Photo Courtesy of Annapolis Blues FC
Annapolis Blues FC continued its strong start to the season with a 4-2 win over FC Frederick over Memorial Day Weekend.
Both sides entered the match undefeated, posting 2-0-0 records, and would quickly show why. The Blues would be the first side to break the deadlock with Alek Wroblewski scoring in the 16th minute. Toshi Davis picked the ball up on the left wing and drove towards the FC Frederick defense. Davis then played a perfectly timed outside-of-the-foot-through-ball to Taku Takahashi who played a first-time squared pass from the endline to Wroblewski. From only six yards out, Wroblewski tapped the ball into the back of the net with ease, scoring his sixth goal through three games. Only a few minutes later and Frederick would find an equalizer through Jake Mitzelfelt. In the 19th minute, the ball fell to Mitzelfelt’s feet just outside the edge of the box, after a Blue’s defensive giveaway. Taking a first time shot, Mitzelfelt’s shot went over the head of Blues goalkeeper Owen Allegro, beating him at the near post.
It would be Frederick to score next in an all-out offensive first half battle. Picking up the ball at midfield, Robbie Ryerson drove down the right-hand side of the pitch and took a quick scan of Allegro’s positioning, Ryerson took his chances and struck a shot from over 30 yards out, chipping Allegro and putting Frederick up 2-1 in the 31st minute. However, it wasn’t long until the Blues put one in the back of the net, again. In the 36th minute, Davis played the ball across the field, finding the feet of Wroblewski outside the box. Brady Geho then slipped a pass through to Matias De Jesus inside the right corner of box. De Jesus played a ball across the face of the goal, back to the feet of Geho who calmly finished his chance, putting the Blues even at 2-2.
The opening minutes of the second half saw both sides feeling each other out, with no major chances or fouls. In the 59th minute, De Jesus and the Blues would break the tie, taking a 3-2 lead. Takahashi crossed the ball in from the right-hand side of the field, just inside the box. His cross was deflected by a Frederick defender in a failed attempt at a clearance and made its way to De Jesus. Striking it on the half-volley, De Jesus fired home a shot into the top right corner of the goal, beating Frederick goalkeeper Noah Kump.
De Jesus would score again in the 77th minute, this time off a set piece. After a Frederick defender committed a foul during an attack, the Blues were awarded a free-kick on the center-left side of the field, roughly 25 yards out from goal. Having a history of free kick goals in the 2023 season, De Jesus showed no hesitation. He stepped up confidently to the ball and finished his freekick by curling into the side netting of the back post, wrongfooting Kump and leaving him with no chance. Daniel Barrett was shown a red card in the 87th minute, reducing Frederick to 10 men for the remainder of the match after Barrett was deemed to have kicked and kneed Loc San in the head while San was on the ground, attempting to get up, after Barrett’s original tackle.
The Blues return to Annapolis for their home opener against DMV Elite on June 1st at 7 p.m. The game will take place at the Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, with another anticipated record-breaking match regarding attendance. The Blues already hold three of the top four most attended NPSL matches and are looking to attract 10,000 fans to the June 1st match.
