| York School – For fifteen minutes in the second half central defender Chris Crawley took it upon himself to control the momentum of a 0-0 match. Moving out of the first line and into a defensive midfielding position, he stymied any chance of a York attack and then forced the Falcons back on their heals with long runs into their second and first lines. Palma didn’t convert during this period, but four different Chieftains, including Crawley, managed shots-on-goal. Despite ten Palma chances, the first period was scoreless due in large part to the confident goal keeping of York’s Wesley Lindberg, who recorded six saves in the first half. Palma regularly worked the ball into dangerous space behind the Falcon defense in the second half. However, the Chiefs didn’t break the tie until the 63rd minute when Max Cuevas worked the ball deep down the left side finishing with a long cross to Erik Norstrand, who laid the ball off to Chris Paulo, who finished far post working the ball back to the left side of the goal. Marco Casabella locked up the win in the 79th minute when Ross Majewski dribbled into space at the top of the box, split the defense with a far post shot that Lindberg knocked down. Casabella managed to clean up the rebound and to finish with a great second effort while beating Lindberg for the loose ball. For the match, Palma controlled the flow of the game with their twenty-one chances netting two goals. The Palma first line “kept it dull” for Luke Paulo in goal with solid team defense, holding York to five chances, with only one chance coming in the second half. Senior Chris Crawley (Cdef) earns “Player-of-the-Match” honors for solid defense throughout, and particularly for stepping up big in the second half. Chris’ hard work and aggressive play allowed the second and third lines to stay in the attack forcing the Falcons to focus on defense. Palma is 1-0-0 on the season. The Chieftains are next in action Monday versus Carmel, at Carmel Middle School. Game is time is 3:30. Admission is free. |