Buckeye Area Athletes Lead Arizona Christian University in Inaugural Game

Two Buckeye area athletes where among the many Arizona players suited up for Arizona Christian University as the Firestorm played its inaugural game against Evangel University (Springfield, Mo.) on Saturday at Shadow Mountain High School in Phoenix.

Verrado High School's Bryton Green and Estrella Foothills High School's Gerrit Groenewold served as two of ACU's four team captains during the game.

Arizona Christian Firestorms' four captain shake hands with Evangel University opponents following the coin toss at the inaugural game played at Shadow Mountain High School in Phoenix. Team captains for ACU are Gerrit Groenewold (4), Bryton Green (11), Mike Munsil (55) and Brennan Bowen (54).

Groenewold was given the nod as the starting quarterback by Arizona Christian Head Coach Donnie Yantis. He completed 18 of 32 passes for 170 yards. Groenewold was also the team's leading rusher. He ran the ball 18 times or a net gain of 39 yards.

Green started the game at outside linebacker and was credited with two solo tackles on the night.

Evangel won the game by a lopsided score of 40-16 after leading 23-3 at the half. The crusaders increased their lead to 27 points during their second possession of the second half.

Arizona Christian scored the next 13 points of the game to pull within two touchdowns. The first score came on a 1-yard rush to the right side by running back Mike Brown. Brown's score was set up by a 33-yard pass play from Groenewold to Gabriel Jordan. The point after touchdown attempt following Brown's touchedown failed due to a fumbled snap.

Arizona Christian stopped Evangel and forced a punt on the Crusaders' next possession, but a miscue during the return gave possession back to Evangel at midfield.

ACU head coach Donnie Yantis

Evangel was again stopped by the Arizona Christian defense and forced to punt. Another miscue appeared as if it was going to lead to disastrous consequences when the ball bounced in front of Jordan, glanced off his fingertips continued into the back of the end zone.

Jordan scooped the ball up against the end line, barely avoided an Evangel tackler and then ran, untouched, 108 yards for the touchdown for a record punt return that a sideline official said may never be broken.

At that point the score was 30-16 but Arizona Christian could not close the score as they were held scoreless the rest of the game and Evangel added 10 more points to the scoreboard.

Despite the loss, Arizona Christian was well-backed by their supporters. The announced attendance at the game was 3,561.

Unofficial Arizona United SC Yellow Card Accumulation Summary

Here is an unofficial view of Arizona United SC yellow card accumulation through Aug. 14, 2014, based on uslprosoccer.com game reports. These results may not reflect any post game reviews by the USL disciplinary board.

Joey Dillon leads the team with 6. League guidelines say another suspension occurs after 8 cards.

Paolo DelPiccolo currently has 5 yellow cards. Suspension can be served after a seven day waiting period.

Jonathan Top and London Woodberry stand at four yellows apiece.

The two yellows in one game drawn by Woodberry and Widner Saint-Cyr are treated as straight reds and do not count toward yellow accumulation.

The straight reds drawn by four players should not count toward yellow accumulation.

Player	Yellows
Dillon	6
DelPiccolo	5
Top	4
Woodberry	4
Antunez	3
Tan	3
Baladez	2
Garza	2
Kassel	2
Morrison	2
Newton	2
Robinson	2
Ruthven	2
Saint-Cyr	2
Stisser	2
Wallace	1

Source: uslprosoccer.com game reports

Per USL PRO Staff:

If a player receives two cautions in the same match it is treated the same as a straight red – the player must sit the next match. The two yellows do not count toward accumulation at that point, so the player picks up where he was before the red.   USL PRO’s accumulation suspensions occur at 5, 8, 11, and so on.

Arizona United Still in Quest for Coveted Playoff Slot

The road to a possible USL PRO Soccer playoff berth keeps getting tougher for Arizona United Soccer Club after the team lost its latest game against Sacramento Republic FC by a score of 2-1.

  

Arizona entered the game needing a victory and help from other teams in the league to gain ground in the quest to capture one of eight playoff spots available in the 14-team league.

