Tagged: Junior Lone Star FC
BuxMont Draw With Lone Star
Perkasie, PA (5/25/13) Jamison Parker
The BuxMont Torch and Junior Lone Star FC, both of the Keystone Conference in the National Premier Soccer League, battled to a 1-1 tie on Saturday May 25th at Pennridge High School.
Photo Credit: Buxmont Torch
Under breezy and unseasonably cool temperatures, both teams opened the match with high energy and determination to grab three points. After controlling the majority of possession in the opening stages, the Torch were first to get on the board in the 16th minute. After a sequence of quick passes, the Torch were able to find left winger Tyler Bullock who beat his defender and cut across the middle of the field before curling a shot to the top right corner of the goal.
The Torch looked to increase their lead in the 40th minute as a cross from right winger Thomas Silva was again met by Bullock whose header clanged off the far post.
Junior Lone Star opened the second half with renewed energy and increased the defensive pressure. Head coach Bobby Ali added a trio of attackers in the 62nd minute and shifted his team to an aggressive 3-4-3 formation. The changes paid off as Junior Lone Star scored off a corner served in by Turay and headed into the back of the net by Coulibaly in the 70th minute.
The final twenty minutes offered much end-to-end action with chances for both teams to go ahead. The Torch back four of Skinker, Terrell, Cordi, and Petrie held strong with great individual defending as well as maintaining solid team shape to help prevent further close range efforts. Keeper Brandon West was a vocal leader throughout the match and made numerous aerial saves as Lone Star sent a flurry of late crosses into the box.
The tie puts the Torch at 4th place in the Keystone Conference standings while Junior Lone Star now sit at 7th. Both teams resume play this week with the Torch traveling to Pocono to take on the Snow on Wednesday May 29th followed by a trip to take on Clarkstown SC on Saturday June 1st. Junior Lone Star travels to take on the Snow on Saturday June 1st.
Jamison Parker is the Media Relations Associate for the BuxMont Torch. Follow the Torch @BuxMontTorch or on facebook.
Report: Junior Lone Star FC 0 - 4 Clarkstown SC Eagles
Photo Credit: Junior Lone Star FC
Sunday, May 19, 2023 - Drexel Hill, PA
Junior Lone Star FC continues to falter after another lack luster performance saw the Stars losing their home opener 0 - 4 to Clarkstown SC Eagles of New York.
Employing the same 4-3-3 formation that saw the Stars lose to Greater Binghamton FC 0 - 1 last week, the Stars proved to be no match for the Eagles who employed a 4-4-2 formation. The Stars made five changes to the starting line-up from last week loss with new signee Kouassi N’Guessan making his debut in defense, Amadou Sheriff and Joe-Joe Jappah, two substitutes from last week, starting as well as the return of Fane Ayouba and Ebere Goodluck.
With only one holding midfielder, the Stars found it hard to stop forward Patrick Figueiredo and Scott Waddell for the Eagles. In fact, it was the former who score the first goal in the 24th minute with a low shot which beat Monyan in goal for the Stars. The Eagles increased their lead in the 40th minute through Figueiredo, his second of the game, to send the Eagles 0-2 at half-time.
The Stars came back for the second half with much vigor but all hopes were dashed when a beautifully taken free kick from midfielder Jonathan Yazo, on for Reilly at half time, left Monyan stranded as the ball hit the back of the net for a 0-3 lead to the Eagles.
After the goal, coach Bobby Ali decided to bring on the cavalry by introducing Mohamed Camara, Jerome Pour, Menuh Wiah, Blama Dunor, Aboubakar Dosso, and Lawrence Brown in search of a comeback, but the Eagles snuffed any fight back from the Stars with the fourth goal of the game off a low shot from midfielder Mario Rios that slipped under the outstretched Monyan in goal to complete the 0-4 score line in the 80th minute
The Stars will now turn their attention to the 2013 Battle of the East Soccer Tournament Final this evening against fierce local rivals Cavalla FC before traveling to Perkasie, PA to play BuxMont Torch FC in Match Day 3 of the 2013 National Premier Soccer League.
