West United vs. C.S. Italia

** BDSL Summer 2017 **

#9499

On a day of constant rain many thought that West United V. CS Italia would be played in a downpour but the rain held off and outside of a wet pitch and a lot of humidity the conditions were not bad at all.  The game began as the first meeting between these two veteran sides.  West United played fast and aggressively moved up the pitch. Although, the field complicated West United's ability to play small ball they held possession and had several opportunities on net.  The first goal came early on a nice feed from Adam Carl to Brian Kalls who made no mistake about finishing. Later in the half Brian Kalls found him self involved again when he spotted Jon Carter nestled in his favorite spot around the top of the box.  Carter settled the ball took a touch and beat the goalie with a solid shot to the left of the keeper.  The game seemed to settle in a bit after this.  What seemed to be the possibility of a very lopsided game actually started to even out and the scoreline was stuck at 2-0 until right before half when a fiery Stefano Pellicano was taken down in the box and awarded a penalty kick.  Pellicano was able to calm his fiery nerves and score on his penalty opportunity right up the middle with a solidly struck shot.  The first half would end 3-0 and after a brief attack on S. Clancy at halftime by a pack of ticks the game resumed for the second half.  This is where the trouble started for West United.  They came out with a lack of energy and after an ititial burst began to give away possession easily and not work to get it back.  CS Italia intelligently noticed the shift in play and pounced.  On a quick counter attack they took advantage of a rare West United defensive miscue and from the right hand side buried a hard shot short side of GK Brian Mariniello who was unable to coral the shot.  Just like that it was 3-1 and CS Italia gained momentum exponentially and West United seemed to not recover well from the goal.  Despite this it was actually a very even second half and West United had several chances to increase the scoreline from the likes of Ryan Acanfora, Brad Clancy and Adam Carl just to name a few.  CS Italia looked more dangerous on the counter as well.  The game remained back and forth with the lion's share of scoring opportunities going to West United.  Then in about the 80th minute West United did what they should have been doing for much of the game.  Midfielders Jon Carter and Bill Seifert connected on a nice give and go and Seifert moved a simple ball to newcomer Jason Kalls who put the nail in the coffin to make the game 4-1.  J. Kalls in pressure cleverly used his magic toe and poked a shot with pace that game the GK a world of trouble and snuck underneath him.  This is where the scoring ended and another chapter in the West United v. CS Italia rivalry came to an end.  Overall West United was a little uninspired and a tad sloppy but they deserve credit for grinding out a solid victory on a night that wasnt their best.  CS Italia played a much better game than in the first meeting and it was good to see.  West United stand at 1st place with Blue Stars nipping at their heals!  Can they hold out!?  It seems like a good time for West United to go back to their families and recharge for the second half of the season.