick created a shot on goal that caught just a bit of the top right corner.

101' Welton (Smith). The match winner was a pinball goal. Substitute Sean-Michael Callahan took a pass wide left and turned the corner towards the end line. His nice cross to the far post was headed by Levesque from 6 yards to Welton in front of goal. Welton's first shot went sideways past goal, but Smith was there near the end line to head it back across the goal to Welton, who tapped it in from 5 yards. 2-1 Seattle.

Final: Seattle 2 - 1 Calgary

Misconduct:
10' CAL - Auvigne cautioned for taking out Brown's legs wide of the Calgary penalty area.
16' SEA - Henderson cautioned for kicking over the ball at an opponent's legs.
45' SEA - Edwards cautioned for a foul on Mert.
48' SEA - Farrell cautioned for a late trip of Mert.
55' CAL - Reyes cautioned for a foul near the halfway line.
86' SEA - Smith cautioned for a late slide into Kooy.
99' SEA - Brown cautioned for a foul on Jesic in the Calgary half.

Referee: Yader Reyes
Attendance: 1,650

Sweet Revenge!!

June 2, 2004 – Calgary, Alberta

Goals by Damir Jesic and Steffen Holdt powered Calgary to its first victory of the 2004 campaign as they exacted a little revenge over the Seattle Sounders on Wednesday night.

In front of its largest crowd of the season, Calgary pressed Seattle throughout the match and forced the Sounder keeper, Preston Burpo, into a number of big saves.

Seattle began the action in the 5th minute as an inswinging free-kick from Viet Nguyen was met by Roger Levesque, but he headed straight down and the bounce was gathered by Lutz Pfannenstiel.

Seconds later, Calgary stole the ball, and Geert Brusselers fed Conrad Smith, but his blast was deflected for a corner.

Levesque and Nguyen combined again in the 10th minute off a corner, but Levesque’s header headed straight at Pfannenstiel.

Billy Sleeth was shown a yellow card in the 35th minute for roughing up Jamie Auvigne. That would come back to haunt him later in the match.

In the 38th minute, Calgary’s newest acquisition, Nic Reyes, made a lovely run down the left side and laid the ball to Conrad Smith, but his low shot lacked power and was gathered by Burpo.

Two minutes later, Seattle came close, by accident, as a clearing attempt by Auvigne went straight off the head of Jason Farrel, but luckily the rebound was directed straight into the arms of Pfannenstiel.

Calgary very nearly took the lead in the 40th minute as Jesic did a little juggling act with the ball before launching a looping 28-yard shot over the outstretched fingers of Burpo, but he was denied by the crossbar.

Calgary had the last chance of the half after Holdt latched onto a fine passing combination between Mesut Mert and Brusselers, but his 18 yard blast sailed just wide left.

HALFTIME SCORE: Calgary 0-0 Seattle

Calgary kept up the pressure after the restart and came close in the 56th minute. Mert fed a beautiful long ball to Reyes, who walked the ball up the right side before it found itself on the foot of Smith, whose shot was deflected wide for a corner.

A minute later, Mert lofted a perfect cross onto the head of Jesic, whose nod was just touched over the bar by Burpo.

GOAL – 57th Minute - The resulting corner saw Mert play provider again, as his beautiful corner was met by Holdt who made no mistake when he powerfully headed the ball past a sprawling Burpo.

The 65th minute saw Calgary substitute, Zdravko Savic make a long, weaving run before he got off a shot that rolled just wide of the left post.

GOAL – Calgary scored their second of the match in the 75th minute, as Jesic was finally rewarded with a goal. Holdt ran onto a fine through ball on the left touchline and curled a perfect left footer into Jesic, who took one steadying touch before slipping the ball past Burpo from around the penalty spot.

Five minutes later, Jesic would force Burpo into making an excellent save, at full stretch, as he dove to his left to parry away Jesic’s curling right-to-left shot from the top-left corner of the 18 yard box. Off of the resulting corner, Savic met the Mert cross and forced a reaction save from Burpo. The ball fell to the feet of Jesic, but his shot was blocked and resulted in another corner.

GOAL – In the 84th minute, Seattle would claw a goal back as Roger Levesque unleashed a powerful shot that found the left corner of the Calgary net, past a diving Pfannenstiel.

Shortly after, while awaiting a Seattle free-kick, the Sounder’s Sleeth decided to elbow Nick Zuniga in the nose, in the Calgary box. Sleeth was shown the red and was escorted off to a chorus of boos from the 1247 Calgary fans.

Calgary poured the pressure on and nearly regained a two-goal lead in the 90th minute as Savic missed a good shooting opportunity from in-close, after being fed by Sergei Kolomiets-Raad, following a fine run.

The fourth official signaled for 5 minutes of extra time, but Calgary hung on to post their first win of the season and draw within two points of Seattle for the fourth and final playoff spot.

Goals:
57:00 – Calgary, Holdt
74:00 – Calgary, Jesic
83:00 – Seattle, Levesque

Referee: Mark Budda
Attendance: 1247
Weather: Sunny, 18 degree Celsius

First Alberta Derby Ends In a Draw

May 28, 2004 – Calgary, Alberta

A case of wet-ball butterfingers off of a bad hop cost Calgary the full three points, in a match that took last-second heroics for Calgary to even gain a point.

Once again, the soccer Gods did not smile on Calgary, as heavy rains greeted the beginning of the match, but that did not prevent 1014 hardy fans from watching the first installment of the Alberta Derby.

Calgary dominated the first half, and started strongly when, in the 7th minute, Chris Kooy unleashed a powerful shot that Edmonton keeper, Jose Luis Campi, parried away after diving to his left. Seconds later, Damir Jesic was fed a perfect through-ball and, with only the keeper to beat, but he fired into Campi’s chest, it rebounded off of Jesic and ended rolling for a goal kick.

In the 9th minute, only Campi’s fingertips and the woodwork denied Jesic from scoring as he latched onto a fine left-foot cross from Geert Brusselers. Jesic met in on the full volley and Campi just got enough of the shot to push it onto the bar.

