Photo Courtesy of Annapolis Blues
On a delightful Friday evening, June 7, at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, the Annapolis Blues FC faced off against the Alexandria Rough Diamonds for the second time this season, resulting in a 5-0 win.
Previously, the Blues defeated the Rough Diamond 12-0 in the first matchup against the on May 17th, and there was no time wasted in replicating the attacking prowess that has continually been on display throughout the season. Luke Dunne opened the scoring for the Blues in the 20th minute. Dunne received a bouncing cross from Nathan Macek on the edge of the box. Taking the half-volley shot in stride, Dunne chipped the Rough Diamonds goalkeeper from just inside the box. Four minutes later, Matias De Jesus doubled the lead. Running down the right side of the pitch, Matty Helfrich made his way to the edge of the box and played a lifted pass over the head of a Rough Diamonds defender. The ball fell to the feet of Brady Geho whose attempted shot was missed, leaving the ball to take another bounce and land at the feet of De Jesus, resulting in a simple first-time, slotted finish, underneath the feet of the onrushing goalkeeper.
The assist man in the prior goal would find the back of the net in the next goal, as Geho put the Blues up 3-0 in the 27th minute. Off the back of a short one-two pass with Geho, Davis sprinted down the left wing with the ball, making his way into the box. His first-time pass split the Rough Diamonds retreating defense and found the feet of Geho, whose bobbled first-touch settled nicely, setting up a slotted finish into the bottom left corner, leaving the goalkeeper with no chance. On the cusp of halftime, Geho secured his brace. Dribbling down the left side of the pitch, Rich Monath took on the Rough Diamonds right back defender, cut inside and made his way into the box. Monath then played a layoff pass to Geho who unleashed a first-time finish from 12 yards out, finding the bottom corner of back post to put the Blues 4-0 going into halftime.
The second half would see continued success for the Blues, but with less scoring. In the 87th minute, De Jesus played a threaded pass inside the box to Loc San, who took a touch and played a backheeled pass to Webb Kosich who was taken down by his defender and awarded a penalty. Kosich stepped up confidently from the spot and made no mistake, placing his penalty kick to the left and finding the side-netting, sending the Rough Diamonds keeper diving the wrong way. The second half was another heavily dominated half by the Blues, holding the line share of possession and not allowing any chances for the Rough Diamonds attack. The Blues have now scored 28 goals and kept three clean sheets through five NPSL regular season matches and have only allowed four goals. Additionally, the Blues remain undefeated and are currently stand at the top of the 2024 NPSL Overall Standings. Hitting the road for a midweek matchup, Annapolis faces off against Virginia Dream on Wednesday, June 12 at 7:30 p.m. With minimal rest, the Blues return home a few days later, taking on FC Frederick for the second time this season. Kickoff is an earlier one, currently set for 5 p.m. on Sunday, June 16.
