Volt League Week 12 recap

(image via Volt League)

As mentioned last week, Volt League is going back in time a little to make up for time lost at the beginning of the year due to the cold weather in the city. So, without wasting anymore time, lets get to some soccer from Week 12 in Volt League. 

Frankfurt 0-4 FC Night Watch

The Sunday slate started with the Blue Owls looking to not lose a step and keep challenging the top 3 spots, and Frankfurt looking to leave the basement of the league. It ended up being a game dominated by Night Watch, but the goals wouldn’t come until later in the first half. A great finish by B. Guzman gave Night Watch the lead in the 39th minute and they would have to wait until the second half to solidify the win. In the 47th minute, Medina took advantage of a a fatal mistake from the Frankfurt defense to double the lead. Only a minute later, Figueroa capitalized on yet another mistake by the back line and made the game 3-0. As the game came to an end, Night Watch got their fourth, this time from an inspired Gonzaga. He got the ball a few yards outside the box, looked at the goalkeeper’s position, and hit a rocket across the goal and into the top bin. 

It was an outstanding victory by the Blue Owls to keep the pressure on AC Juniors and Green Flag, Next up for FCNW will be the tough Green Flag FC. On the other side, Frankfurt are still looking to turn the ship around and will be facing their direct opponent FC Seinfeld in the race to stay in this first division of Volt League. 

Houstonians FC 6-0 FC Seinfeld 

Seinfeld needed a win to push away from Frankfurt but in front of them they had a tough Houstonians FC, who themselves needed 3 points to keep their pursuit of a playoff spot. Houstonians got their first goal early, in the 8th minute, from a rebound that was collected by Reyes who sent a low shot between legs of multiple people inside the six. The second goal would come later on, in the 35th, by Mikle who connected from a cross. Davila started off the goal fest in the second half with a banger form outside the box in the 54th minute. In the 61st, from a corner kick this time, Reyes got his second goal and the fourth for his team. Pelaez got the fifth goal directly from a goal kick in the 75th and a few minutes later Hernandez sealed the match with the sixth and last goal of the night. 

This was a huge win for Houstonians as they get ready to take on the current champs, AC Juniors this weekend. FC Seinfeld will go head to head with Frankfurt looking to escape the last spot in the table. 

Houston Rovers 6-1 Ghosttown Saints

This match made us wait until the second half until we saw any balls touch the back of the net. But, it was worth the wait, since we got to see 7 goals in the last 45 minutes. The goals started fairly quickly into the second half, with Dacosta making a run into the box and putting a ball through the goalkeeper on the one on one. In the 55th minute, Rey Escobar found his first of the night. His second came a few minutes after from a corner kick and some help from the opposing goal keeper. Dacosta got his second in the 68th after a great counter attack. Another great counter got the fifth goal for Rovers and the first for M. Barco. To finish the night of scoring, Bali got his goal after chasing it all night. The Ghosttown Saints ruined the clean sheet for the Rovers when E. Ibe connected with the ball from a cross and put it in the back of the net in the dying moments of the game. 

Rovers will be taking on Inter this week to keep the momentum going. The Saints will look to stay in a good playoff spot and will need to take some points away from MAFC.