The 22nd minute saw Jesic behind the last man after a horrendous pass-back, but once again he failed to beat Campi who had rushed out to cut out the angle and smother the ball 15 yards out. Another golden opportunity was squandered.

Claudio Salinas made it into the referee’s book in the 33rd minute after a nasty challenge on Brusselers.

Edmonton had their first real opportunity in the 36th minute, when Nikola Vignevic tried his luck, but the ball was blocked by Angelo Sestito at the last moment.

GOAL - A minute later, against the run of play, Edmonton found themselves ahead, after a speculative 35 yards shot by Freddy Akok took a hop off the wet pitch, skipped through Lutz Pfannenstiel, and ended up in the top-left corner of the net.

Calgary had the last chance at the stroke of half, but both Zdravko Savic’s and Brusselers’ shots were blocked before reaching the Edmonton net.

Once again, Calgary’s missed opportunities had come back to haunt them.

After the break, Edmonton started to figure out the McMahon turf and gained more control of the play. Sestito had to block a Vignevic attempt in the 53rd minute that would have been dangerous.

Titus was booked in the 54th minute for arguing with the referee.

A minute later, Calgary’s Steffen Holdt headed over the bar from 12 yards after running onto a Jamie Auvigne corner from the left side.

Campi was called into service in the 63th minute when he tipped two shots by Auvigne and Holdt over the bar in quick succession.

Shortly after, Edmonton would come close on a corner, when Liam DeSilva met a corner with authority but his effort went just over the bar.

Two substitutions midway through the second frame changed the fortunes of Calgary, as Conrad Smith came on for Nick Zuniga and Sergei Kolomiets-Raad replaced Damir Jesic.

In the 82nd minute Mesut Mert carried an Edmonton defender on his back for 30 yards before the referee finally blow the whistle for a free kick just outside the box. Brusselers, however, sent the resulting opportunity high and wide.

GOAL – Finally, in the first minute of extra-time Calgary got the goal that they were desperately hoping for. Raad latched onto a rebound of a Mark Slade shot and powered it into the right corner, past a stunned Campi. Slade had made a nice run down the left side before he had unleashed the shot.

In the 93rd minute, Calgary had a golden opportunity to snatch the full three points when Smith found himself in perfect shooting position, 12 yards out and just right of the penalty spot, but he chose to put everything he had into the shot, when the shot demanded a lesser touch, and the ball rocketed over the crossbar.

The Aviators nearly got the win in the 95th minute when a header missed inches to the left of goal. The ball having touched a Calgary defender last before going for a corner kick.

Raad made an incredible run down the right touchline in the 99th minute that nearly ended in a goal by Smith. Raad powered through two defenders, while spinning this way and that, and finally crossed the ball to an open Smith, who fired the chance over the bar.

Edmonton had the last chance at the death, when Kurt Bosch was taken down, just outside the box, but the resulting free kick was dealt with and the match ended 1-1.

Referee: S. Petrescu
Attendance: 1014
Weather: Mix of rain and clear, 9 degrees Celsius

Sounders Out-Run Mustangs

http://www.seattlesounders.net/cgi-bin/pressrelease.cgi?ID=69

May 23, 2004

(Seattle, WA) – After a slow start, the Sounders achieved their first win of the season with a 5-0 shutout against the Calgary Mustangs. The Sounders offense came alive as they became more aggressive throughout the game. Both Sounders forwards had a multiple goal game along with a few Sounders firsts.

In the first half the Sounders scored three goals, two by forward Kyle Smith. Smith's goals were assisted by forward Roger Levesque and the other by midfielder Viet Nguyen.

Levesque was responsible for most of the Sounders offense, with a five point night. Levesque scored his first goal towards the end of the first half, and then again in the 68th minute from a beautiful pass from Sounders midfielder Billy Sleeth.

The Sounders Brazilian forward Welton entered the game after the half. In the 74th minute he added the Sounders fifth goal of the night, assisted by Sounders sub Craig Tomlinson.

There were multiple "firsts" for the Sounders against the Mustangs. Not only was it the Sounders first win of the 2004 season, but it was goalkeeper Preston Burpo’s first shutout of the season as well. Welton scored his first goal in a Sounders uniform and Sleeth earned his first point as a Sounder with an assist on Levesque's second.

Referee: Valenzuela
Att: 2090

Calgary Loses Heartbreaker

May 22, 2004

In a match that finished with a 2-1 Vancouver victory over Calgary, the Mustangs must feel that they deserved to be on the winning side, as the referee played a major role in the outcome of the match.

In front of an announced crowd of 670 on a rainy and cold Saturday afternoon, the Mustangs took the game to the Whitecaps and controlled the play for most of the first half. Vancouver seemed to be lost on the McMahon Stadium pitch for the first half.

Calgary began brightly enough, in the 5th minute, when pressure in the Vancouver box forced a wayward shank, off a clearing attempt by a Whitecaps’ defender, to nearly find the top corner of the Vancouver net.

Vancouver’s Carlo Corazzin tried to spice up the match in the 8th minute, but his bicycle attempt was blocked by the chest of a Calgary defender.

GOAL - Calgary took the lead in the 10th minute off a beautiful one-touch display that began with Zadravko Savic and ended with Jamie Auvigne. Savic played a quick ball into the Whitecap’s box and it was flicked back towards him by Mesut Mert. But, Auvigne found himself ahead of the intended recipient and slammed the ball past a stunned Chris Franks.

Calgary continued the pressure and forced Vancouver’s Davide Xausa to take a yellow card, for a rash challenge, in the 15th minute.

Soon after, Savic threatened again, when he went on a long run down the right side and bodied his man away, to create a dangerous opportunity, but he was judged to have been too rough and Vancouver took over possession.

In the 22nd minute, it was Auvigne’s turn to end up in the book, as he took down a Vancouver forward. He may have been let off with just a warning, but he kicked the ball away in disgust and was shown the yellow.

A minute later, Vancouver would have their first dangerous chance, when Martin Nash found himself behind the last man, after a fine through-ball, and only the Calgary keeper, Lutz Pfannenstiel, to beat. Pfannenstiel rushed out to cut the angle and Nash paused before taking the shot. The attempt struck the Calgary stopper in the shoulder and then caromed off Calgary’s Mike Pavicic and then Nash and rolled beyond the end line for a goal kick.

