West Mifflin sluggish in first game

West Mifflin 1-1 FTM United

Kostovny; Hood, Pasternak, Jeffrey, Winters; Hasson, Pcholinski, Straw, Gauss; Degerolamo, Lee

Substitutes: Stinner, Kieler, Super, Volk, S. Hasson

0-1 Some Guy (31)
1-1 Jason Straw (55)

Yellow Card - Some Guy (47)

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West Mifflin sputtered through its first game of the season Sunday, only claiming a single point with a 1-1 draw against FTM United. The Blues had a hearty bench full of subs but only managed a single goal despite the relatively cool conditions and extra legs.They had several good chances but rust and winds more appropriate for a high school game on an October evening denied the Blues a winner. Dan-O the Man-O deputized in net as Blues number one Rob Vargo was out of town for work, and regular backup Chad 'Tyler' Perry was filming a movie about a preacher having to dress up like a woman and rob a bank to make sure his parish remained solvent. Or he was at church. We don't know.

The Blues came out and rusty and although they didn't completely shit the bed, it wasn't a good performance. The defense looked naturally shaky. The first game of the year always has that effect on the back five. But this year it's looking more grim than usual. Clearances to no one. Defenders watching the ball float over their heads. Outlet passes to no one in particular.Hopefully this is worked out before the next game. One bright spot for the boys was Degerolamo slotting in at sweeper. When Kutscher retired at the end of last season because of a busy schedule (only to show up to this very game and lurk like a pedophile along the fence with sunglasses my dad wore in 1992), the Blues were in a scramble to find a replacement and it looks like they may have found one. He has desirable characteristics for a sweeper:  he's speedy and controls the ball well. But he is quite short.

Anyway, before Degerolamo was put in at sweeper, new boy Ryan Hood got the start. Hood held his own but the patchwork feeling that permeated the back five, with Hood at sweeper and Kostovny in goal, led to a breakdown. Just over a half hour into the half, FTM broke the deadlock. Some Guy got a pass from some other bloke. He eyed up Kostovny's net and shot it and it went in. It was all kind of messy at the back. From my vantage point I couldn't quite see what had happened or who was most to blame. My guess is Matthew Alan despite his absence due to him breaking his leg trying to slide down railings at a hockey game. Fool!

A few moments after or before the opening goal, Stinner put his boot through a loose ball just outside the FTM penalty area. It didn't fall perfectly for him, it sat up a little too high and he sent the shot tailing off past the top right corner and out for a goal kick. He also missed out on another chance later in the half when Straw and Daveon broke down the field. Stinner ran to the left flank, waiting to time his run. Daveon saw him and sent a perfect pass. Had the game not have been played in an NASCAR wind tunnel testing facility, Stinner could have controlled the ball with his chest and rocketed a shot on net. Instead, the lofted pass died and landed right in the path of a defender who cleared.

Injuries also cropped up in the first half. Sean Hasson got slammed into the ground again but should be fine for this week. Sam Jeffrey fell over. They both were substituted and neither returned. There were some contentious calls by the center ref as well, and some arguments from the FTM players ensued as is their wont. One hefty gentleman was shown the yellow card and harkened to his captain, "Praytell! What is the fee for a card of rouge!?" To which his noble mates told him to "shut the f*ck up!"

Captain Jared Pcholinski had an excellent game. He really needs to realize that he is a prototypical, hard-nosed, holding midfielder. He terriers around the field making dudes sore while knocking them on their asses and collecting the ball. He needs to embrace that position because besides Baguet, no one else really does it. In fact, Manager Bob Stinner has expressed interest in trying a 4-2-3-1 with Baguet and Pcholinski as the holding midfielders with Hasson, Straw and Gauss as the front three. This is something that may be experimented with in the next game.


Finally, ten minutes or so into the second half, Jason Straw brought the Blues level. There were a bunch of passes/possession losses/possession regains up along the left side until Straw emerged with the ball. It was very much like in Naked Gun when the brawl between the Angels and the Mariners breaks out and there's the big pile of players beating the shit out of each other and Reggie Jackson just kind of climbs out of the pile. Instead of walking toward the Queen of England with a gun though, Straw dribbled toward the goal and slotted a pretty shot into the corner to tie the game.

Some other notes, Daveon missed a couple chances including two S K Y B O M B S! Volk had a skybomb as well and looked really rusty. He did, however, have a few really nice layoffs intermixed between layoff attempts where the ball got stuck beneath his feet causing him to fall over. Annnnd, FTM hit the bar twice.

This game was boring and cold but the boys pick up two points.

See you next week!