MATCH FACTS
Junior Lone Star FC (4-3-3): Monyan; A Dunor (B Dunor 51), Sheriff, Conteh, N’Guessan; Ayouba, Turay (Pour 68), Jappah (Brown 51); Ba, Jackson (Camara 55), Goodluck (Wiah 66).
Subs Not Used: C Zoegar, Dosso.
Booked: A Dunor, Ba, Sheriff
Goals: none
Clarkstown SC Eagles (4-4-2): Tartara; Haxhari, Steffen, Barr, Khromer (Baroj 50); Ospina (Rios 45), Nikocevic (Morad 82), Reilly (Yazo 45), Regnito; Figueiredo (Magga 74), Waddell (Fernandes 65).
Subs Not Used:
Booked: none
Goals: Figueiredo 24, 40, Yazo 51, Rios 80.
Att: 56
Greater Binghamton FC Wins Home Opener
Photo Credit: Junior Lone Star FC
Match report by Gabe Smith (Binghamton, NY): Greater Binghamton FC went head to head in their season opener against Junior Lone Star FC and pulled out a 1-0 win in a game that could have turned out much differently. Greater Binghamton struck first in the 40th minute as #12 Jherrett Maroney scored the season’s first goal on a well placed shot from just inside the 18 yard box. The moment of triumph was followed by a red card a few minutes later as a GBFC player was sent off for pushing a Junior Lone Star defender on the sidelines well after the ball was dead.
Keystone Flight Preview
Several teams in the Northeast Region’s Keystone Flight (we really need to standardize the naming…) kick off this weekend, so before the action starts here is your season preview.
BUXMONT TORCH: The Torch finished at the bottom of the table last year with 6 points and a 1-3-8 record. Interestingly, out of 7 club they finished 4th in terms of goals scored, 5th in goals against, and 4th in overall goal differential. This seems to suggest that they really should have finished mid-table, but for whatever reason just couldn’t close games. In the off-season Buxmont have added several quality players from perennial NCAA DIII powerhouse Messiah College and NCAA DI Liberty University, and will hope to put the past two seasons poor finishes behind them.
CLARKSTOWN SC EAGLES: Formerly branded the Jersey City Eagles, Clarkstown has relocated and re-branded for the 2013 season. Clarkstown finished in the top three of the competitive Keystone Flight and will hope to build on that success to challenge FC LVU Sonic for the title. Clarkstown has an advantage over many clubs in that they do not primarily recruit collegiate athletes. In fact, the core team has been playing together in the Cosmopolitan Soccer League under the tutelage of former Irish Youth National player Kevin Grogan. The combination of team cohesion and a high caliber coach may just be the winning combination for the Eagles this year.
FC LEHIGH VALLEY UNITED SONIC: Besides having one of the longest club names in NPSL, LVU Sonic are the defending national champions and obvious favorites to repeat as Keystone Flight champions. Last season LVU Sonic finished with a 10-1-1 record and a a league best of only 3 goals allowed. If Sonic can lock down the defense as well as they did last year, another Flight title is all but guaranteed.
FC READING REVOLUTION: Back from a year hiatus, the Flight the Revs re-joined looks a lot different than the one it left. 2011 Keystone champions Erie Admirals and 2011 5th place FC Buffalo both left to join the new Great Lakes Flight while the New Jersey Blaze and AC Crusaders have both pulled their teams for the foreseeable future. Reading will look to return on form, but the improved quality of competition may prove a bit of a surprise.
GREATER BINGHAMTON FC: Greater Binghamton played last season in the Great Lakes Flight and will be happy to cut away travel in half for the upcoming season. Greater Binghamton struggled last season, but made a late season run to beat out fellow upstate club FC Buffalo for the last playoff spot. In the off-season Binghamton added grandstands, a press box, and concessions to their home stadium at the Greater Binghamton Sports Complex in a move which will dramatically improve the fan experience. GBFC also shuffled around front office and coaching responsibilities, while bolstering their roster. If key players can avoid injuries this season, look for GBFC to have a strong season behind Captain Chris Riley and goalkeeper Jason Stenta. Veteran Johnny Sinclair has also joined the team this season, and his playing/coaching experience make him a valuable asset both on and off the field.