Soon afterward, Nash, perhaps still stinging from his missed chance, tried a speculative attempt from 45 yards that momentarily concerned Pfannenstiel, before sailing just wide of the left post.

In the 30th minute, Pfannenstiel sent a long free kick onto the head of Savic, who flicked it into the path of Conrad Smith, but Smith’s blast was always curling away from the net and ended well wide.

Three minutes later, Calgary came close when Jordan Gillespie’s telling cross sailed over the outstretched fingers of Franks and was chased down at the far post by Chris Kooy. Kooy was well marked on the play and was not able to turn for a shot, so he sent the ball back to Geert Brusselers, at the top of the box. Brusselers made a jinking run along the top of the box, trying to get into a shooting position, but his eventual attempt was blocked.

GOAL - Suddenly, in the 40th minute, against the run of play, Vancouver found themselves with a golden opportunity to tie the match. In what looked like a relatively harmless loft in to the Calgary box, Conrad Chala was judged to have held his man, and the referee awarded the Whitecaps a penalty kick. Despite Calgary’s loud protests, Vancouver’s Carlo Corazzin sent Pfannenstiel the wrong way and the match was tied at 1-1.

Calgary had the last chance of the half, when, off a free kick, Brusselers fed the ball to Kooy, who tried to curl it into the far corner with the outside of his foot, but it sailed wide of the mark.

Halftime – Calgary 1 – 1 Vancouver

A minute after the restart, Auvigne’s back pass was slowed by the water on the pitch and was almost met by a Vancouver player, but Pfannenstiel managed to beat him to it and send the ball to safety.

In the 50th minute, Corazzin tried his luck again, from 30 yards, but his cannon, flew high over the bar.

Vancouver threatened again in the 60th minute, when Justin Thompson met an outswinging corner kick with a powerful header, but Pfannenstiel was equal to the task, diving to his left to make the save.

A minute later, Calgary turned the tables, as Brusselers sent a long ball to Smith, who nodded onto the foot of Jesic. But, the play was judged to be offside before Jesic could unleash a shot.

Calgary kept up the pressure and, off of a corner, soon found Brusselers in shooting position, but his attempt was blocked. The rebound found itself in the path of Smith, but his header landed safely in the arms of Franks.

In the 65th minute, after a build-up by Corazzin, Kevin Harmse unleashed a shot from 20 yards, but it rose over the bar.

Calgary thought it had it’s equalizer in the 68th minute, when it was awarded a penalty kick for a hand ball by a Vancouver defender in the box. Conrad Smith stepped up and drove the PK at Franks, who did not have to move much to make the stop. A golden opportunity was squandered.

Vancouver would make Calgary pay in the 74th minute, when Alfredo Valente crossed a ball, that appeared to cross the end line, to Dave Morris who hammered to ball past Pfannenstiel.

Four minutes later, Calgary nearly had their second goal when a pin-ball play in the Calgary box found the ball at the feet of Savic, but his blast from 15 yards slipped achingly wide right.

In the 82nd minute, a Corazzin header was met with authority by Morris and Pfannenstiel momentarily spilled the ball before gathering it up before Vancouver could capitalize.

The 85th minute saw Nash latch on to a brilliant through ball and had time and space to find the back of the net, but Pfannenstiel made an incredible one-armed save and Chala cleared the ball from danger.

Nash was then replaced by Vancouver’s new Jamaican trialist, Winston Griffiths.

Both teams would see some good build-up come to naught and the match would end with Calgary walking off the pitch without a point to show.

Referee: Gerry Proctor (Vancouver)
Attendance: 670
Weather: Rainy, 1 degree Celsius

Whitecaps Swamp Mustangs

Courtesy of the Vancouver Whitecaps - Comments by rusty210210

The Whitecaps downed the visiting Calgary Mustangs 3-1 on the strength of the two goals by Oliver Heald and a spectacular overhead winner by Carlo Corazzin.

With the win Vancouver remains in second place in the Western Conference, with a 2-0-1 record for 7 points. The Portland Timbers, who were 1-0 winners tonight in Seattle, are in first place with 9 points.

The Caps and Mustangs play again in Calgary on Saturday, May 22. The Whitecaps' next home game is a Men's and Women's doubleheader on Sunday May 23. At 4:00pm the Women take on the Edmonton Aviators, followed by the Whitecaps Men against Portland at 7:00pm.

Eye witness, rusty210210 reports:

"I actually thought the Mustangs played a decent 1st half, and appeared to have some nice possessions. Conrad Smith showed some decent moments, and big Geert is a strong player. Problem for them was they could not seem to string that last pass together, from the mid up front. When the frontmen did have it, they tended to hold on too long, or tried to take on the entire Whitecaps back line. Though down 1-0 at half, a chance here or there and it could have been tied.

Unfortunately, come second half, the Whitecaps started to attack the flanks and starting pounding crosses from everywhere. Usually, there were two to three bodies at the back post and a free-for-all would ensue, guys grabbing anything to get it out. Vancouver got two of their 3 goals on crosses, and the 3rd was a 30 yard cross from the right flank to the top of the 18 to a wide open guy who Lutz wound up hauling down. Lutz snapped at the ref and a big melee ensued, but when all was said and done, the Caps finished it off at the PK spot. Calgary's goal was actually quite nice, though against the flow of play. Mert slammed home a through ball from the mids with a one timer to the low left corner."

Game Notes:
Jason Jordan left the game after twenty minutes with a hamstring injury.

Corazzin had a great chance to score at 23' after he did superbly to control the ball in the box, but the keeper blocked his point-blank effort.

The Whitecaps outshot Calgary 14-3.

Vancouver is undefeated against Calgary all-time with a record of 9-0-2.

The Caps are on an 18-game undefeated streak going back to last season.

Scoring Summary :

37' Vanc Oliver Heald (Dave Morris) A driven cross from Morris on the right was headed by a charging Heald, who put it just inside the right post.

