Men's Program Continues Preseason Success In 3-1 Victory
- Gareth Mullins
- 21 minutes ago
- 3 min read
CHICAGO - Edgewater Castle FC’s Men’s program continued its preseason schedule on a high note, beating MWPL rivals Berber City Friday night 3-1 at Dunbar Park.
GOALS:
ECFC
Murtadha Kamil (A Sebastian Bugere) 1’
Hans Haenicke (A Herbert Carrera) 58’
Qudus Lawal (A Hans Haenicke) 85’
Berber City
Berber City (P) 40’
First Half
As both sides were warming up, excitement spread across the Rooks’ bench. Players old and new were thrilled to showcase their skills while repping their community club. In her team talk prior to the match, Men’s head coach Duygu Erdoğan insisted that players use their emotions for their betterment on the pitch while still pursuing their practiced strategies:
“Give your energy, but stay controlled,” Erdoğan told her squad.
Once the match was underway, the Rooks did just that, forcing an early corner in the first minute while pressing on the left wing. Sebastian Bugere took the corner, crossing the ball directly into the middle of Berber’s box to give Murtadha Kamil, leading scorer for the Men’s First Team last season, a chance at goal. Jumping up over Berber’s defenders, Kamil headed the ball into the bottom left corner, securing a Rooks lead early on in the match.
Following Kamil’s score, the Rooks were able to control the game to their liking. Utilizing Reed Hurtig in the midfield, the Rooks held onto possession, being able to move the ball forward thanks to Hurtig’s passing. When Berber did rush forward, defenders Quentin “Q” Benedetto and Rafael “Rafa” Santos matched the pace of their opponents, giving goalie Jack Monson, also goalkeeper coach for the squad this season, ample time to prepare for any balls that were going his way.
Berber’s consistent offensive pushes however grew to be more and more contested towards the end of the half. At 40’, Santos matched pace with Beber’s right winger into the box, sliding into him to prevent a score and initiating a penalty kick. When facing down his opponent, Monson guessed correctly diving right, but the Berber striker’s ball moved just past his reach into the right corner. The 1-1 score would accompany both teams into halftime.
Second Half
The second half gave many opportunities for new Rooks to shine. Michael and Sebastion Wimmer, Rooks mainstay Tobias Wimmer’s younger brothers, took to their roles well, with Sebastion nearly scoring off the post at 46’ and Michael continuing to win duels in the midfield to set up his teammates. Monson continued to shine as well, tipping a clinical strike from Berber over the crossbar at 52’ to preserve the tie.
The Rooks would soon break the tie at 58’ thanks to the combined efforts of an Edgewater mainstay and new talent to the squid. After rushing past Berber’s defenders up the leftwing, Rooks mainstay Herbert Carrera passed the ball inward to former Steel City FC player Hans Haenicke. With time to act, Haenicke tipped the ball into the right corner to give the Rooks the lead.
Haenicke would make his mark again in the dying embers. After playing back to maintain the lead, Haenicke led an offensive rush up the right wing. Once in position, Haenicke crossed the ball directly to Qudus Lawal, whose fancy footwork beat Berber’s goalkeeper in a one-on-one. With an empty net ahead of him, Lawal passed the ball right at 85’, sealing the Rooks’ 3-1 victory.
After the match, both players and coaches gleamed at their comeback. Looking back at his first time on the pitch for the Rooks in a long while, Monson joked about experiencing football as a player again:
“It was great being back out there, but I’m aching all over now after that,” Monson said.
Stay tuned for more information regarding preseason matches prior to the start of the Men’s USL League Two season on May 16th at Winnemac Stadium.