Wednesday, June 6, 2012
WORCESTER, Mass. -- With only two available subs and one backup goalie available on Wednesday, the Worcester Hydra still managed to pull through – without some of their most talented players. The shorthanded Hydra played without its leading scorer and several other key players, as they tied the Western Mass Pioneers 1-1 at Commerce Bank Field at Foley Stadium.
Leading scorer Alencar Junior was unavailable Wednesday because he received a red card in Sunday’s match against the GPS Portland Phoenix. The Hydra also played without forwards Charlie Rugg and Thomas McNamara, defenders Chris Ager, Matheus Candido and Taylor Washington and midfielders Colin Murphy and Laurence Braude.
“I don’t know how many guys we were missing, but certainly we were missing some very key players today and had a short staff,” Worcester head coach Elvis Comrie said. “We ask players on any given day to step up, and they stepped up.”
Bruno Bonicontro scored the first goal by the Hydra that did not have the name “Junior” attached to it. Junior had scored all four goals for the team previously. Ambry Moss recorded an assist while goalkeeper Jose Silva made four saves for the Hydra (2-2-2), who face CFC Azul on the road Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
Sam DeMello assisted on Patrick Ryan’s goal in the 54th minute while goalkeeper Warren Gross recorded five saves for Western Mass. (1-2-2), who lost to the Hydra, 1-0, on May 26.
The Hydra came into the game with just three subs, including goalkeeper Oliver Blum. Ten players, including Silva, played all 90 minutes of the game. The fatigue, paired with all of the players seeing more action than ever, provided to be an arduous task for the Hydra, but they were up to the challenge.
“It was difficult, especially because a lot of the new players coming in don’t know about the style yet, and especially because we only had two subs and a lot of players got tired real quick,” Silva said.
Worcester’s Michael Soboff is the only Hydra player to play in all six games of the season thus far. Ager, Candido and Junior had played in the previous five. Moss has also seen action in five games.
“It was a little difficult, but I’m glad for our guys,” Moss said. “A lot of people aren’t normally starters but they stepped in and we got a good performance out there, so I’m happy about the result.”
Bonicontro scored his first goal of the season in the 34th minute after Moss took the ball from outside of the box and shot it from right-to-left. Gross made a diving save, but Bonicontro was in front of the net and sent in the rebound to give the Hydra an early 1-0 lead. The Pioneers would not go down without a fight, as Ryan kicked the ball from the right side past Silva for the equalizer in the 54th minute.
In his third game of the year, midfielder Michael Bustamante led the Hydra with five shots and led a barrage late in the game, but wasn’t able to score. Defenders Adedoja Akinsaya and Eric Robertson, playing in their third and second games, respectively, helped limit the Pioneers to 10 shots in the game, as Silva needed to make just four saves in the outing. Russell Guidici, who entered the game in the 29th minute, also stepped up.
Comrie said that Robertson and Guidici were two of the main reasons that their defense played so well, even without Murphy and Ager.
“I know what [Guidici] brings to the table,” Comrie said. “Eric has done an exceptional job stepping up. The first time I saw him at practice, you could tell he had good leadership qualities.”
The Hydra are tied for fourth place in the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the PDL entering this weekend, and will face CFC Azul twice within their next four games.
“I think what’s important today is the squad of players who do not normally get the opportunity, who do not play as much, played a very significant role, and what we want to do is have a squad of 25 guys who can play on any given day,” Comrie said.
“Overall, the effort, I’ve got to commend the players, and the execution, I have to commend the players.”