68' Vanc Carlo Corazzin (Martin Nash) Corazzin's acrobatic overhead kick found the bottom corner after a great cross from Nash.

71' Calg Mesut Mert (Zdravko Savic) Mert picked up the ball in space in the box and fired it low past Mike Franks.

74' Vanc Oliver Heald (PK) Heald scored his second of the game and season on a penalty kick, awarded after Davide Xausa was taken down by goalkeeper Lutz Pfannenstiel while on a breakaway.

Officials

Referee: Mark Budda
Att: 4435

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Many thanks to the Whitecaps' media department and rusty210210

Mustangs Come Up Short

May 13, 2004 - By Allison Andrews - Soccer City USA

Goals from Alvarez and Bengard just enough to win over Calgary

The Portland Timbers took an early lead for the second match in a row, but after having given up a tying goal just before halftime, needed a second half goal from Alex Bengard, and some late game saves by Josh Saunders, to secure a 2-1 win over the Calgary Mustangs in a match played in front of 3,519 at Portland's PGE Park. Byron Alvarez had his second goal in as many games in the 25th minute for the early lead, while Conrad Smith had the lone goal for the Mustangs.

The Timbers very nearly had an early goal from Alan Gordon for the second week in a row, when in the 4th minute, the Timbers striker got loose in the box and hit a shot from 10 yards out that hit off the top of the crossbar before going over the endline. Seven minutes later, the Mustangs had their first good chance when Mesut Mert hit a shot from 25 yards out that went a foot high and wide, but Timbers goalkeeper Josh Saunders had the shot covered.

In the 14th minute, Timbers forward Byron Alvarez had an open run into the box, but his attempt to chip a pass into the run of Gordon was a few yards too far in front. Two minutes later, the visitors had another good look when Damir Jesic had a good look as he was momentarily behind the Timbers defenders as he made a run down the right side, but hit shot aimed for the near post instead went several yards wide to the right.

In the 19th minute, the Timbers had another good scoring opportunity when Alex Bengard hit a hard full volley shot from near the top of the box that forced a diving save to the left by Calgary goalkeeper Lutz Pfannenstiel. Two minutes later, the Timbers were knocking on the door again when a Hugo Alcaraz-Cuellar shot from 18 yards was deflected by a Calgary defender, but Alvarez had a chance to get a header on it, but it was right at the Calgary keeper and easily saved.

In the 25th minute, the Timbers finally got on the board when an Alcaraz-Cuellar cross found the head of Alvarez, who was parked on the edge of the six-yard box, and his header was perfectly placed just inside the left post, and the Timbers had a 1-0 lead.

Six minutes later, Gordon had another good opportunity as he was in alone against the Calgary keeper, but a reaction save by Pfannenstiel knocked the shot wide. Two minutes later, Bengard had another good look for the Timbers, but his shot from 20 yards was just wide right.

In the 42nd minute, Calgary's Conrad Smith charged into the Portland box, against several Timbers defenders, but he slipped around the Timbers defense, as well as Saunders, and tapped in a shot that was nearly kept out by the defense, but they didn't get to the shot soon enough and it crossed the line to even the score at 1-1.

Portland's Alvarez nearly put the Timbers back up a minute later as he chipped a tough angle shot over the Calgary keeper that was barely a yard wide, and the half ended with the teams tied at 1-1.

It was only five minutes into the second half before the Timbers had their lead back. After a nice give-and-go between Scott Benedetti and Bengard, Benedetti tapped the ball back to Bengard, who was wide open in the box and had plenty of time to turn and blast the ball into the far side of the net, and the Timbers were up 2-1.

Twelve minutes later, the Timbers had another good opportunity when Alvarez was a step ahead of his defender as he entered the box, but his shot from the top of the box was just wide right. In the 68th minute, the Mustangs had perhaps their best opportunity to tie the score when after a corner kick, the ball came out to Mert, who hit a hard shot towards the right post from 22 yards out that was stopped by a diving save by Saunders.

In the 81st minute, a Calgary free kick ended up causing some nervous moments for the Timbers when the ball was loose inside the box, but Shawn Saunders was able to clear the ball out of the Timbers box. Two minutes later, the Timbers had their best opportunity for a third goal when Alvarez had a one-on-one breakaway with the Calgary keeper, but a nice reaction save stopped the slow shot.

In the 88th minute, the Timbers had to clear another dangerous free ball out of the box, then in the 89th minute, there were some nervous moments for both teams when there were players for both teams going down near the top of the Timbers box, and some pushing and shoving, but neither team earned a free kick out of the fray, and after four minutes of stoppage time, the Timbers had held on for a 2-1 win, their second straight to start the 2003 season.
----------------------------------------
Many thanks to Allison Andrews for the report and photos!

Referee: David Simon
Att: 3519

No Goals in Snowy Clash

Referee: ?
Attendance: 1000 hardy souls
Weather: Snowing, -1 degree Celsius

Mustangs Handle Dinos Again

By Mark Christie - Sunday, May 2, 2004 - Calgary

In a match that could have been a blow-out by half time, the theme of the match seemed to be lack of finishing by the Calgary forwards.  The 5-1 scoreline could have been much greater for the Mustangs.

In a reverse of yesterday's match, it was the Dinos who had the first real chance of the game.  You don't get better chances than that given to the Dinos when they were awarded a penalty kick in the 14th minute.  The Mustangs' Angelo Sestito paused to argue the lack of an offside call and then had to scramble to catch the breaking Dinos forward.    Unfortunately, as he struggled to prevent a shot on goal, he was judged to have handled the ball in the box and a penalty kick was awarded.  Calgary keeper, Lutz Pfannenstiel, saved Sestito further insult when he dove hard to his right on the resulting PK and tipped the ball around the post for a corner.  The Dinos #7 took the PK.

The Mustangs' first glorious opportunity came a minute later, when a fine ball was played down the left touchline by Jamie Auvigne to Geert Brusselers, who took it to the end line and crossed it to an unmarked Steve Frazao.  Alas, Frazao opted to spurn the opportunity when he shot straight into the chest of the Dino keeper from in close.