  

Prior the the game the team had 21 league points.

An Arizona United victory and losses by Orange County and Charlotte would have put Arizona in a three way tie for 10th place and within two points of a coveted playoff spot.

  

Orange County and Charlotte did their part by losing their respective games, but the loss by Arizona and a victory by Pittsburgh pushed Arizona United further down the league table into 13th place.

  

Arizona’s record now stands at 6 wins, 11 losses and 5 draws.

  

To add insult to injury, the team is also feeling the impact of serving a 2-point penalty for inadvertently playing an ineligible player who should have been benched due to yellow card accumulation.

In Saturday’s game, Sacramento seemed to control the ball and tempo throughout the first half. Arizona United Head Coach Michael Dellorusso, however, felt that his team held its own against the fourth-place Republic.

  

“I don’t the intensity was lacking at all,” Dellorusso said. “We knew they would come out fast. They’re a team that like to press and and likes to play quick.

  

“I think our guys did a fantastic job in the first half—staying compact; staying organized.

  

“In the second half the boys did everything I asked of them. What it came down to was them making plays and us not.”

  

The game was scoreless until the 53rd minute when Sacramento’s Jeffrey Koval scored. 

A mental mistake by defender Tyler Ruthven turned the ball over to Sacramento just in front of the goal. 

After a few passes, Sacramento’s Thomas Stewart fed the ball to Jeffrey Koval who slotted the ball into the net to give Sacramento a 1-0 lead.

Arizona United’s Tyler Ruthven (2) walks away dejected after a turnover led to a Sacramento Republic goal.

Arizona was able to even the score just 11 minutes later after substitute forward Jonathan Top took a Jon Okafor centering pass and blasted the ball past Sacramento goal keeper Jacob Gleeson.

Arizona United's Jonathan Top scored a goal in the second half to even the score at 1-1.

“I was able to get in a good spot and thankfully found the back of the net today,” Top said.

  

Unfortunately for Arizona the lead would only last 14 minutes as Sacramento’s Justin Braun scored during the game’s 78th minute. Braun took possession of the ball near midfield after a pass was intercepted by midfielder Dakota Collins. Braun dribbled masterfully around two Arizona opponents and then chipped the ball over onrushing Arizona goal keeper Evan Newton for the score.

Arizona United’s Evan Newton (in green) can only watch a ball chipped past by Sacramento’s Justin Braun sails toward the net to score the winning goal in Arizona United’s 2-1 loss to the Republic.

Asked what he tells his players now, knowing that the opportunities to work into a playoff spot are dwinding, Dellorusso simply said “It’s all or nothing”.

Other Notes:

Bryan Gallego, who was on loan to Arizona United by Major League Soccer’s Portland Timbers is currently training with the U.S. Men’s National Teams U-23 team. The team is in the Bahamas for a five day training session that included a game against the Bahamas on Wednesday. The U.S. team won that game by a score of 5-1.

Benji Lopez was called up to the USMNT U-20 team earlier this year and participated in an international tournament held at the StubHub Center in Carson, Calif., in July.

USL PRO Soccer CEO Alec Papadakis was in Peoria for last week’s Arizona United vs. Sacramento Republic game.

  

Papadakis met with the media prior to the game and praised Arizona United Owner Kyle Eng’s leadership and energy and said he expects Eng to be a leader in the USL PRO community.

  

Papadakis also revealed he was in the state to speak with leaders from FC Tucson, a team in the Premier Development League. He said Tucson and other cities in the Southwest are on the USL PRO radar for future expansion.

  

Papadakis said there may be as many as 22 teams in the USL PRO league next year, due mainly to the fact that many MSL teams will be fielding USL PRO affiliates in place of reserve teams in the coming season. Papadakis said the addition of a Tucson team would make a great rivalry for Arizona Soccer fans.

Arizona United Inches Toward League Playoffs

Arizona United Soccer Club has gained seven points in the USL PRO 2014 season standings by virtue of two wins and one draw in the teams last three games.

