Two goals in a span of three minutes late in the match gave the Connecticut Wolves a vital 2-1 victory over their local nemesis, the Long Island Rough Riders, on Saturday night at Willow Brook Park in New Britain, Connecticut. This was the first game of a home-and-home series between the Northern Conference rivals that concludes with a match Sunday night on Long Island's home turf.
The Rough Riders set the tone of the match early on, playing aggressive defense and trying to deny the Wolves possession in midfield. The physical nature of the match sometimes led to chippy and unsportsmanlike play, as evidenced by the seven yellow cards issued during the match. Long Island midfielder Steve Franzke had a particularly solid effort, hounding Wolves attacking midfielder Temoc Suarez all night and limiting his impact on the game.
The Wolves did manage to break through the Rough Riders' defense on occasion in the first half, but failed to capitalize on good scoring opportunities. The main culprit for Connecticut was Irasto Knights who missed on three quality scoring chances in the first half alone. Knights came closest to scoring when he took a Suarez pass and fired a shot far post that beat Long Island goalkeeper Oscar Mejia, but trickled wide past the left post.
Long Island gained a slight edge in territory and possession in the latter stages of the first half. Midfielder Fernando Fernandes proved particularly dangerous, using his speed and ball skill to trouble the Wolves defense. There was little between the two teams as the match went to halftime with the score 0-0.
The Rough Riders nearly grabbed the lead just a few minutes after the interval, as first Aboubacar Camara got past Wolves defender Tony Soto and had his shot tipped wide of the left post. On the ensuing corner, Fernandes headed just wide of the right post, providing a second scare for the Wolves. Connecticut quickly came back with an attack of their own, as once again Irasto Knights got open on the left. This time Knights waited just a little too long to shoot, as Long Island defender Mersim Beskovic hustled to force the shot and Mejia tipped it wide. Both Beskovic and Mejia were down with injuries for a few minutes after this play, with Beskovic leaving the field shortly after this incident.
The Wolves often try to get their wing backs into the attack, and this game was no exception. Wolves captain Dean Sewell pushed forward often from the left before being moved to midfield in the 69th minute, while Max Zieky delivered excellent support work on the right side. Zieky drew a dangerous free kick on one of these forays into the attacking third midway through the half, with Suarez forcing a fine save out of Mejia at the near post on the free kick opportunity.
Zieky then another chance for the Wolves as well, attacking from the left this time after a Wolves corner had been cleared away. Zieky's cross found Wolves midfielder/forward Paul Oyuga in the box, but Oyuga did not get enough on his header and Mejia made the save.
Long Island began to fall back into a more defensive posture as the Wolves pressured the goal in the final quarter of the match. The Rough Riders did put forward Moussa Sy into the match to spark their offense, but otherwise Long Island had eight or nine players back on several occasions. Despite these efforts, the Wolves finally broke through in the 84th minute. Knights held the ball up on the right, passing to Zieky, who came up quickly in support. Zieky then passed to an unmarked Paul Oyuga on the left side, and Oyuga made no mistake, chipping the ball past Mejia to give Connecticut a 1-0 lead.
Two minutes later, Connecticut scored again, this time capitalizing on a Long Island defensive mistake. A misunderstanding in the Long Island defense led to a loose ball 30 yards from goal, which Wolves midfielder Winston Griffiths quickly gathered. Griffiths dribbled in on a breakaway, rounding the charging Mejia and sliding the ball into the empty net to make it 2-0 Wolves in the 86th minute.
Although it looked as if the Wolves had put Long Island away, the Rough Riders did not give up and pulled one back in the 90th minute. Camara slipped past the Wolves defense and blasted his shot past Wolves keeper Adam Throop to cut the lead in half. Moments later, Long Island gained a dangerous free kick from 23 yards, but the shot sailed harmlessly over the bar. Even so, it was a nervous last few minutes for the Wolves, but in the end Connecticut secured the 2-1 victory to move to the top of the Northern Conference. The rematch should be just as competitive, with both teams looking for maximum points to advance their position in the tight conference race.
Connecticut Wolves 2, Long Island Rough Riders 1
Goals: Connecticut- Paul Oyuga- 84th minute
Connecticut- Winston Griffiths- 86th minute
Long Island- Aboubacar Camara- 90th minute
Cautions: Long Island- Mick McDermott- 14th minute
Long Island- Mersim Beskovic- 29th minute
Connecticut- Dean Sewell- 34th minute
Long Island- Fernando Fernandes- 40th minute
Connecticut- Patrick Beech- 62nd minute
Long Island- Shane Watkins- 65th minute
Long Island- Steve Franzke- 69th minute
Expulsions: none
Lineups: Long Island Rough Riders: Oscar Mejia, Mick McDermott, Steve Danbusky, Carlyle Myrie (Ronan Wiseman 46), Mersim Beskovic (Laurence Piturro 55), Steve Franzke, Fernando Fernandes, Joe Ragusa, Daniel Leon, Shane Watkins (Moussa Sy 74), Aboubacar Camara
Connecticut Wolves: Adam Throop, Adam Eyre, Tony Soto, Dean Sewell, Max Zieky, Winston Griffiths, Temoc Suarez (Dan Rudolph 94+), Paul Oyuga, Fabio Zuniga, Irasto Knights (Kevin Jackson 88), Patrick Beech (Dimitri Dimitriov 69)