GOAL - Seconds after the missed opportunity, Mark Slade made sure he capitalized on his chance.   Slade found the ball at his feet after a Dinos turnover to the right of the 18 yard box and he had time to manoeuvre into a proper shooting position, pick his corner, and slide the ball past the helpless keeper.

In the 18th minute, Frazao watched his volley attempt sail over the bar after a nice build-up that saw Brusseler feed a clever through-ball to Nick Zuniga along the right of the 18-yard-box.    Zuniga's cross took a deflection off the knee of a Dinos defender and bounced invitingly for Frazao.

Zuniga forced a good save from the Dinos keeper from 10 yards out, when he latched onto an inswinging cross from Mesut Mert in the 19th minute.

Three minutes later, after a number of offsides, Brusselers finally got the timing right as he beat the offside trap, drove down the left touchline, and crossed to an unmarked Slade, but his header flew away from the mark.

GOAL - The 23rd minute saw almost a carbon copy of the goal that Auvigne scored the day before.   Auvigne gained possesion of the ball along the right touchline and drove towards the middle of the pitch before unleashing an absolute cannon of a shot that blew through the keeper and into the back of the net.

After this, the first half saw a number of fine scoring opportunities by the Mustangs go to waste.

In the 31st minute, Auvigne played provider and fed a perfect pass into the path of Frazao, but his shot sailed high and wide and landed somewhere in the vicinity of Vancouver.

Three minutes later, the Mustangs picked another hole in the pourous Dinos defence, but Zuniga fired his shot wide left.

In the 34th minute, Mert made a dandy, long run down the right side of the field and swerved in for a shot at goal, but the keeper was equal to the task and saved well from 12 yards.

A minute later, the Mustangs would see another chance go wanting.  After being fouled, Brusselers caught the Dinos defence napping with a quick free-kick to Zuniga who sliced a pass towards Slade at the front of the net, but the ball was touched away at the crucial moment by a desparate Dino defender.

In the 38th minute, Brusselers danced around two defenders like they were pylons, but blasted a shot into the chest of the keeper.

Seconds after that, Jordan Gillespie floated a beautiful, arching ball into the path of a charging Frazao, but his attempt misses wide left.

The scoring frustrations of the Mustangs seemed to bubble over just prior to the break, when Brusselers and a Dino player got into a heated shoving match by the right corner flag, Brusselers having taken objection to a rough challenge by the Dino player.

Not to be outdone, the Dinos chose to blow a golden opportunity right at the stroke of halftime, when one of their strikers managed to shoot high over the Mustangs' crossbar when it seemed harder to miss than to score.  The half ended with a 2-0 scoreline, when it should have read, at least, 6-1.

The Mustangs made a couple of changes after the break, when Jamey Glasnovic replaced Pfannenstiel between the posts and John Castrillon came on for Mike Pavicic.  Auvigne dropped back into a defensive position while Castrillon filled his spot at left midfield.  Frazao and Zuniga also switched positions.  The Dinos made a change as well; deciding to change jerseys, apparently in an attempt to fool the Mustangs into thinking that they were playing a different team.

The lack of scoring touch plagued the beginning of the second half, when a Dinos forward wasted an opportunity that was handed to him on a silver platter.  As he was attempting to pass back to Glasnovic, the ball took a nasty hop on Auvigne and he touched the ball onto the foot of the Dino player.  This player, however, didn't seem to know what to do with his new-found gift and rolled a weak shot wide of the net.

The 53rd minute saw one of the stranger occurances to happen at a soccer match, when the linesman on the far touchline appeared to have caught a toe when trying to follow the play and collapsed onto the ground in a heap.  It was subsequently found that he had broken his ankle.   The line duties fell to an inactive player, who had been a spectator at the match.

Brusselers' speculative 58th minute shot from 30 yards fell safely into the waiting arms of the Dinos keeper.   Less than a minute later, Brusselers would be replaced by Conrad Chala, after showing the signs of an earlier knock.

Seconds later, in honor of his fallen captain, Zuniga tried to chip the keeper from a similar distance, but his effort looped just over the crossbar.

In the 62nd minute, Zuniga came close again, after Frazao had run onto a long feed and delivered the ball into the box, but the touch sliced wide of the net.

Two minutes later, Slade fought off a far-from-legal challenge and managed to get a shot off.  The keeper managed to get enough of the ball to slow its progress and it was cleared off the line by a Dinos defender.

Holdt would fight off a similar challenge in the 68th minute, but he had been steered too far right to get a decent shot off and his blast went wide.

In the 73rd minute, Holdt would make an impressive turn, drive down the right touchline, and chop the ball into the box and a waiting Chala, but his shot would be blocked.  The Mustangs kept up the pressure and a blind toe poke was spilled by the keeper and sat tantilizingly for Slade, but he whiffed at the shot and ball was gathered up by the Dino backstop.

A minute later, Gillespie made a run down the left side and crossed toward Castrillon.  He missed the pass, but the ball ran into the path of Frazao who blasted into the side netting.

At this moment in the match, the Mustangs appeared to be in no danger of being scored upon, but they really did not seem to be showing the imagination it would take to create a goal of their own.

GOAL - Finally, in the 82nd minute, the Mustangs would get a break that would turn the course of the match.    Slade found himself with the ball at his feet and the net at his back.   After Gillespie and Zuniga played provider, he wheeled to shoot from 6 yards, only to have the shot blocked, but the rebound came right back to him and he volleyed it into the top-right corner.  This brought the match back to life.

GOAL - Two minutes later, Slade would return the favour as he worked a perfect give-and-go with Castrillon who slid a shot past the keeper into the bottom-left corner.

The Dinos had a good opportunity to reply in the 85th minute, but a fine cross was headed over the bar from the 12-yard-spot.

Two minutes after this, the Mustangs had a similar play when Zuniga's right-to-left free kick was met by Chala from 13 yards out, but his header flew to the left of the far post.

GOAL - 88th minute - Sestito found himself at the end of a perfect, long cross from Auvigne and he headed the ball inside the right post.  The looping cross threaded the needle as it sailed just beyond the outstretched fingertips of the Dinos keeper and just short of the covering defender.  Sestito made no mistake from 4 yards.