HERSHEY FC: Hershey FC will be joining the league for their first season. They recently played a friendly match against NPSL aspirants Electric City FC, which they won 2-0. A club in Hershey is a great addition to the Keystone region, and will hopefully promote some great local rivalries.
JUNIOR LONE STAR FC: Junior Lone Star finished last season with a 4-0-8 record, and not fairing well against the Flight’s best. Lone Star have taken aggressive action to turn the ship around for this season with an intense pre-season schedule that has seen them travel to Scranton, Virginia, and North Carolina. So far, the regimen seems to be working as Lone Star’s only pre-season loss came against Chestnut Hill College. They will open on May 11th against Greater Binghamton FC in what will be a telling match for both clubs.
MORRIS COUNTY COLONIALS: The Colonials posted a solid 7-3-1 record last season and were the only club to defeat LVU Sonic. The Morris County roster is heavy with NCAA D1 athletes representing Seton Hall, Rutgers, Iona, and Farleigh Dickonson. All early indications are that Morris County has returned a good portion of their line-up and hope to challenge LVU Sonic for the title.
POCONO SNOW SOCCER CLUB: The Snow have consistently finished near the bottom of the table since their founding in 2009. Pocono will hope to turn things around this season, and the addition of Greater Binghamton to the Flight will give them a competitive division rival. Last season the two clubs played a home and away friendly series which saw Pocono lose the first leg and draw the second. The good news for the Snow is that they can only improve.
Weekend in Review 4/28
San Diego Boca 0 @ OC Pateadores 8 (Southern Flight): Boca suffered a humiliating 8-0 route at the hands of Pateadores, and their woes continued off field as it is reported that Yan Skwara has stepped aside as President leaving head coach Karim Ben Mazuk with additional responsibilities. Scoring opened in the twenty-second minute and continued throughout the match as Pateadores narrowed the goal differential previously separating the from FC Hasental at the top of the table. With the victory and the weekend loss by Hasental, OC Pateadores take sole possession of first place in the flight while Boca maintain their place at the bottom along side the Las Vegas Stallions.
Sacramento Gold 3 @ San Francisco Stompers 1 (Norther Flight): For the first forty-two minutes things were going well for the Stomper’s home opener at Boxer Stadium. One minute later Sacramento were awarded a penalty, but San Francisco’s David Varela stepped up and made the save to keep things scoreless entering the break. Entering the second half San Francisco seemed unable to regroup and quickly conceded the first goal in the forty-eighth. The Stompers responded with a goal of their own ten minutes later to level at one all. The game appeared to be headed for a draw when San Francisco’s Liam Whelan was sent off in the ninety-first leaving the Stompers to finish out the match with ten men. Sacramento pressed their man advantage and managed two goals in stoppage time to secure the victory. Much better showing by San Francisco this week, but they have to secure that point with only minutes left in the game. The three points puts Sacramento in good stead heading into a bye week, but they should not feel content at how they got them. For a more in depth match report check out SoccerNation.com.
FC Santa Clarita Storm
FC Hasental 1 @ FC Santa Clarita Storm 2 (Southern Flight): Santa Clarita continues to surprise and this week downs FC Hasental to jump into second place in the Southern Flight only one point behind undefeated OC Pateadores. The Storm notched the first goal in fourteenth minute taking advantage of Hasental’s poor defending. They started the second half the same way and made it 2-0 in the forty-seventh. It looked as though Santa Clarita might shut out the prolific Hasental offense, but a bad challenge in the box awarded Hasental the penalty which was easily converted. This is an important victory for Santa Clarita as they try and gain some separation from the rest of the flight, and it highlights the defensive cracks Hasental has shown - and will need to fix if they want to seriously challenge Pateadores.
San Diego Flash 5 @ Las Vegas Stallions 0 (Southern Flight): The spark finally came in the twenty-seventh minute and the Flash offense exploded with three goals in four minutes to go up 3-0 before halftime. The Flash continued to dominate possession and added two more in the fiftieth and seventy-second minutes to put the game out of reach. The Flash remain in fourth place in the flight, but the win brings them within one point of third place Hasental. Las Vegas continued to struggle and remain at the bottom of the table.
