A quartet of strikes by a trio of substitutes aided by a duo of starters was the solo factor in a Jersey Express exhibition of talent depth as they trounced Westchester Fames 4-nil, last Saturday in New Rochelle, NY.
“Sometimes, that’s how you tell good quality in a team, when guys can come in and play a position, deservingly,” assistant Lucio Russo said in endorsing head coach George Vichniakov during pre-game preps. “In effect, no one holds down any one position in the team. On any day anyone can make an impact in any position.”
After a goalless first half, Jersey scored through players who ran onto the field after the game’s first 45 minutes to stretch a pattern of shutouts when winning games this season - 8 of 9. Single strikes from Ansger Otto, Kadeem Dacres and a double from Joseph Ovenseri were in stunning style for Jersey after the team’s enduring early play.
“We were patient and kept to our plan that coach told us to play and it paid off, it always pays off,” assured Dacres who assisted Ovenseri’s second goal, then shot his own in spectacular style, a minute before regulation.
While the blanking by Jersey at the Flames’ City Park Stadium displayed the team’s reservoir of able reserves, it also highlighted their ability to strategize and will themselves to victory. “Once you get up by a goal, you don’t relax, you try to get another one and don’t let the other guys stick around and be in the game,” Vichniakov reminded his charges before the game. “After scoring another, you’d take away that chance and after that you can score how many you want.”
Surely, the Express players responded admirably t the lesson.
In the first half, the revamped starting-11 duly persevered then gradually built up confidence against their divisional playoff challengers. While Jersey’s backline of Chris Edwards, Shaun Foster, Mike Konicoff and Joe Ruesgen were stopping league goal leader Jake Keegan and company, their attack marauded for an opening goal with Abdou Coulibaly creating stupendous moves with Robert Youhill, Josh Trott and Jerrod Laventure.
In the first 45, they outshot Westchester 8 to 2 with four of the shots being saved by the Flames’ custodian including a picture perfect parry over the bar on a Michael Konicoff booming 20-yarder in the 29th minute. That save went for one of Jersey’s six corner kicks in the half.
SECOND HALF
Jersey, also, accounted for three of the four corners in the second half, while the shots disparity was similar at 10 to 4. With only three of those shots saved, it meant that the Express had to penetrate Flames’ netminding. That they did four times after the ingenious player swaps.
Vichniakov brought on Ovenseri for injured striker Laventure on the stroke of the break. Then, he supplemented the team’s attack a few minutes into the half with Otto and Dacres replacing Trott and Youhill, respectively.
As if highlighting his coach’s prudence, Otto started the goal binge in the 59th minute when he wormed into the box and finished another dazzling set-up play by Coulibaly, with a left-footed ‘creeper’ that squeezed between the goalie and the post. The goal just minutes after entering the game, drove the midfielder to run to the front of the pavilion for the customary ‘pilgrimage’ to his relatives.
Otto’s offering extended the blessing on the team 11 minutes later. Defenseman Shaun Foster, who was still in the Flames half after a free-kick, got the ball on an overhead pass, wended his way into the box, drew two defenders then passed to an open Ovenseri in front the goal. The tall striker had a short distance to send the ball into the net for Jersey’s second.
With the ink yet to dry on the scorers’ card, Ovenseri was back again, acting on his coach’s counsel to “get another one”. From a build-up created by midfielder Andrew Konopelsky, Dacres took a pass inside the box and booted to goal, but his shot recoiled off the keeper into the path of the imposing sentinel figure of Ovenseri who made no mistake from close range for Jersey’s third.
At that 73rd minute, Jersey had repeated the scoreline from their earlier encounter with the Flames in May, but this time they went further.
Smarting from the block on his earlier shot, Dacres made good on his next chance after getting a pass from Konicoff. He eluded two defenders in the box and sent a left-foot blast from a very acute angle that rocked the ole onion bag. That effectively put the red light on the Flames’ hopeful journey for a playoff berth.
It was, also, a fitting way to end the glut and put the 3rd place Express at the table to savor another chance to digest the championship. And, the 4-year club is surely getting off ‘the benches’ to serve up all the table requires for its third post season of play.
EXPRESS – 4 , FLAMES – 0