GOAL -  The Dinos would get a consolation goal at the death.  After a flury of consecutive corner kicks, the ball was crossed into a throng assembled at the top of the 6-yard-box and caromed off of a head and into the back of the Mustangs' goal.  The goal was later credited as an OWN GOAL, but no one was sure who touched it last.

The final whistle sounded just seconds later and the match ended in a 5-1 Mustangs' victory.

MOTM - The Mustangs' defence dominated this match, as Pfannenstiel and Glasnovic had little to do.   Jamie Auvigne had another strong performance and was very effective when he was in the midfield position in the first half.  His goal was top class. He was a little less flashy when he had to drop back to a central defender role (perhaps the Stella Artois was wearing off).  However, my MOTM on this day goes to ANGELO SESTITO.  He was very solid in the back, especially when he controlled the defence in the central position in the first half.  He made a number of quality runs and supported the midfield well, and was well rewarded when he scored from the brilliant cross from Auvigne near the end.

Of concern was the Mustangs' lack of finishing.  We hope that they find the twine with more regularity when they host Minnesota in their home opener at McMahon on May 9th.  The return of Savic and Raad, along with a new addition to the club in the coming week will help in this regard.

Weather - Overcast, gusty wind from the West.
Attendance: 60

Mustangs Devour Dinos

Saturday, May 1, 2004 - Calgary

The Calgary Mustangs celebrated May Day in style as they handily defeated the University of Calgary Dinos 6-1 early on a sunny Saturday morning in front of 60 fans at Foothills Athletic Park.

Fans of the Calgary Callies in attendance were happy to see some familiar faces as Steffen Holdt and Mark Slade where in the lineup for the Mustangs in this match.  Some other familiar faces donning the Mustangs' uniform were Angelo Sestito and Conrad Chala.

GOAL - Sporting a 3-5-2 formation, the Mustangs jumped into an early lead when, in the 4th minute, Geert Brusselers latched onto a sliding cross from Nick Zuniga and buried an easy ball into the back of the Dinos' net.  The cross seemed to have taken a touch and fell to the feet of the unmarked Brusselers.

GOAL - In the 12th minute the Mustangs had doubled their lead when Zuniga niftily left a Brusselers pass to run into the path of a charging Steve Frazao and Frazao made no mistake in steering the ball past the Dinos keeper from 16 yards out.

Frazao came close again in the 18th minute when Brusselers looped ball over the last man, but Frazao failed to find the back of the net from in close.

The 23rd minute saw Jamie Auvigne make a nice run down the left touchline and cross at the end line to Jr. Castrillon, but his header slid wide right.

Two minutes later, Brusselers watched his chip sail over the ball after being delivered a clever through-ball by Jordan Gillespie.

GOAL - Seconds later, the Mustangs had grabbed a third goal when Castrillon thundered a Brusselers cross towards the goal mouth and an unfortunate Dino defender touched the ball into his own net. OWN GOAL.   Gillespie was the closest Mustang to the play and may have forced the issue.

The Dino's keeper decided to take matters into his own hands when, in the 29th minute, he managed to smother an Auvigne shot from 25 yards.

GOAL - The keeper, however, had no chance in the 33rd minute, when Zuniga thundered a shot in off of the inside of the left post.  Brusslers had made an impressive run down the left side and crossed the ball to an open Holdt, who headed the ball down nicely into the path of Zuniga.  Nick took a second to pick his spot before he drove it home.

Four minutes later, the roles were reversed, as the ball was served up to Holdt, by Castrillon, but he hesitated when a first-time shot was called for and the opportunity went wanting.

Five minutes before the break, the Dinos had their first decent chance of the half, when the Mustangs' Mike Pavicic uncharacteristically coughed up the ball and the subsequent Dinos shot rolled slowly wide of the post.

In the 41st minute, Holdt drove through two defenders and fed to the ball to Castrillon on the right side, but his cross rolled through the goal mouth.

The Dinos answered two minuted later when they had a man over on a rush, but one-too-many touches were made and the ball was left in the box to be cleared by the Mustangs.

Seconds later, the Dinos threatened again, when their #12 weaved Gillespie inside and out and his left-foot attempt slid past the left post.

HALF TIME - Mustangs 4 - 0 Dinos

The second half saw Conrad Chala come on for Pavicic and Mark Slade replace Frazao.

Calgary seemed to sit back for a portion of the second half and not dominate the play as they did in the first 45.

Castrillon tried to test the new Dinos keeper in the 50th minute but his blast from 30 yards sailed high and left.

Three minutes later, the keeper was truly tested and passed with flying colours as Mesut Mert was sent through by Brusselers, but Mert's poke towards the corner of the net was snared and smothered by the fingertips of the keeper.

Mert played provider in the 57th minute as he slid a through-ball to an onrushing Zuniga.  Only an important, last-second intervention from the Dinos #4 prevented a clear shot on goal.

Though Mustangs keeper, Lutz Pfannenstiel, was not very busy on this day, he did have a scary moment in the 67th minute when he was unable to get a hand on a cross from the left side, but the ball rolled past everyone and away from harm.

A minute later, Holdt's blast from the top of the box headed straight at the keeper.  This was the end of an impressive drive by the Mustangs that started with a drive and attempt by Frazao, and was followed by some impressive passing which led to the Holdt attempt.

GOAL - In the 71st minute Zuniga pounced upon an indecisive play by the Dinos defender and found himself alone with time and space and only the keeper to beat.  Amazingly, his first shot was straight at the keeper's chest, but the ball came right back to Zuniga and he made no mistake on his second attempt, a chip shot just unde the cross bar.

GOAL - Six minutes after making it 5-0, the Mustangs would add another.  Auvigne collected a throw-in and drove towards the centre of the field, where he unloaded a cannon that went in off of the inside of the left post.

GOAL - The Dinos replied just a minute later, when their #4 thundered a beautiful curling free-kick into the top right corner, past a diving Pfannelstiel.  The ball had been placed just outside the top-left corner of the 18 yard box.

