Bolts vs. Seacoast United - April 5, 2009

After traveling to Foxboro on Saturday, both teams headed north on Sunday to Epping, NH to face Seacoast United. Action for the 16s started at 4:00 PM on Field 4 of the Seacoast complex.

For the first 20 minutes, the Bolts dominated the action but an unfortunate accident - a collision between the Bolts keeper and a center back resulted in a goal for Seacoast and 35 minutes of anxious waiting for an ambulance to arrive to take an injured player to the hospital. When play finally resumed, the Bolts kept up the attack, controlled the ball but weren't able to even the score up. At least not until about the 35th minute of the half when Leon Brown entered the game. With his first touch of the ball, he outran two Seacoast defenders and found the back of the net from a tough angle off the right flank. The first half ended with the score even at 1-1.

The 16s came out strong in the second half and for the first 15 minutes, the game was fought primarily in the middle of the field. At the 60 minute of the game Leon Brown was taken down in the box! He converted on the PK and the 16s were up 2-1. Both teams continued to push and at the 78th minute, Seacoast tied the game up 2-2 after a free kick and loose ball in front of the Bolts goal. The 16s kept their composure and within 30 seconds of the post goal kick off, David Robinson found himself unguarded 15 yards from the goal. A perfect pass to his feet and David was able to slide it past the Seacoast keeper to give the 16s a 3-2 win. I was another strong showing for the 16s who have found their stride after a rough first few games of the season.

The 18s took the field shortly after 6:00 PM with sun setting and the temperature dropping. After an emotional win on Saturday, the coaches stressed to the boys to come out strong as Seacoast always plays tougher when they have home field advantage. With Charlie Rugg leading the way up top, the Bolts pressed early and often in the first half but weren't able to effectively connect. At the 37th minute, Seacoast did connect from 25 yards out and the 18s were down 1-0. The lead only lasted until ensuing kickoff when Christian Rodriguez caught the entire Seacoast team "napping" and he chipped the goalie on the kickoff!!! The half ended with the scored tied at 1-1.

The 18s came out strong in the 2nd half and continued to press. At the 55th minute, Josh Danesh placed a perfect corner kick into the box and Will Donovan headed the ball into the upper 90 in what proved to be the winning goal!! In the 70th minute, Charlie received a perfect pass from Christian Rodriguez and muscled his way through two defenders and slid another past the Seacoast keeper. Score now - Bolts 3, Seacoast 1. Three minutes later Charlie made short work of the Seacoast defense and the score was now 4-1 in our favor. For the next 17 minutes the midfield and defense shut down Seacoast and the 18s had their second win of the weekend and their fourth win in a row.

Both teams have a free weekend next weekend and then they travel to Maryland for games against Potomac and DC United on the weekend of April 18th and 19th.

Go Bolts!!