Spring 2010 O40

Spring 2010 O40

GAME 1: Sunday, February 07, 2010: AC Avengers vs. Alemannia Aixpress 3:2
Alemannia Aixpress' Over-40 team made its debut on February 7, 2010 against the AC Avengers.  The team's opening goal came from a cross by mid-fielder Jose Marquez that forward Judd Hedrick deftly headed past the Avenger's keeper.  However, shortly before half-time, the Avengers were able to draw even.  Alemannia started the second half somewhat slowly and managed to give up two goals before finding its footing.  Late in the second half, defender Michael Jackson was able to split the defenders with a pass to mid-fielder Chris Tsironis, who was able bury it in the lower right corner.  The remaining game was spent primarily in the Avenger's third of the field; however, Alemannia did little to place any shots on goal that would cause worry to the Avenger's keeper.  As it was the team's first game, involving mostly individuals who had never played together, Alemannia remains confident that its many successes are right around the corner.


GAME 2: Sunday, February 14, 2010: Alemannia Aixpress vs. WP Rounders 2:1 Alemannia Aixpress kicked off its second game of the season against the Winter Park Rounders on February 14, 2010.  The team was moving the ball well, and took the lead through Judd Hedrick's unassisted goal that skimmed the underside of the cross bar.  However, it was quickly followed on a break-away minutes later with a Rounders goal for the tie.  The score stood until late in the second half when a hand ball led to an Aixpress penalty kick.  Christian Thier deftly placed the ball into the bottom right corner.  However, the referee had not blown his whistle and required Christian to retake the kick.  The second shot was not as fortunate.  Yet, with less than 5 minutes to spare in the game, Djoka Deda played a ball across the top of the box that Christian Thier was able to sneak inside the bottom left corner for the winning goal.


GAME 3: Sunday, February 28, 2010: TG’S Express vs. Alemannia Aixpress 4:1 Alemannia Aixpress was slated to play the first place team, TG's Express on February 28, 2010.  With Rick Hartker joining from the Over-30 team, the team had high expectations. However, Aixpress was never able to play fully together, and its lone goal came from a well-struck free kick by Pasquale Napolitano.  Aixpress lost 4-1.


GAME 4: Sunday, March 07, 2010: Breeze vs. Alemannia Aixpress 3:2
On March 7, 2010, Alemannia Aixpress played this game without its starting goalie, Thomas Gulli, and - despite a good effort by Jorge Engeland - Aixpress lost a game that it should have won - a fact that had a significant impact upon the standings.  After falling behind 1-0, Anton Berisha was able to even the game with a volley into the right corner.  Thereupon, Aixpress actually took the lead with a low driven shot into the lower left corner by James Rodriguez for whom it was the first game with this team, having joined from the Over-30 team.  However, the Breeze capitalized quickly on the kick-off with a quick pass to an unmarked player on the wing, who took the ball down the right side, crossed it, and found a waiting player on the far post for a header.  Minutes later, as a defensive pass-back was made, the Aixpress goalie stepped to clear the ball, missed, and the ball rolled into the back of the goal for a 3-2 Breeze lead that Aixpress could not break for the rest of the half.


GAME 5: Sunday, March 14, 2010: Alemannia Aixpress vs. AC Avengers 5:2
Alemannia Aixpress, frustrated with a 1-3 record, stepped onto Thunder Field on March 14, 2010 with a vengeance against AC Avengers.  Aixpress took an early lead as Michael Jackson crossed a ball onto Christian Thier's head, which he deftly buried in the net.  Shortly later, Judd Hedrick sprinted down the right sideline with the ball and played it onto the feet of waiting Michael Jackson, who put the ball past the Avenger's keeper.  In the second half, Judd Hedrick, Chris Tsironis, and Jose Renzi each added hard fought goals to the total.  Avengers were able to score two goals, leaving the final score at 5-2.  However, Aixpress had many more opportunities that either the fine efforts of the Avenger's keeper prevented from adding to the tally or which either hit the post or barely missed being inside the frame.


