A 25-30 minute wait for the ref to show up didn't dampen the heated atmosphere of the game. SJFC, once again, had most of the chances but failed to convert them to push into an early lead. There were many good buildups in midfield between John Brackmann and Brandon Bonnette, who fed outside to Adam Evans (who had his best game of the season so far) and Breton Bonnette (a returnee from injury). They, in turn, fed the target men: Eric Danner, Ed Bonnette, Tim Green and Matt Acciani. Unfortunately, errant crossing, hard-to-predict ball movement, and iffy execution led SJFC to go into the half scoreless. South Jersey's best chance came with center midfielder Kevin Murphy finding a little room about 25 yards out and unleashing a long range bomb which, to our dismay, hit the crossbar and bounced out of danger. McCrossen's goalie, Jennifer Goebel and sweeper Phil Randazzo were also big reasons for the 0-0 score.
The game was deadlocked until around the 60th minute when McCrossen wing midfielder Pepe trapped a ball at the corner of the penalty box and drove a swerving half volley right by the near post surprising South Jersey goalkeeper Eric Wirth. Otherwise, Wirth had a relatively quiet game as the defensive combination of Brendan Oakes, Devin Oakes, Jim Bonnette, Chris Gercke and Gerald Van Wilgen got the job done. After McCrossen's goal, South Jersey woke up and barraged Goebel and the McCrossen goal. Each shot was parried or caught in a very impressive display of keeping. In the 75th minute or so, SJ still in the hole, a penalty could have been called on a McCrossen defender who slid in on winger Steve Fatula with a scissor tackle. The call was play on however and chance after chance followed. Eric Danner broke through eluding two defenders to rip a shot at a narrow angle but with considerable power. Goebel punched the ball away. Again. To rewind, right before halftime, Brandon Bonnette took a hard driven ball to the tip of the foot bending it awkwardly and putting him out for seemingly the rest of the match. Once McCrossen went up 1-0 and things on field became somewhat choppy, Brandon laced up and returned. The game was most definitely a physical one as Carlos Clay also picked up a knock and had to sit out the last 20 minutes. For what was physical, however, there was only one card given. Regardless, within 5-7 minutes of Brandon returning, the damage was done. Brandon picked up a feed from someone (anyone know??) and found his way in the penalty box with enough time to fire one early to near post. The power surprised McCrossen's keeper and the game was tied once again. It was Brandon's first goal of the year and preserved South Jersey FC's 14 game unbeaten streak. SJFC is in third with a 2-0-1 record based on goal differential.
South Jersey FC will play Real Men Wear Pink next week, 4/28 at 5:00pm. In last season's meeting...South Jersey beat Real Men Wear Pink 5-0.
Other Scores
Scorers:
SJFC: Brandon Bonnette (77)
MCC: Pepe Aguiar (60)
If anyone would like to set up a scrimmage with South Jersey FC, e-mail me at BonnWM3@hotmail.com.
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