CD Aguiluchos USA 1 @ Sonoma County Sol 3: Aguiluchos scored first in the seventeenth, but conceded a penalty a minute later to hand the equalizer to the Sol. With the momentum from the goal Sonoma County tallied another less than two minutes later to go ahead 2-1. The nail in the coffin came in the sixty-seventh on a through ball to Tyler Hurst who blasted a shot into the roof of the goal. With the win Sonoma County lead the Northern Flight with ten points. Sacramento Gold are second (9) followed by Real San Jose (7), CD Aguiluchos USA (3) and San Francisco Stompers (0).
Miami United 2 @ Cape Coral Hurricanes 2: In Sunshine Flight action Miami United traveled to Cape Coral to take on the Hurricanes for the second leg of the Everglades Cup. The first leg saw Miami score almost at will and take the match 6-0. This time, the Hurricanes were ready and scored just ten minutes in to take the lead 1-0. Cape Coral added a second just eleven minutes later in the twenty-first to go up 2-0. Miami continued to pressure and scored with thirty seconds left in the first half to bring the score to 2-1 heading into halftime. Cape Coral stayed strong most of the second half but again gave up a critical goal in stoppage time to end the match in a 2-2 draw. Miami United leads the 4 leg Everglade Cup series 4 points to Cape Coral’s 1.
Junior Lone Star v Hosa FC: Junior Lone Star FC traveled to North Carolina for a two match series against Hosa FC. Lone Star continued a solid pre-season performance posting a 2-0 win in the first leg and a 2-1 win in the second leg.
OK City FC (PDL) v LFC Warriors: The Liverpool Warriors faced Oklahoma City FC of the PDL in a pre-season tune up match. It was a high scoring affair for both sides and ended in 4-4 draw.
NPSL Match Predictions
Alongside of the weekly ‘Weekend in Review’ column posted on Mondays, I am adding a weekly match prediction column to be posted each Friday ahead of the weekend games.
Sacramento Gold @ San Francisco Stompers (Northern Flight): After three consecutive road losses the Stompers will host the Gold in their home opener at Boxer Stadium. The Stompers have struggled at both ends of the pitch this season, scoring only three goals while allowing twelve. Last weeks two goal performance against Sonoma County Sol was a marked improvement, and if they can repeat it - without the giving up the soft goals - they stand a chance of at least drawing a strong Sacramento side that is coming off of back to back wins against table leader Real San Jose and league newcomer CD Aguiluchos USA. My prediction for this match is a 3-0 win for Sacramento.
FC Hasental @ FC Santa Clarita (Southern Flight): Santa Clarita enters the game with momentum from a quality road victory over the San Diego Flash last week that puts them within one point of table leaders Hasental and OC Pateadores. Hasental and Pateadores played to a grueling 2-2 draw last weekend that saw Pateadores score the go ahead goal late into the second half while playing down man only to have Hasental equalize in stoppage time. Neither has defense has been spectacular over the first three games, though both have been sufficient. I anticipate another high scoreline with FC Hasental winning 4-2.
San Diego Flash @ Las Vegas Stallions (Southern Flight): San Diego will be looking to climb the table with a victory over the winless Stallions, who will be looking to build on the point gleaned from a 0-0 draw against San Diego Boca last week. The Flash have so far under performed this season after losing several key players from last years squad, but I expect they will handle Las Vegas without too many problems. Final score 2-0.
CD Aguiluchos USA @ Sonoma County Sol (Northern Flight): The enigmatic and unpredictable Aguiluchos travel to Sonoma County to take on a strong Sol side. Aguiluchos have struggled to score with all four of their goals coming in the lone victory over San Francisco - a trend I expect to continue against the Sol. Always strong at home, I predict a 3-1 win for the Sol.
San Diego Boca FC @ OC Pateadores: OC Pateadores has made the most of a re-branding effort and undefeated after three regular season matches. Boca are at the other end of the spectrum, winless still after a 0-0 draw with Las Vegas. The Pateadores defense has been stifling, and they nearly emerged with a victory last week over the highly touted FC Hasental offense - playing a portion of the match with only 10 men. San Diego will struggle to penetrate Pateadores defense, I predict a 2-0 win for the Pats.
