In what was an eight-goal thriller just one week ago between these two sides, Saturday’s match between Annapolis Blues and Patuxent FA saw a polar opposite attacking display.
Seeing more yellow cards than goals in the opening half, the first yellow card of the match was awarded to Tony Lombardi, who was caught in possession, after her pulled down Terry Fon Fon, who would have been in on goal if not for Lombardi’s foul. Five minutes later, Aimeric Mouliom was carded for his foul on Rich Monath in the 20th minute, clipping Monath as he turned and drove towards the edge of the box.
Brady Geho opened the scoring in the 28th minute. Noah Satriano won a tackle on the edge of the box, with the ball’s deflection falling at the feet of Matthew Lenert. Lenert, with his back facing goal at the top of the box, played a slipped pass into Geho, who was in acres of space, just eight yards out from goal. The striker took one touch and calmly slotted his finish into the bottom corner of the near post.
Doubling the lead in the 37th minute, Geho, who also scored twice against Patuxent last time out, secured his brace. Satriano started the attack, from his own defensive end playing a lifted, diagonal through ball to Matty Helfrich. Finding Helfrich in stride on the left wing, the Georgetown University midfielder took one touch as he drove into the box. Helfrich then played a square pass to Geho, beating Jameson Metz as he attempted to collect the ball. Geho then beat Patuxent defender Michael Adekanmbi to the ball, as he made a last-minute attempted challenge, and finished it off with a simple tap in.
The final yellow card of the half was given to Lenert in stoppage time as he pulled back William Villatoro who was looking to start a threatening attack. The Blues finished the half with 54%v possession, while both sides received two yellow cards each.
Ultimately, Annapolis remained strong in defense and held off Patuxent from ever truly testing Emigdio Tormo Lopez. The Blues finished the 90 minutes with a 2-0 victory and sit fourth in the division.
Annapolis will hit the road for an in-state, midweek matchup against Christos FC on July 1, with kickoff slated for 7:00 pm at the UMBC Soccer Park. The Blues push for playoffs continues; as three of its five remaining games taking place on the road, Annapolis will look to remain unbeaten away from home.