Western Conference
Kicking off week 5 western conference play was the top of the table BOCA Knights versus mid table Alexandria PBFC on Wednesday night at Bossier High Stadium. The first half saw both teams find very little chances with the rain playing it’s part in creating some heavy touches and mistimed passes. BOCA would slightly favor in possession in the first half which ended 0-0. The second half started in similar fashion with both teams not giving too much. In the 57th minute, Italo Barbosa, added one to his score card heading home a goal to put BOCA up 1-0. Shortly after Quesi Weston found space for what was a sure goal but a big save by Pool Boys keeper, Jason Fritz, would keep the Alexandria crew in the game. The Pool Boys would get on the board in the 80th minute after a blunder by the BOCA keeper, resulting in an indirect kick inside the BOCA 6 yard box, and a quick restart by Pool Boys tying the game 1-1. The final minutes of the game were terminated by the officiating crew due to unauthorized personnel entering the field for BOCA and Pool Boys were awarded a 3-0 forfeit.
In the first leg of the first edition of the Lafayette Cup, Cajun SC hosted Louisiana Krewe FC at Clark Field on Saturday night. The weather was fair and the fans were ready as both teams tried to secure three more points for their club and a chance to advance up the ladder in the Western Conference standings. The match was well defended on both sides of the field and the goalkeepers were holding their own until the 44th minute of the first half when Louisiana Krewe’s Forward Adrian Olivares Rodriguez broke the 0-0 tie with a header off a superb cross from the right side of the pitch by Erick Flores. Adrian’s lone goal would stand as the only goal of the match and the Krewe would walk away with a 1-0 victory over a struggling Cajun club.
The Central Texas Lobos headed east to Louisiana on Saturday to battle against Shreveport United at Cargill Park’s Lee Hedges Stadium in Shreveport. With Central Texas and Shreveport United both losing and not scoring a goal in last weeks outing, they were both looking to bounce back from such tough defeats with a win in this week’s matchup. Unfortunately for Shreveport United, the Lobos wanted it more as they came out on top with a 4-0 clean sheet victory over the men from Shreveport. To start the four goal scoring drive off for Central Texas, Jose Alex Marin found a pass from Jordan Guardado in the 5th minute that he rolled past the keeper to give the Lobos an early 1-0 lead. Oscar Saavedra would do the rest of the goal scoring for the Lobos as he would add to their 1-0 lead with a goal 30 minutes into the first half and two goals in the second half. Saavedra’s hat trick would officially put the game out of reach for Shreveport United and the Central Texas Lobos would win the game by a 4 goal margin.
Eastern Conference
After tying Port City 0-0 earlier in the week, Gulf Coast FC traveled to the Archbishop Lipscomb Athletic Complex in Mobile on Saturday night to play in their second game of the week against AFC Mobile for another chance at taking the top spot in the Eastern Conference. The Rangers and Azaleas played in front of a record breaking crowd that reached over 1,500 rowdy fans. Once the game started, the first half saw four quick goals in just the first 25 minutes with the Rangers taking an early 2-0 lead after a goal from Xavier Audergon in the 5th minute and a goal from David Hall in the 11th minute. Moments later, Mobile put away two goals of their own with a goal from Mikey Conneh in the 13th minute and an equalizing goal from Arad Lev-Ari in the 24th minute, tying the match at 2 goals apiece going into the second half. David Hall would eventually break the 2-2 tie with his second goal of the match in the 52nd minute with a rip from 25 yards out. For the Ranger fourth and final goal of the game, Hall scored another deep goal from about 30 yards out, giving himself the hat trick and his team a 4-2 lead. The Azaleas would try to battle back, scoring one more goal off a penalty kick in the 61st minute, but the remainder of the second half was a stalemate and the match ended in a 4-3 Ranger win. The Gulf Coast FC win puts them in first place and AFC Mobile in third place in the Eastern Conference because Tallahassee FC beat Port City, shifting the table to where Tallahassee FC now resides in second place.
Tallahassee SC hosted 2018 GCPL champs, Port City FC, Saturday night at Gene Cox Stadium. Although the Mighty Lions were not on their home field, due to heavy rains, they did not miss a beat as they finished the first half of the season sitting in third place in the eastern conference. The struggling Gulfport unit would get on the board first in the 14th minute thanks to header by Felipe Madero. Shortly after Michael Seng for Tallahassee would take advantage of a weak clearance by Port City and tie it up 1-1 in the 18th minute. 2 minutes into the second half David Villa would put the home team up 2-1. In the 52nd minute Jared Arde of Port City would force the Tallahassee keeper to come up with a huge save to keep the Lions ahead 2-1. The nail in the coffin would come in the 75th minute from Boneco Bazil of Tallahassee putting his team ahead 3-1 and securing the 3 points.