Miami United @ Cape Coral Hurricanes (Sunshine Flight): This will be the second leg of the Everglades Cup as well as the final match of the pre-season for these two clubs. The first leg saw Miami cruise to a 6-0 shutout over Cape Coral. Miami may very well be the most underestimated side in the NPSL this season as they have quietly assembled a professional squad. I anticipate this leg will yield a similar result, as Cape Coral have struggled to score all against NPSL competition having also been defeated by a 2-0 margin by the Tampa Marauders on two occasions this pre-season. Prediction: 5-0 in favor of Miami United.
Junior Lone Star FC @ Hosa FC (Non-league pre-season friendly): Junior Lone Star continue their full pre-season line up by travelling to North Carolina for a 2 game series against Hosa FC. Lone Star have posted some good results so far this pre-season and will hope to solidify a starting 11 this weekend.
NPSL Weekend in Review 4/21
Regular season action continued in the West Regions while several South and Northeast Region clubs continue to finalize rosters and hold pre-season friendlies in anticipation of their May start.
The Sunshine Flight (South Region) saw the second leg of the Gulf Coast Cup as hosts Tampa Marauders defeated the Cape Coral Hurricanes by the same 2 - 0 margin as the first leg. Cape Coral has now been held scoreless in three consecutive matches versus NPSL opponents (vs. Tampa 2-0, 2-0, and vs. Miami United 6-0).
Tampa Marauders vs. Cape Coral Hurricanes [photo credit: Cape Coral Hurricanes]
The West Region slate was full and the action intense as every match ended with only a goal difference or less. In the Southern Flight the Santa Clarita Storm soured the home opener of San Diego Flash and leapfrogged them in the standings to claim sole possession of third place. The West region also saw a battle of the undefeated as FC Hasental hosted OC Pateadores in a thrilling 2 - 2 draw. OC Pateadores proved their mettle by going ahead 2 - 1 late in the game and playing with only 10 men, but the high octane Hasental offense wasn’t to be held to one goal and scored the equalizer deep into stoppage time to salvage the draw. The teams remain tied atop the Flight, though Hasental leads in goal differential by a significant margin. At the other end of the table the Las Vegas Stallions notched their first league point holding visitors San Diego Boca FC to a scoreless draw. After a blowout in their opening match the Stallions have have progressively improved, though the point is also the first for a SD Boca side that has a long way to go to live up to pre-season expectations.
In the Northern Flight (Golden Gate Conference) table leaders Real San Jose suffered their first loss away at Sacramento Gold in a hotly contested match which is being protested by Real San Jose. Blood was drawn after a reckless Sacramento challenge only minutes into the match, which set the stage for the rest of the game. With the win, Sacramento creeps into third place only one point behind Real San Jose and Sonoma County with a game in hand over San Jose. Rounding out the Golden Gate action the Sonoma County Sol hosted the San Francisco Stompers. Having been outscored in their first two matches 9-1, San Francisco had significant work to do on both ends of the field to come away with a victory. The Stompers did well until the 44th minute when Sonoma tallied their first to take a 1 - 0 lead into halftime. San Francisco returned from the break and equalized early in the 50th minute only to to give up an own goal and a penalty kick within the next five minutes to give Sonoma a 3-1 lead. San Francisco kept pressing and pulled one goal back in the 82nd, but couldn’t get any closer as the match finished with a final score of San Francisco 2 Sonoma County 3.
Back on the East Coast, Junior Lone Star FC played friendlies away at Mid-Atlantic expansion club Chesterfield United and to aspiring NPSL club Electric City in Scranton, PA. Junior Lone Star scored the only goal of the match vs. Chesterfield in the 15th minute and held off several quality attacks and a penalty kick to seal the victory 1 - 0. The match versus Electric City proved a bit more exciting with a flurry of second half action. Lone Star took the lead just before the break in the 44th minute. Electric City came back from half time and equalized, only to go down again after another Lone Star goal. JLSFC’s lead was short lived however as Electric City capitalized on a poorly handled back pass to make it a 2 - 2 game. Lone Star was finished, and scored the final goal of the match in the 85th minute to clinch the game 3 - 2.
