PDL Game Report
Thursday, June 5, 2014
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Led by goals from two debutants and a standout goalkeeping performance, the River City Rovers defeated the Southern West Virginia King's Warriors 3-0 on Thursday night. Alejandro Garcia, who will be playing at the University of Cincinnati next fall, scored a first half brace a mere minute apart in the first half to give the Rovers a comfortable lead, and Suleiman Thomas sealed the victory in the second half, while Dalyan Hawes stood tall in goal to earn a shutout.
After the Rovers dominated possession in the opening minutes, they took the lead through Garcia on a corner kick. The ball was played across goal and headed down and eventually bounced around to Garcia who slotted a side-footed volley into the back of the net.
Not a minute later it was Garcia again putting a Rovers' tally on the board after he got on the end of a pass in the penalty area and touched it past on-rushing Kings Warrior’s goalkeeper Jonathan Davis.
After trading possession and chances, the turning point in the game came in the 73rd minute, when the King's Warriors were awarded a penalty kick. River City goalkeeper Hawes took fate into his own hands, however, when he dove to his right and made the save to maintain his side's two-goal advantage. Hawes finished with six saves, including a couple of important ones as the King's Warriors tried to mount a comeback.
The Rovers would seal victory in the 82nd minute, when forward Shaquille Hamilton made a dynamic run down the right flank and crossed low to Suleiman Thomas, who trapped the ball and touched it past the keeper’s foot for his first goal as a Rover.
The win was River City's first of the season, and moved them into a tie for fifth place in the division with the King's Warriors. The Rovers will return to PDL action in two weeks as the make the trip to face the West Virginia Chaos in back-to-back games. River City's next home game is set for June 26th against the same West Virginia team at 7:30 p.m. at Woehrle Field.