MAFC 6-7 AC Juniors

Well, what can be said about this match? This was a match that will live in the history of Volt League for all its twists and turn and the sheer back story coming into this game. On one side you had MAFC, undefeated and frankly never put into a position where it felt like a match was out their control. On the other side were the current champs, who in the first encounter against the Red Lions, were still looking for their identity, still putting their pieces together and ended getting pummeled 10-0. An undefeated streak on the line, respect, competitiveness and revenge, this game did not disappoint. MAFC got on the board quickly with a touch into the net from Garcia. Andrade would then double the lead just as quick in the 6th minute. Cruz pulled one back for AC Juniors but Andrade struck again for MAFC, making it 3-1 in the 23rd minute. Daniel Castro put some pressure on the goalkeeper to pull one back and then Allan Cruz found his second of the night with a rocket with the outside of his left foot to bend it around the goalkeeper and tie the match at 3-3 going into the half. After 15 minutes of rest, the second half was filled with goals and drama. Starting the second half, AC Juniors struck first with a long distance shot from Tony that Daniel chased down and put past the keeper to put MAFC down on the scoreline for the first time this entire season. But that feeling didn’t last long as MAFC found the back of the net only a minute later. A free kick in the midfield landed on the head of Daniel to get yet another goal into the net. Once again Juniors were up, this time 5-4. Going into the last minutes of regulation time, MAFC found the equalizer with Garcia being in the perfect spot inside the box waiting on a great cross to make the score 5-5. What happened in the next few minutes was something that only happens in movies. Daniel Castro once again made a run on the left side of the field, in the 90th minute, leaving defenders behind, and after collecting the rebound from the goalkeeper from his first attempt at goal, found the upper 90 corner to make the game 6-5 in Juniors favor. As the game was coming to a close and when everything seemed to be said and done, Garcia equalized once again for MAFC to keep the undefeated streak alive and going for The Lions. Or so they thought. In the 95th minute Gomez had two sure goals saved for AC Juniors keeping the score 6-6. Just when you thought the game couldn’t get any crazier, the referee decided to go to VAR to look at a questionable play that looked to be a hand ball against Juniors inside the box, leading to a potential MAFC penalty. VAR was reviewed and the ref decided a hand ball infraction didn’t exist and the came played on. On the last play of the game, Alan Cruz cleared a ball, Tony heel flicked it to Geo, who one touched the ball to send Daniel running. He beat a defender in the chase for the ball and would to leave him one on one versus the goalkeeper. The keeper did his best to get to the ball before Dani, and after the clash the ball landed to Dani and with a subtle touch he scored his fifth goal of the night and the seventh for AC Juniors, securing the 7-6 victory and ending MAFC’s unbeaten run. 

AC Juniors will try and continue their climb up the table going against Houstonians FC this week. MAFC will be taking on Ghosttown Saints trying to bounce back from their first defeat of the season. 

Green Flag 4-3 International SC

To close out he night we had another nailbiter of a match that also went down to last seconds. Green Flag were coming into this game with some pressure to keep that second spot in the table and a bye to the semifinal. With the AC Juniors victory over MAFC, they were moved down to third place, and only a win would bring them back to the second spot. On the other side you had Inter who were also looking to stay in a playoff position as other teams creep up little by little to take that last spot from them. Solano opened up the scoring for Inter with an absolute banger from outside the box, going across the goal and finding a spot in the upper 90 of the goal in the 6th minute. After 45 minutes of the game, the game there was minimal difference, with Green Flag looking to get back in the game with the second half left to play. Starting the second half, Inter doubled their lead only a minute in after a cross came into the box and Tony scored with a header into the back of the net. The game got a lot more difficult but there was a lot of soccer to be played. In the 55th minute, Green Flag shortened the to lead to one after a well executed free kick that the goalkeeper was able to get a hand on. The rebound came off the post and Clark was there to put the ball away. The comeback would end there. In minute 60, Green Flag got their second goal. Pham converted a penalty kick to equalize. Unfortunately for Inter, Solano got his second yellow in that same play for a foul against Krueger and left his team with 10 men. Green Flag went on top in off a counter. Solorzano set up Pham for a one on one against the goalkeeper and he was able to get it around the keeper and find the third goal for the green squad. Sayles got the ball on the far side of the field in the 91st minute and put a cross into the box. It turned into a shot that went behind the goalkeeper and into the back of the net to tie the match at 3-3 in the dying seconds of the match. It seemed like Inter were able to get a point from this game, after being down 3-2 and being on top 2-0. But wait, the game was not over, there was more. Just as the celebrations from the Inter goal started to wind down, Makoni received the ball inside the box and rocked the crossbar. The ball bounced down and behind the line for the fourth goal to give Green Flag the 4-3 victory and cement them into the second place on the table. 

Green Flag will be taking on FC Night Watch this week, in another difficult match up for the guys in green. Inter will be looking for the bounce back against Houston Rovers.

Don’t forget to check out this weeks match ups on the Volt League Youtube channel at youtube.com/VoltLeague. For all the information about the league, check out their website at www.volt-league.com .