Men’s First Team Wins Home Opener 3-0
- Gabi Vuong
- Jun 1
- 4 min read
Updated: Jun 12
Edgewater Castle Football Club’s Men’s First Team won 3-0 against Strikers Fox Valley at their first home opener at Hoyne Field last Saturday night.
GOALS:
Rooks: Kimiavi 29’, Benedetto 35’, Vucic 62’
The match started with Fox Valley coming off strong, crossing the ball from the right side during the 2nd minute and putting pressure on the Rooks defensive line. However, the Rooks were able to regroup and focused on being organized throughout the field.
In the 13th minute, a yellow card was called on Rooks player Gino Miranda as he was trailing a Fox Valley player up the left side of the field, resulting in a free kick. Shortly after, as the ball was mostly in the opposing team’s possession, Quentin “Q” Benedetto slid from below to steal the ball away.
Once the Rooks were able to maintain possession up the field, their offense came alive. Early shots from Alan Rubio, Alex Gomex, and Bardia Kimiavi set the pace. In the 29th minute, a pass from Roberto Cordano found Kimiavi, who broke past a defender and fired into the bottom right corner, putting ECFC on the board.
As Fox Valley ramped up their offense, the defense held strong with Benedetto and Milos Vucic stayed sharp with solid defensive plays. Multiple shots on goal were made by Fox Valley players, but the Rooks’ goalkeeper Aidan Crawford made multiple diving saves and quickly reset the ball to midfielders.
In the 34th minute, Vucic brought the ball up the left side of the field. Shortly after a Fox Valley defender deflected the ball out of bounds, Vucic earned a corner kick. The ball flew across the front of the goal while Benedetto snuck in from the right side of the field. Benedetto then managed to launch a header past the reach of Fox Valley’s goalkeeper, earning the Rooks their second goal of the match.
The rest of the first half consisted of the two teams claiming possession with neither team letting up more goals to be scored. Fox Valley players continued to attempt shots on goal, but ultimately failed thanks to the Rooks’ defensive efforts.
During the 45th minute, Vucic threw the ball to Gomex for one final attempt at a goal before the halftime mark, but was pushed into the left corner by Fox Valley defenders. The first half remained 2-0.
The Rooks played more confidently than before in the second half. Their use of the field was much more prevalent, with quick passes being made to quickly go around defending Fox Valley players. There was a break in the action in the 49th minute however when Kimiavi signaled that he was injured, Murtadha Kamil stepped in to take his place shortly after.
More shots on goal were attempted by Fox Valley, eager to put themselves on the scoreboard. The Rooks’ strong defense would not let them come through as Benedetto continued to tackle opposing players. The offense was physical too, with Kamil earning a yellow card in the 55th minute.
In the 61st minute of the game, Vucic shot the ball from the top of Fox Valley’s box thanks to an assist from Kamil, sending the ball into the bottom right side of the goal past the keeper’s reach to earn the Rooks a 3-0 lead.
After their third goal, the Rooks' attempts for more goals were still mounting and their defense was a brick wall. Ameer Abdullah stepped in for Benedetto at center back and reinforced the defense line by making tackles against his opponents.
Around the 76th minute, the match was paused due to an electrical problem with Hoyne Field’s lights., The Rooks used this to their advantage, regrouping and setting a game plan for the final 15 minutes of the game.
The Rooks took the offensive initiative in the dying embers. Alan Alonso sent the ball upfield to Kamil but was stopped by Fox Valley’s goalie. Fox Valley kept their heads up and carried the ball into the Rooks’ third, shooting as often as they could but their efforts were fruitless. The second half ended with Crawford jumping to save a shot on goal, successfully completing his clean sheet.
After the game, Benedetto recalled his header for the Rooks’ second goal. “I just saw Milos [Vucic] put in a really good ball. We kind of made eye contact as soon as the ball was in the air. I was like, ‘[wow], this is going to be a goal.’ [The ball came in] a little bit lower than I wanted it to be, but I just dove. I just threw myself at the ball. It worked and then we swam (proceeded to swim on the ground after his header to celebrate the goal) a little bit after.”
The Men’s First Team ended their home opener with a hard fought 3-0 win against Strikers Fox Valley this Saturday, a strong comeback after a tough loss against Steel City Football Club this past Thursday. The Rooks will face Rockford FC on June 7th in Rockford, IL for their next matchup of the season.
