USL News Release
Friday, August 5, 2011
BREMERTON, Wash. – Esteban Bayona had a goal and two assists as the Laredo Heat advanced to the UDL PDL Championship game with a 4-1 victory against the Long Island Rough Riders on Friday night at Bremerton Memorial Stadium.
Bayona opened the scoring in the first half with a fierce drive from just inside the penalty area before setting up teammates for a pair of late goals to put the game out of Long Island’s reach. After a pair of games where the Heat had not been at their best, Bayona said it felt good for the team to put in a strong performance.
“We are a different team when we’re in an atmosphere that we’re comfortable in,” Bayona said. “We’re obviously comfortable in this atmosphere, on grass instead of turf, and we’re just enjoying ourselves right now.”
Both sides had opportunities to take the lead before the opening goal, Long Island going closest in the 32nd minute when Adriano Gabriele drove a shot from 15 yards that was parried by Heat goalkeeper Emmanuel Frias, who then recovered and claimed Dominick Sarle’s low cross on the rebound intended for Keith Detelj.
Six minutes later, the Heat had the lead. A long ball forward by Frias caught out Long Island’s defenders, who saw the ball bounce over their heads allowing Bayona to advance on goal in the left channel. He then unleashed a fizzing drive that found the right corner of the net.
“I wanted us to score in the first half so we could relax a bit,” Bayona said. “I got a good ball from our goalkeeper and was able to beat the defender and I just put my head down and wanted to get a clean hit and fortunately it went inside the net.”
Long Island played well for long spells, and started the second half strongly in pursuit of an equalizer. Right back Danny Kramer was at the center of two chances within a minute, first driving a low cross into the six-yard box that was almost turned into the net for an own goal, only to be cleared off the line. As Long Island held the pressure in the attacking third, the ball came to Kramer and his shot came back off the right post.
“At this stage these are all really good teams and you need to put those chances away,” Long Island coach Paul Roderick said. “You need that little bit of luck in those situations, if we put those away we win the game comfortably.”
Laredo made the Rough Riders pay for their missed opportunities in the 64th minute as Juan de Dios Ibarra curled a fine shot into the top-right corner of the net to give his side a 2-0 lead, but Long Island got back into the game five minutes later when Detlej was brought down in the penalty area. Gabriele drilled the ensuing penalty kick down the middle to halve the lead and Long Island appeared to be set for a big finish.
Those hopes took a big hit in the 77th minute, though, as Sarle was sent off after a strong challenge on Edward Estrada. With an additional man, and the Rough Riders pushing extra players forward to try and find an equalizer, gaps started to open up in the Long Island defense, allowing Bayona to take advantage. He first slipped in a nice pass to Kevin Garcia, who lifted his finish over an advancing goalkeeper with five minutes to go before laying on a fourth for Albert Escovar in stoppage time.
The Heat will face the winner of the second semifinal between the Kitsap Pumas and Thunder Bay Chill in Saturday’s final at 4:30 p.m. PDT. With a convincing win under their belts, Bayona said the side was now confident it could claim the second PDL championship in club history.
“We’re stoked, we’re ready,” Bayona said. “We’ve made it all this way and we’re not going to stop.”