GAME 6: Sunday, March 21, 2010: Alemannia Aixpress vs. WP Rounders 7:1
On March 21, 2010, Alemannia Aixpress lined up for this game expecting a better performance than its prior 2-1 victory.  However, the stormy conditions consisting of a driving rain that quickly flooded the field removed the advantage of speed and technical ability.  The game quickly became a mud fest.  Initially, the team fell behind due to a wonderfully struck free kick by the Winter Park Rounders that traversed the box from the top right into the upper left corner of the goal, outside of the reach of goalie, Thomas Gulli.  However, in the waning eight minutes of the first half, Michael Jackson fought for a ball in front of the box and Anton Berisha was the beneficiary, as the ball landed in front of him and he struck a hard shot that the goalie was unable to handle.  Minutes later James Rodriguez was able to place a powerful shot into the net in order for Aixpress to take the lead.  In the second half Jose Renzi was fighting to keep a ball in bounds within the box when he was fouled.  James Rodriguez took the penalty kick and placed it in the net.  At that point, the Rounders seemed to disintegrate and opportunity after opportunity presented itself.  Additional goals came from Rick Hartker, James Rodriguez, Michael Jackson, and Benny Broqi, leading to a 7-1 win by Aixpress.

GAME 7: Sunday, March 28, 2010: Azurri Stars vs. Alemannia Aixpress 1:1. Alemannia Aixpress came onto the field with two back-to-back wins and a desire to erase the preseason loss to the Azzurri Stars.  In the first minutes of the game, however, a break-away led to a quick goal by Azzurri.  Although Aixpress pounded the Azzurri goal through the remainder of the game, and even though Azzurri rarely mounted any kind of offensive attack, the only Aixpress goal came from a penalty kick converted by Rick Hartker mid-way through the first half.  Aixpress had a half-dozen one on one opportunities that it failed to convert, and countless shots sailed over or wide of the frame.  The lack of finishing was frustrating, For this team to advance into the next division, Aixpress' offensive team work will need to significantly improve, along with its finishing skills.


GAME 8: Sunday, April 18, 2010: Alemannia Aixpress vs. Azurri Stars: 3:1. In a rematch against Azurri, Alemannia faced the same issues it had faced in game 7. This is a very tough opponent to score against. Again, Alemannia had chances galore, but again Azurri scored first, on their first and only chance of the first half. In the second half, Alemannia further intensified the pressure and eventually scored the equalizer when Christian Thier scored in the 63rd minute after a corner kick with a shot from 8 yards out into the low right corner. James Rodriguez then scored the winning goal in the 79th minute on a break away attack. James Rodriguez again in the 87th minute made it a final score of 3:1 for Alemannia.  


GAME 9: Sunday, April 25, 2010: TG's Express - Alemannia Aixpress 1:4
Taking the field in its final game of the season against the first place team TG's Express, Alemannia Aixpress began the game with only 10 players, as the Over-30 game was winding down late.  Within a few minutes, the 11th player arrived, but Alemannia was faced with playing with no substitutes on the hottest day of the season and 3 players already having just played another game.  With a strong wind at its back in the first half, Alemannia was able to keep TG's Express to a 0-0 score.  In the second half, Rick Hartker dribbled the ball down the right flank and deftly played the ball into the middle, where Christian Thier headed it into the back of the net with authority for the opening goal.  Only minutes later another ball was played in front of the opponent's goal, and Christian Thier charged in hard for another header.  With assistance from one of TG's defenders, Christian Thier was able to capitalize on another cross.  TG's Express became quite concerned with marking Christian Thier, insisting that one of its defenders remain with Christian at all times.  Alemannia continued to press, despite a significant head wind that slowed its passing attack.  James Rodriguez took the ball down the left flank, crossed it, and the same defender, trying to defend an again hard-charging Christian Thier, panicked and deflected James' cross into the goal.