… as rain visits yet another home game

 by Gary Tim

Brooklyn, NY (July, 9^th 2008) -- The Brooklyn Knights woke this morning to the news that their repossession of the Northeast Division lead on Sunday was short-lived to two days, after the Newark Ironbound .Express jumped back in front by a point from a win last night.

But, the Knights didn’t panic. They had another chance to reverse the experience later in the day against the visiting Ocean City Barons.

So while they put up familiar faces in the starting-11, they were joined by another regular ally – heavy rainfall – to reboot themselves back into the divisional lead with a 4-1 triumph at Aviator Field.

Not only did the win propel Brooklyn (8-2-4, 28pts) over Newark (7-2-6, 27pts), but it also marked just the second time that the Knights have beaten the Barons in ten match-ups all-time, with two of those games ending in ties, including their last clash on June 7^th.

But, the win wasn’t all a smooth flight for the Knights. Immediately upon take off, the Knights experienced turbulence as the Baron’s feared striker Byron Carmichael rocked the net in the 45^th second with, probably, the fastest opening goal seen at Aviator.

That sudden strike left Brooklyn and their fans perplexed. But, they didn’t panic. Their head coach Joe Balsamo remained seated on the subs’ bench, ‘computing’ his prospects to hit back. 

Brooklyn then gamely matched Ocean City ’s every move with deft plays created by the star midfield trio of Hemir Niebles, Matia Damiani and returning captain Jeff Matteo. They got the Brooklyn-brand of soccer going with classic plays to forwards Sebastian Alvarado, Tarik Smith and overlapping midfielder Juan Guerra. Near misses from the run-of-play and set pieces tested Baron’s Nigerian Olympic goalie Tunde Ogunbiyi on numerous occasions, kept the defense on hooks, and their coach Mike Pellegrino on his feet. The most impressive was a left foot shot by Matteo that ricocheted off the right upright and back out to play.

At the other end Chris Antonino was reacting unflappably to the Barons’ attacks seemingly to psyche them out of their intensity. But, a menacing Nick Sih cross which he did well to save, brought Balsamo to his feet on the sidelines to conduct his opus to overcome Ocean City .

As if in response to Balsamo’s proposition, the threatening rain clouds let loose the ‘ Brooklyn blessing’. A couple of breakaway runs by Guerra, Smith and Niebles served to undo the Barons defense and send signals that a Knights equalizer was near.  However, before it came defender Arthur Kulkov, who was having his usual energetic game, went down and had to seek trainer Kim Thoman’s attention before leaving for a few moments. “I got a bruise in on a 50-50 ball I was trying to win on a tackle and that kinda’ bothered me,” said the week-4 PDL Team of the Week selectee who eventually was substituted late in the second period.  

Again Thoman’s attention was sought in the 44^th minute as Niebles left the game permanently complaining of what he termed “tightness in my right glute”. Balsamo didn’t panic at the sight of losing one of his core players. He brought on new signee, Julio Cesar DosSantos for his second Knights game. The moved paid off in injury time, as the nippy DosSantos won the ball and sent a long pass from the right to the left flank for an unmarked Guerra to put a classic ‘unstoppable shot’ into the net. And, the Knights were tied going into the half a few seconds later.

During the intermission, the Barons coach was observed strongly venting his displeasure to referee Samir Souidi for what he claimed was too much extra time added on.

On the resumption, Pellegrino continued his rant at the referees, prompting a warning to “calm down, we’re not going to have any more of that”. With their coach coiled, the strife began for the Barons. Brooklyn took a save from Antonino and worked their way into the Barons’ box where Smith dribbled two defenders and slotted the ball across goal for Guerra to write his name on his and the Knights’ second strike. “It was great to get the goals to tie and go ahead for our team because we really need a win like this today,” Guerra noted. 

Later when he came off to a mini-ovation, he opined that the team went through like a little downfall, adding “but, we regrouped and we just had a good game today and we’re definitely sending a message.”

That memo was magnified as the Knights pounced on the Barons to make their once robust and prosperous defense look meek and poor. A foul on Damiani gave Matteo a chance to try his now patent goal-scoring free-kick from 23 yards out. The shot sailed over the defense wall and missed the crossbar by mere inches.

Then in the 69^th minute Smith went down and out of play after cramping in both calves.  He was replaced by Frank Alesci who like he did three days before, offered distinctive chemistry with Dos Santos’ style. In the 77^th minute, it was his initial pilfering of the ball from a Barons midfielder that led to a Dos Santos solo run to strike the third goal for the homesters. The ‘insurance’ goal not only silenced the Barons, but the hush could be heard all the way in Newark as the Knights were stamping control of their own destiny.

Player insurance, too, might have come into thought as a third Barons joined the three Knights on the injury lists, giving Thoman a busy term of physio duties. “Yeah it was hectic today, but that makes the time go quicker and it gives me something to do, that’s why I am here to attend to the home team, as well as the visitors.” Asked specifically about the Knights, Thoman said the injuries are minor and should fully mend by the next game (July 12^th). 

The fourth nail in the Barons coffin came on the stroke of the 90^th minute when Dos Santos  complete a good all-round game with a strike that sent his personal tally to four goals in two games. “When you’re a forward, you’re there to score so I’m happy to contribute in this win, but the most important thing was to come back and turn around and get three points from a good team like this.”

The Barons have never beaten the Balsamo-coached Knights, but the head coach was wary of the visitors coming into town seeking points after a 2-1 loss at home to Hampton Roads Piranhas, last Sunday. That day Balsamo was smarting from a 4-3 home win against New Jersey Rangers, and had offered a peek into his pep-talk to his squad, saying he told them “to keep their concentration high because this is the point where they need to step up and be ready for the task, particularly at this time in the season … it’s step up time.”

While the ‘step up’ by Brooklyn reclaims their place atop the ladder and puts them closer to a playoff berth, it also signifies their burning resolve to be the best. Guerra simply said, “It’s a win today, but we’re not yet in. We’ve two games more that we want to win, so we’re now thinking about Saturday’s game”. Brooklyn plays its penultimate regular season game away to Westchester Flames from 5:30 pm.

Before leaving for the night Kulkov summed it up this way. “They got us by surprise with that first goal. Other than that we got into our rhythm and little by little do what we had to do. We know what’s at stake and what we had to do to win this. We didn’t panic”