The team climbed out of the cellar in league standings after its 3-0 victory at home against the Orange County Blues in the fourth match between the two teams this season.  Prior to that game the  team was one of four teams with 17 points at the bottom of the standings.

Arizona’s points results could have been higher this season had the team not been penalized two points for inadvertently using an ineligible player earlier in the season.

The team was also set back by a last second goal by Energy FC of Oklahoma City in a rain-soaked and confusing game on the road last Thursday. Arizona seemed sure to have that game in hand, but a series of plays and penalties at game’s end awarded a penalty kick for Energy FC. The kick was converted and the game finished with a score of 1-1. As a result, Arizona United walked away with two fewer points in the standings.

Arizona United rebounded nicely in a their game two days later against the OC Blues. Dominant throughout, United won the game 3-0 on goals by Matt Kassel, newly acquired striker Long Tan and late-game substitute Kadeem Dacres who scored only three minutes after he came into the game.  It was Arizona’s second win over OC Blues in two games; having previously winning 2-1 at a game played in Irvine, Calif., one week earlier.

Arizona United’s Long Tan plays the ball forward as Brad Stisser looks on. Long scored a goal in the 22nd minute to give Arizona a 1-0 lead over the Orange County Blues. 

Arizona United’s Kadeem Dacres (13) is congratulated by teammates after scoring the teams third goal in the 90th minute.

Long has proven to be a formidable and distracting source to opponent defenses. He scored two goals in the last two games.  His presence has allow play to open up providing more space into which teammates can drift.

Long is also a threat to shoot from anywhere in the attacking third of the field.  He has taken 10 shots total in the three games he has played for Arizona United thus far.

Arizona United has added another forward to its arsenal just this week with the signing of Sam Garza, who most recently has played for Major League Soccer’s San Jose Earthquakes and the North American Soccer League’s San Antonio Scorpions.

“Sam is a dynamic, explosive attacking player who will bring a good energy to our group,” said Arizona United Soccer Club head coach Michael Dellorusso.

This weekend Arizona United travels east to North Carolina to take on Wilmington on Friday and Charleston on Saturday.

The team return home on August 2 to play Sacramento Republic. Game time is at 7:30 p.m. and tickets are available at ArizonaUnited.com.

Arizona United goal keeper Evan Newton (right) stands his ground against Orange County Blues’ Joshua Suggs attempts to score.

Arizona United Gets Much Needed Victory on the Road

Arizona United SC came a way with a 2-1 victory in a road game played against the Orange County Blues in Irvine, Calif., this past Saturday.

Arizona United, with the newly added attack threat of Chinese-national player Long Tan, was able to pressure and threaten the Blues often during the game.

Arizona struck first in the game and scored during the 37th minute with excellent movement with the ball on a series of passes from Tan to Daniel Antunez to Schillo Tshuma and ultimately to Brad Stisser.  Stisser scored directly on the volley on a crossing pass from Schillo and beat Blue goal keeper Patrick McLain, who had no opportunity to stop the goal during the 37th minute.

It was Stisser’s first goal in his first start with the team. Prior to Saturday’s game, Stisser had played very sparingly for United.

Arizona United’s Brad Stisser, seen here heading the ball away from two Rochester Rhino players, scored the first goal for Arizona United in their 2-1 victory over the Orange County Blue last Saturday. 

The game went to halftime with United leading 1-0.

The next goal was not scored until the 74th minute when substitute Jon Okafor was able to score on a header following a Scott Morrison corner kick which was actually Arizona United’s first corner kick of the game.

Orange Count was able to counter with a goal of its own just three minutes later; however, United was able to hold on for the much needed win.

The victory moved United out of the USL PRO standings cellar and the team now has 16 points. Two points shy of where they would be had the team not been handed a two-point penalty following a player eligibility issue earlier in the season.

Nevertheless, the victory and the team’s performance during the Orange County game showed signs of life in the team that has suffered from frustrating draws and losses.

The team will play one more game on the road this Thursday against Energy FC of Oklahoma City and return home to play the OC Blues in a game at Peoria Sports Complex this Saturday. Game time has been moved to 7:30 p.m. and plenty of seats are available.