Steel FC 5 - 0 Amish Country United 3/28 Pre-season Friendly Highmark Stadium @ 5:30 PM
Steel FC 5 - 0 Amish Country United
We hosted our friends from Ohio in this battle of the border states. A solid game for us all around netted us a 5-0 win on a blustery day in Pittsburgh. We could not have asked for a nicer group of guys to go up against while playing at the beautiful Highmark Stadium.
This match was our fourth pre-season game of 2021. Amish Country United is Holmes County's (OH) premier soccer club. Located in the heart of Amish Country, they are the largest club in the area and it is their goal to provide entertainment for the community with a great sporting experience, encourage and nurture young players within their youth academy, compete in local and regional competitions, and to be an impact on their community.
This game was played by only the players on our team that are competing in the Amateur Cup on 4/11/21. Because of this, the team we put out on the pitch was of high quality and it showed. The game started out in our favor as we dictated most of the match with more possession, more shots, more scoring chances, more corner kicks, etc. At this point our fitness had returned (for the most part) and it showed on the pitch. We were first to 50/50 balls, got stuck in hard, and overall played a complete game. However, with all that said, we still could have finished more efficiently. While the score did finish 5-0, we missed 2 breakaways had some miscommunication in the final third that could have led to more opportunities. We got off to a hot start at the 9 minute mark when a ball was played up top to our forward, Jesse Scheirer. Scheirer held off the CB and saw Lewis Osborne making a run right in behind him. Jesse played a beautiful through ball which found Osbornes feet. A simple touch around the keeper and we led 1-0. We got on the scoresheet for a 2nd time in the 17th minute with nearly a duplicate sequence. Again, Scheirer got the ball up top. This time he was able to turn and again find Osborne making a cutting run in between their center backs. Scheirer played a perfect ball in and Osborne slotted it home to the right of their keeper giving us a 2 goal lead. About 10 minutes later our high pressure caused a turnover in the middle of their half. Our CDM, Rob Heuler, found himself on the ball and drove down the center of the pitch. As he drove he made defenders commit to him freeing up the run of our other CDM, Matt Bischoff. Heuler played Bischoff in at the top of the box and Bischoff did the rest. He beat one center back and cut left across the goal. Seconds later he roofed a left footed shot past the keeper giving us a 3-0 lead. This lead would hold and we went into halftime 3 goals to the good. The 2nd half started where the first half ended with us maintaining most of the possession and really controlling the game. In the 58th minute a deflected shot led to a corner. We took the corner short and Anthony Virgara found himself dribbling towards the side of the box. As pressure came his way he found the overlapping run of Osborne to the top of the box. Osborne would beat one man, cut inside the box and beat two more as he approached the endline. A nice backheel from him found a trailing Virgara and Virgara put his foot through it and beat their keeper near post making the score 4-0. 15 minutes later we would tally on one more when Bischoff found himself in the middle of the pitch with space and time. He picked up his head and spotted Greg Annan making a run through their defense. A perfectly placed ball over over the top found the feet of Annan as he ran onto it and split their center back and right back before touching the ball around the keeper and calmly passing it into the net putting us up 5-0. We finished out the game with ease and eventually the whistle blew and we cam out with a win.
Goals: Osborne (2), Bischoff, Virgara, Annan Assists: Scheirer (2), Heuler, Osborne, Bischoff
Our next game is as follows:
4/06 Pre-season Friendly Steel FC vs Century United Riverview Park @ 6:25 PM
Game Footage (black) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slz5b2_jfeQ