Saturday, June 22, 2013
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The River City Rovers fell victim to another slow start on Saturday against the Michigan Bucks, falling two goal behind in under 17 minutes and going down a man after 25, as they fell 4-1 at the hands of the PDL Great Lakes Division leaders. Despite the final margin, the early deficit and the man disadvantage, the Rovers (4-5-1) played well, possessing for long spells and challenging the Bucks' goal on numerous occasions.
In what continued to be the Rovers’ Achilles’ heel this season, the team once again conceded a pair of early goals, causing them to face an uphill battle the whole way. The Bucks (7-1-0) got on the board early after Dion Peters and Gerald Ben played a quick one-two 25 yards from goal. Ben, the reigning PDL Player of the Week, clipped the ball over the Rovers line that had held and asked for offside. The linesman’s flag stayed down, and Peters took the ball in alone with no pressure, slamming it past Rovers keeper Taylor Hafling for the 1-0 lead.
The Bucks doubled their lead nine minutes later after they caught the Rovers napping on a free kick. The foul was spotted on the left corner of the box 22 yards from goal and the Bucks took it short as the wall was being set up. Midfielder Matt Walker took the ball toward the goal line, had plenty of time to look up, and found a wide-open Ben who tapped it into the goal.
The Rovers would add insult to injury in the 25th minute when Sebastien Henke took out Peters with a standing two-footed tackle. The center official didn’t hesitate and immediately pulled out a red, putting the Rovers down a man in addition to their two-goal deficit.
Up against a monumental task, the Rovers went to work and pushed forward, applying pressure to the Bucks throughout the rest of the game. Sadly, they couldn’t manage to capitalize on two golden chances in the first half that could’ve brought them back into the game. The first came before the red card in the 23rd minute, when Lepe Seetane played in a high looping cross from the left wing. The ball sailed to the far post over the head of three Bucks defenders. Rovers defender Hezekiah Weiss ran in and powered a header low to the near post, but Bucks keeper Adam Grinwis dove low, pulling off a quality save. Another Rovers chance saw Kyle Sparks slot a ball to Dylan Terry in the corner of the penalty area. Terry took a rip, but it smacked off the near post and went wide.
The Rovers maintained their attacking momentum in the second half, controlling a healthy majority of the possession while the Bucks sat back, absorbed pressure and counter-attacked. The Rovers twice came close again, with Humberto Bertran clanking another upright off a feed from Sparks, and Peter May putting a header wide from inside the six-yard-box after service on a free kick from Terry.
River City’s inability to finish would cost them again as the Bucks would score two more late on. In the 73rd minute, a Bucks' corner fell to the feet of Walker after Hafling came out to punch. With Hafling out of position, Walker crossed to Drew Ruggles, who headed it into the open net. In the 88th minute, Ruggles went from scorer to helper when he played a 60-yard ball into the box. Nate Steinwascher ran onto it, took a touch, and pushed it up and over Hafling.
The Rovers’ managed a consolation goal in the 89th minute when Luis Ramirez pounced on a corner after it bounced around in the penalty area. The goal was deserved and probably a long time coming, but unfortunately for the Rovers it was too little and too late.
The Rovers maintained third place in the division despite the loss and are still six points ahead of Toronto, KW-United, and the Chicago Inferno. They return home next week to play the Toronto Lynx, whom they defeated 2-0 on June 9. The Rovers will hope to get back to their winning ways and add to their third-place cushion. Their current lead is fragile as the three fourth-placed teams have all played less games than the Rovers. Kick off is set for 7 p.m. at Shelby County Athletic Complex. Fans can follow the action live on Twitter @ROVERSSOCCER.