Junior Lone Star returns to pre-season action next weekend with a pair of friendlies against Hosa FC before they travel to Greater Binghamton FC on May 11th for their season opener.
In other news around the league:
- Mark Lavery of the Georgia Revolution signed a professional contract with the Atlanta Silverbacks of the NASL.
- Daniel Casey has a new NPSL Weekly column at Soccer Newsday.
- Jersey City Eagles have relocated and re-branded as the Clarkstown SC Eagles. Click the link for the full story published last week.
NPSL Week in Review
Weekend scores from around the league:
- Tampa Marauders bounced back from a 2 - 4 loss to Warner University by defeating the University of Tampa 2 - 1.
- Junior Lone Star FC played to a thrilling 3 - 3 draw against Debamu FC in a pre-season friendly match that saw two stoppage time goals.
- Real San Jose stays atop the Northern Flight of the West Region with a 2 - 2 draw against Sonoma County Sol. Both teams remain undefeated, and Sonoma has a game in hand.
- Orange County Pateadores continues to impress with a 2 - 0 victory over the San Diego Flash in what is being billed as game one of the Freeway Series. Pateadores is currently tied for 1st with FC Hasental in the Southern Flight of the West Region.
- Reports are in and the word on the street is that Miami United has managed to sign a number of ex-professionals to their squad. Miami United reportedly dispatched the Cape Coral Hurricanes by a final score of 6 - 0 in the first leg of the Everglades Cup.
- Santa Clarita Storm outgunned the Las Vegas Stallions 5 - 4 in a goal fest. Coming off of an embarrassing double digit loss, Las Vegas put in a respectable showing despite another loss.
- San Francisco Stompers 0 - 4 CD Aguiluchos USA: Aguiluchos crammed all four goals into the first half of play to notch their first win of the season against San Francisco. San Francisco will need to make some adjustments in order to avoid finishing bottom of the table for another season.
- FC Hasental continued an undefeated streak started during Open Cup qualifying with a 5 - 4 win over San Diego Boca FC. The win keeps FC Hasental tied for first with OC Pateadores in the Southern Flight of the West Region, though Hasental currently holds the tie-breaker on goal differential.
Other news/updates:
- Electric City FC add home match vs. Junior Lone Star FC for summer program
- The NPSL has renamed its ‘divisions’ as ‘flights’. This is a much welcomed change that will hopefully clarify some of the past confusion over what constitutes regions/divisions/conferences. Thus a team will play in a flight which is in turn a part of a region (for example, the Sunshine Flight is a part of the South Region).
- Armando Gaitan of FC Hasental has received the NPSL Player of the Week award for the week ending April 7th.
3.25.13 NPSL Weekend Review
Several teams around the league had busy weekends, here is a review from around the league:
US Open Cup Qualifying
- The San Diego Flash came back from a two goal deficit to defeat local rival San Diego Boca FC 4-2 and advance in Open Cup qualifying. Stephen Prendergast has the full match review over at soccernation.com.
- FC Hasental overcame an early one goal deficit to claim victory over the Santa Clarita Storm. After an even first half FC Hasental took control in the second and tallied the game winner in the 59th minute. The final score was 2-1. A full match write up is available via Santa Clarita here or here via FC Hasental.
- FC Hasental will face the San Diego Flash on March 30th for a ‘win and you’re in’ match.
Pre-Season News
- Greater Binghamton FC traveled to Syracuse, NY and defeated LeMoyne College 2-0 in Binghamton’s first match of the pre-season.
NPSL Alumni Go Pro
- According to goupper90.com FC Buffalo’s Mike Reidy and Josh Faga have both signed with the Rochester Rhino’s.
- Former Junior Lone Star forward Anthony Allison is on trial with Swedish 1st division club Umea FC after two seasons in the 2nd division. Check out the full story here.
- Former Erie Admirals defender Adam Clement signed with the Vancouver Whitecaps.
