Two quite different sides met Friday night; one was heading in the right direction, while the other seemed unable to find its way. The respective directions of the Atlanta Silverbacks and El Paso Patriots were quite obvious after an ugly 90 minutes that saw 2 red cards, 7 yellows and a 3-0 victory for the ‘Backs.
The match at Dekalb Memorial Stadium was the second leg of a home-and-home series that would determine who would advance to the US Open Cup. And a 2-1 win for the ‘Backs in Texas the previous week meant an uphill climb for the Patriots. Wary of this fact, the Patriots came out extremely defensively in the first half, hoping to score on a counterattack and then hold out for penalty kicks to decide who would advance to America’s most prestigious soccer tournament.
It became clear that the match would not be a pretty one soon after the opening whistle, as El Paso played as if they were trying to hold a 1-0 lead. But the ‘Backs surprised the home crowd by playing defensively as well, as John Akin and Iggy Moleka rotated as the loan striker.
Akin had the first chance of the game when a deflected shot fell to his feet at the top of the 6-yard box. But his shot was sailed directly into the awaiting arms of El Paso goalkeeper Jesse Llamas. The first half could have lulled a young child to sleep. Both Atlanta and El Paso seemed content in holding the ball, hoping for the other side to make a mistake. Save for a James Wall flick off a free kick that sailed wide, neither team was able to muster up a legitimate attempt on goal, and the halftime whistle sounded with the match tied at 0.
The second half would be a different story. Only seconds into the half, an errant back pass got by Llamas and rolled towards the goal line. The ball seemed to have rolled over the line just before a sliding Llamas could kick it away, but the linesmen was out of position, and the match remained scoreless.
In the 46th, substitute Phillipe Godoy’s shot from outside the box was pushed away by Llamas. One minute later, the El Paso finally got the counterattack chance they had been waiting for. With an odd man break at midfield, a diagonal ball to an onrushing Eduardo Silva resulted in an apparent one-on-one with Burgman. But James Wall hustled down the pitch to cut off the angle, and Silva’s shot missed the near post.
In the 58th minute of play, the match took an incredible turn. As Dominic Schell chased a through ball, he slid spikes up into a charging Cole Burgman. The vicious tackle resulted in a red card, and a brawl involving all 22 players (save the injured Burgman) in the Silverbacks goal box. Referee Elias Bazakos issued a yellow card to ‘Backs defender Alan Woods during the scrum. But the Patriots were now one man down, and their USOC chances looked dim.
The ‘Backs began to push forward, and five minutes later they were two men up when Moleka was pushed over in the box and a penalty was awarded to Atlanta. The El Paso defense immediately made a meal around Bazakos. Bazakos issued Patriots forward Omar Mora is second caution of the match, and he was sent off. Llamas guessed wrong on the penalty, but Moleka, who is usually automatic from the penalty spot, missed the left post.
El Paso’s chances of a victory looked awfully bleak despite the miss. And they began to play for the draw. But soon after Brett Mosen inserted Jordy Broder for Steve Kraemer in the 67th, it was clear that their luck had run out. Just four minutes after his entrance, Broder gave the ‘Backs the lead.
An Akin header from the left side of the 18 sailed over the head of Llamas, and hit the post, but Broder was there for the rebound, and he buried his shot into an open goal. The ‘Backs scored on a rebound again five minutes later when Carlos Parra beat two defenders in the box and cracked a shot off the crossbar, but midfielder Nate Hetherington was there, and the ‘Backs had a 2-0 lead.
Two minutes later, the Silverbacks netted the bonus point. After winning a free kick from 25 yards out in the left half, Brian Piesner stepped up and his low shot somehow got into the right inside netting untouched.
Atlanta would continue to pressure from then on, and the final whistle blew with Atlanta advancing their record to 7-1 and to the US Open Cup for the first time in team history.
Finally, the talented Atlanta Silverbacks have begun to mesh and gel as a unit. They began to possess the ball Saturday night and have become much more patient on the attack. Plus, the return of Cole Burgman between the posts has brought leadership and consistency to an already solid back line that notched it’s second clean sheet of the season and looked spectacular Saturday night. Next up for Atlanta is the Richmond Kickers, who are responsible for Atlanta’s loan loss of the season. The result of that match will show just how far Atlanta has come in these last two weeks.
Man of the Match: Jordy Broder
The whole game changed for the ‘Backs after the speedy Broder entered the match. He immediately made a difference with his goal and contributed greatly for the rest of the match. The rookie has proved to be Atlanta’s super sub so far this season, netting 2 goals and 3 assists.
Lineups
El Paso- Llamas, Dos Santos, MacFarlane(Pinto, 81st), Terra, Lomeli(Martinez, 77th), Quinones(Cabrera, 77th), Juarez, De Gama, Millet(Schell, 45th), Silva, Mora
Atlanta- Burgman, Baptiste, Wall(81st, Annicchero), Woods, Kraemer(67th, Broder), Leib(Godoy, 45th), Piesner, Parra, Hetherington, Akin, Moleka(75th, Cooks)
Stats
Shots Saves Corners Fouls Offside
Atlanta 11 2 5 15 6
El Paso 4 3 2 22 3
Scoring
70th- Broder(Akin)
77th- Hetherington (Parra)
78th- Piesner (FK)
Cards
28th- Terra
40th- Heterington
44th- Mora
50th- Moleka
56th- Juarez
59th- Woods
59th- Schell (RED)
62nd- Llamas
82nd- Mora (second yellow)