In a game that was postponed for Wednesday night, last place Pensacola FC hosted Hattiesburg FC at Ashton Brosnaham Park in Florida. The first half was a standstill with both teams struggling to find their offense and the back of the net, leaving the match at a 0-0 tie going into halftime. Things would soon change in the second half, however, as the first and only goal of the game for Pensacola FC came in the 68th minute from Eric Buer. Eric’s goal gave Pensacola a late 1-0 lead, but HFC would soon rally back and take over the game with three unexpected goals of their own in just four short minutes. Tim Tuomikowski started the scoring rally off for Hattiesburg with a goal in the 78th minute. One minute later, Matias Pazos scored a goal and two minutes after that James Cooper scored a goal, giving HFC a hard earned 3-1 lead in the 89th minute. This is where the game would end and where HFC would defeat Pensacola FC in a late comeback 3-1 win.
Central Conference
Still looking for their first win of the 2019 season, Baton Rouge United hosted Gaffa FC on Saturday night at Olympia Stadium in Louisiana. The club from Baton Rouge is currently sitting at the bottom of the entire GCPL standings with zero points and five straight losses. They have only scored two goals in their past five games but one of their two goals came in the matchup against Gaffa FC. The lone Baton Rouge goal was scored late in the second half in the 86th minute by Igor Castillo. But by this time in the match, Gaffa FC had already put away four goals of their own with three goals in the first half and one goal in the second half. Thomas McCraney put Gaffa FC on the board first with a goal in the 5th minute and Gregory Anderson extended the lead and scored the second goal of the match in the 31st minute. Thomas McCraney added another goal to the score sheet in the 36th minute for Gaffa FC, giving McCraney his second goal of the game and the club from Jackson a solid 3-0 lead at halftime. Cillian Thompson would score the fourth and final goal of the match for Gaffa FC in the 71st minute of play, clinching the 4-1 victory and prolonging Baton Rouge United’s losing streak.
In a game that saw an overwhelming amount of goals, FC New Orleans absolutely overwhelmed the Mississippi Blues at Pan American Stadium on Saturday night. The game featured an astounding thirteen goals with twelve of them coming from the New Orleans side. To kick off the action, it was Roger Llergo who scored first for the NOLA squad with two back to back goals that were four minutes apart from each other in the 2nd and 6th minute. Llergo kept his hot streak going in the 17th minute with his third goal of the game, giving FC New Orleans a very early 3-0 lead. Shorty after Roger Llergo’s hat trick, Johan Castillo was able to find the back of the net for the Mississippi Blue’s in the 19th minute. This would be the only goal that the Blues would be able to muster up in the full 90 minutes of play. Gustavo Castillo Garcia would take over for FC New Orleans from here as he also earned himself a hat trick in Saturday matchup with goals in the 25th, 36th, and 76th minute. The hat tricks didn’t stop there, however, as Mehmed Muminovic also joined in on the feeding frenzy with three goals of his own. Erick Gunera and Julius Afolabi also scored goals for their club throughout the one sided match as FC New Orleans defeats the Mississippi Blues in a gratifying 12-1 win.
At the top of the Central Conference, Northshore United sought to tack on three more points to their undefeated record against Motagua New Orleans at Pan American Stadium on Wednesday night. Motagua came out on the offensive with a hard shot from Brandon Chagnard in the 12th minute, but Northshore keeper JP Furman came up with a big save to keep the score at 0-0. On the counter attack, Mason Morise sent in a beautiful cross to Zachary Breaux in the 15th minute who buried it into the lower corner, making it 1-0 Northshore. Five minutes later, in the 20th minute, Hisham Abdelaziz tied the game at 1-1 with a laser shot from thirty yards out. New Orleans almost scored again in the 30th minute but JP Furman came up with another big one on one save for Northshore. The Blue Eagles were finally able to make it a 2-1 game toward the end of the first half with a goal from GCPL all time leading goal scorer, Reece Wilson who headed the ball home in the 47th minute. The evenly matched contest saw another equalizing goal in the 63rd minute after Michael Boudreaux found Cam Robinson on a long cross that Cam headed into the net, tying the match at 2-2. The game winning goal came in the 74th minute off a great solo effort by Cam Robinson who crossed it to the front of thegoal for Conner Walmaley to finish, ending the game in a 3-2 Northshore victory.