Soon afterward, the Dinos threatened again, and only an important intervention by Gillespie broke up a dangerous situation, with a Dinos striker ready to latch on to a well placed through-ball.

The Mustangs nearly had a seventh goal in the 81st minute, when Slade blasted a shot from the top of the box towards the right corner, but the Dino keeper dove at full stretch to stop a sure goal.

That proved to be the last attempt on this night and the match finished 6-1 for the Mustangs.

MOTM - Though Brusselers, Sestito and Zuniga looked strong on this day, I am giving my MOTM honors to JAMIE AUVIGNE.   He was tireless in his pursuit of the play and never let up for a second.  He played well positionally and received his just rewards when his powerful shot found the net in the second half.

Weather: Sunny
Attendance: Approx. 50-60

Thunder Down Mustangs 2-0

Sunday, April 25, 2004 - Minnesota Thunder News Release - www.mnthunder.com

MINNEAPOLIS, MN -- Midfielder Jeff Matteo tallied a world-class goal and assist, and goalkeeper Joe Warren stopped a penalty kick, leading the Minnesota Thunder to a 2-0 home opener win over the Calgary Mustangs at the Metrodome.

“It was a good win for the team,” said Matteo. “I was glad I could contribute to the team. We played a great game tonight.”

Forward Johnny Menyongar scored the first goal of the night on a picture-perfect through pass from Matteo in the 24th minute. Matteo, who played last season with the Columbus Crew of Major League Soccer, dribbled through four defenders before dishing off the winning assist. The turning point of the game came in the 33rd minute when Warren stopped Calgary’s Damir Jesic on a penalty kick. The Thunder dominated play throughout the rest of the game, out-shooting Calgary 11-6 on the night.

Six minutes into the second half Matteo put the icing on the cake when he converted a 25-yard, bending free-kick into the upper right corner, cleanly beating Calgary goalkeeper Lutz Pfannenstiel.

The Thunder had two other good opportunities in the game. Defender Kevin Friedland’s first-half header hit the side netting and midfeilder Jay Alberts nearly added one in the final minutes.

“We played very well the first part of the game,” said Thunder head coach Buzz Lagos. “ We were playing in a new environment against a solid team, but Joe Warren came up with a big save on the penalty shot and Matteo came up with the supporting goal to secure our win. The players had a great presence around the ball, especially (Chris) Vorenkamp, (Freddy) Juarez and (Marshall) Morehead.”

 Referee: Brent Sorg
Att: 3567

Mustangs Down Callies on Frozen Tundra

By Mark Christie - April 16, 2004

In a match that was as dreary as the weather, the Calgary Mustangs eked out a 4-1 victory over Calgary Caledonian FC.

The sub-zero temperature and skating rink-esque field conditions sapped the inspiration from the two clubs and moments of exciting soccer were infrequent in number and diminished as the match wore on.

The match that many had hailed as being the one to settle the question of who was the best Calgary soccer club failed to live up to the hype and the only statement that seemed to be made by either squad was, “Let’s try this again in the summer sun.”

The contest started similarly to yesterday’s tilt, when Mesut Mert tried his hand from 20 yards out in the first minute. His shot was pushed around the post by the Callies keeper for a corner.

Three minutes later, Calgary took an early lead. Geert Brusselers found himself with lots of time and when he looked up he saw the Callies keeper miles off of his line. Brusselers sailed a long looping shot into the back of the net from 40 yards out.

The Mustangs came close to doubling the score in the 15th minute, when a long through-ball was just touched away from an advancing Sergei Raad at the last second and skimmed off of the outside of the right post.

The match was not devoid of the odd nasty challenge and Mesut Mert was cut down by a Callies player in the 15th minute. The player then received a yellow card for his actions (a rare thing in a friendly such as this). Mert lasted another two minutes before he was subbed off and replaced by Kenny Nutt.

Calgary eventually scored their second in the 24th minute. Aaron Richer found the ball at his feet during a goal mouth scramble and he poked the ball past the startled Callies keeper. The play began when a Callies defender inexplicably headed a clearing attempt back into his own 6 yard box.

Richer was rewarded for his effort by getting injured in the 30th minute when he came out on the losing end of a 50/50 ball. He did not return.

The loss of Richer had a negative effect on the match, from a Mustangs’ standpoint. Brusselers dropped back into a centre-back role, while Zuniga joined Mert as a central midfielder. Calgary’s control of the midfield ebbed after the move.

After the first 30-minute interval, the Mustangs buried their first good chance when Jordan Gillespie drained a shot after some fine passing from Nutt and Raad in the 35th minute.

Two minutes later, the Mustangs came close again. Raad was fouled 25 yard out and after Brusselers’ free kick was blocked by the wall, Mert’s attempt off the rebound was spilled at the left post, but the Callies keeper managed to smother the ball in time.

The referee was forced to reach back into his pocket to produce another yellow card in the 37th minute on a clumsy challenge. The match started to get a little chippy.

One of Calgary’s best chances went wanting in the 41st minute when Damir Jesic was released by Raad after a long through-ball and fine horizontal run, but Jesic’s shot from 10 yards was parried by the keeper.

The Callies keeper was busy again in the 53rd minute, when he angled away a 17-yard blast, after Gillespie had made a nice turn and let fly.

The Mustangs then slipped into a funk and started to play a very uninspired brand of football, and the Callies made them pay in the 55th minute. After a scramble, a pass to the end line was chased down by a Callies forward, who managed to keep it in and cut it back to a colleague on the ten yard line. This Callies player slotted it across to an unmarked man, who, in turn, hammered the ball into the bottom right corner, past a frustrated Lutz Pfannenstiel. (I apologize for the lack of names for the Callies’ players. No game sheets were provided.)

At the second break, Mustangs’ coach, Thomas Niendorf, read his squad the riot act; chastising them for their lack of effort and proper footwear. (He had a point on both counts – Sergei Raad would have had more traction in a pair of bedroom slippers – if Calgary had been playing a team like Montreal, the Mustangs would have been badly beaten on this night.)

The “talk” seemed to put some spring back into the Mustangs’ legs, and Raad’s longs run in the 63rd minute unfortunately ended with a shot right into the chest of the Callies keeper.

Calgary kept the pressure up and two chances came in quick succession in the 76th minute. Firstly, a fine slicing pass by Brusselers to Zuniga slipped off the turf just enough to run away from a golden opportunity. Then Raad stole the ball and his toe-poke toward the left corner was spilled by the Callies keeper, who managed to gather the ball up in time.

Some more Calgary chances ended up harmlessly in the arms of the Callies keeper, who would soon have to worry about his own teammates’ attempts at goal.

In the 77th minute, Callies striker, Mike Howlett, found himself alone after a good turn on the 20 and drove to close range before his blast was beautifully blocked by Pfannenstiel. Calgary quickly countered and sent a long clearance towards the Callies box. In a tragic mix-up between the Callies defender and keeper, the defender headed the ball over his keeper and into the back of his own net. Own goal.

Make the final score 4-1 Mustangs.

*Note: This match was played in three 30-minute periods.

MOTM – Mesut Mert was the most consistent player on the field for the Mustangs. He made a number of good passes and runs and had a number of attempts at goal (some were not so spectacular ). Richer was playing well before he left the match.

This was not a pretty game and the 50-60 people in attendance were not rewarded for bravely showing up on a horrible evening for footy. I sincerely hope that everyone made it home safely on the treacherous roads.

Attendance: 60
Weather: Cold and miserable

Mustangs Trounce Villains

By Mark Christie - April 15, 2004

On a chilly night, with the snow swept to the side of the field, the Calgary Mustangs had their first test in a game situation as they took on the AMSL’s Calgary Villains in front of approximately 70 frozen fans at McMahon Stadium on Thursday.

In a match that was played in three 30-minute periods, the Mustangs cruised to a relatively effortless 6-0 victory.

The Mustangs were sporting a 4-4-2 formation.
Back line, from right to left – Damir Jesic, Aaron Richer, Mike Pavicic, Chris Stefanazzi
Midfield – Kenny Nutt, Mesut Mert, Geert Brusselers, Nicolas Zuniga
Forwards – Sergei Raad, Zdravko Savic

Minute By Minute Guide:

2nd - the Mustangs started brightly enough, with Mesut Mert trying his luck from 30 yards out, but his early effort missed wide right.

4th - the right post once again saw a ball roll past it as Sergei Raad missed from 12 yards. A minute later, Raad had another fine opportunity, but the Villains keeper stole a fine through-ball, by Geert Brusselers, from Raad on the 10 yard line (yes, there is a ten yard line; it’s a football field).

9th - Raad made a great turn on his marker and threaded the ball to Zdravko Savic, but his blast missed wide left.

11th – GOAL - Finally, the Mustangs were rewarded for their pressure, when Brusselers latched onto a Mert pass and thundered a shot into the bottom-left corner from 15 yards. Mert had made a fine slicing run across the pitch and released Brusselers for the shot.

14th - the Mustangs threatened again when a Aaron Richer ran under a Damir Jesic cross, but his header slid right of the post.

16th - suddenly, the Mustangs seemed to lose some of their concentration and the Villains had some sustained pressure, beginning with a desperation clear that broke up a good Villains chance at goal, and ending with a shot from 30 yards that sailed wide of the Mustangs’ net.

After that slight scare, the Mustangs settled down and began to take control of the match. Mert wasted a golden opportunity to make one more pass to Brusselers on a build-up; he instead elected to shoot straight at the Villains keeper.

24th - The Villains would have one more opportunity in the first period when Jesic lost the ball to a Villains striker (#19), but his shot from 12 yards missed wide right.

26th - The Mustangs saw a fine build-up go for naught when a give-and-go between Brusselers and Savic was thwarted at the last second.

30th – GOAL – a cross from the right touch line by Kenny Nutt, 30 yards out, sees Mert control off of his chest and blast a beautiful volley into the right corner of the net.

33rd – shortly after the first break, Savic saw his powerful shot parried by the Villains keeper for a corner.

34th – Mert goes on a winding 30 yard run through the Villains’ defence, but his final effort slides wide of the right post.

38th – Nicolas Zuniga’s vies for Mark McGlaughlin’s vacant position with the Stampeders, as his in-close shot sails high between the football uprights.

40th – Conrad Chala coughs up the ball in dangerous territory, but the Villains’ chip attempt is snagged by Mustangs’ keeper, Lutz Pfannenstiel.
Calgary has a number of scoring chances, culminating with a Mert 10-yard volley that is smothered at the left post by the Villains’ keeper.

48th - Mert would have another opportunity when he controlled a long cross off of his chest and volleyed a blast off of the cross bar. The resulting rebound came straight to Savic, but he surprisingly failed to slot the ball home.

50th - The Villains had some chances on a couple of miscues. Zuniga playing saviour after a missed kick by Jesic.

64th – GOAL – Jesic slots a PK into the left corner after Mert was taken down inside the top-left corner of the box. Brusselers had made some nifty moves to the end line and chopped the ball back to Mert, who was then clattered by the desperate Villains’ defender.

69th minute – Savic tries a low shot from the top-right of the box, but it slides across the goal mouth, just out of the reach of Zuniga.

73rd – GOAL - after a scramble in the Villains’ box, Brusselers controls and blast a 12-yard cannon into the left corner of the net.

76th – GOAL – After Brusselers was brutally taken down by a rough challenge, he calmly steps up and curls a 25-yard free-kick over the wall and inside the left post.

80th – Brusselers tries his luck with his left foot on a free-kick from 23 yards, but it’s blocked.

88th – GOAL – Jesic dribbles the ball to the end line and crosses to an unmarked Zuniga, who buries it from in close.

As the match wore on, the Mustangs began to show their dominance and were in complete control by the end. A far tougher challenge will come on Friday, versus the Callies.

MOTM – Geert Brusselers – he shone out and clearly was the class of the field on this day. He made a number of fine passes, and runs, and he controlled the centre of the field. His two goals were class and he probably could have had more. He worked well with Mert.

Note: Jamey Glasnovic is now the backup keeper replacing Devon Fraser.

Att: 70
Weather: Cold and snowy