Annapolis, M.D. (06/18/2023) – In a game full of attacking action The Annapolis Blues defeated Grove United in dominant fashion, 6-1. The summer heat would not slow the Blues, who have now scored three or more goals in five of their six games.
The first chance for the Blues came in the 4th minute of the game, as Aidan Abril would not miss his opportunity. Eric Gwadz lifted a through ball behind the Grove defense, finding the feet of Francis Meyer. Meyer then slipped a first-time pass into Jacob Murrell whose initial attempt was stopped by the Grove city goalkeeper, Austin Aaron. Aaron spilled the rebound into the feet of Abril, who took a touch into space and fired the shot home, in between defenders, putting the Blues up 1-0.
Only seven minutes later and the Blues found themselves up 2-0. Receiving a pass through the midfield, Murrell was fouled at the top of the box, leading to a Blue’s freekick. From 23 yards out on the right-hand side of the box, Matias De Jesus tested his luck, taking aim at the back post. Leaving Aaron in the dust after anticipating the shot to go over his wall to the near post, the ball found its way into the bottom corner without question.
In the 21st minute Gwadz left the field due to injury and Gordon Bernlohr would come on as his replacement, a substitution that proved to be vital just one minutes later. Justin Harris played a ball from the right side of the field into Murrell who dummied the ball, letting it roll in-between his legs, fooling the Grove defender. The ball found the feet of De Jesus whose initial shot was saved, with the rebound falling to Bernlohr who calmly slotted the ball into the empty net to put the Blues up 3-0.
The 27th minute would mark yet another Blue’s goal, this time coming off a corner kick. De Jesus took the corner from the left-side of the field, swinging it into the back post. Rising like a fish out of the water Jackson Ruckman connected with the corner, heading it past Aaron on the near post. “To start the second half Grove played differently, to be fair to them it worked out well,” said Francis Meyer. “Eventually we figured it out and were able to finish strong with another couple goals in the second half.”
In the 83rd minute Leo Palomo was brought down in the box off the back of a quick freekick taken by Evan Rabush. The referee awarded the Blues a penalty kick, leaving Harris to step up to the spot. Harris fired his shot into the top of the net, leaving Aaron with no chance. Grove pulled one goal back in the 86th minute via Ionie Muepu. Cutting inside from the right Muepu dipped his shoulder, finding an inch of space, and finessed his shot into the bottom left corner, beating substitute goalkeeper Connor Smith who was at full stretch.
The action was not over yet, as Bernlohr would secure his brace in the 91st minute. With the ball inside the Grove City box, two defenders attempted to clear the ball, ultimately bouncing off one another and finding the feet of Bernlohr. From six yards out Bernlohr made no mistake, slotting his shot in between the goalkeeper’s legs and into the back of the net.
As the Blue’s continue to see success on the field, head coach Colin Herriot is not getting ahead of himself, “All I’m thinking about is practice on Tuesday,” said Herriot, “and then after that I’ll start to think about the game on Wednesday”. Bernlohr echoed Herriot’s thoughts stating, “No comment about playoffs, we just have to take it day by day. We have a game on Wednesday and that’s where the focus is.”
With a win over Grove United the Blues now have five wins on the season, continuing to hold the top spot in the conference with no losses and one draw. The Blues have now scored 22 goals and only conceded three times. Additionally, with a turnout of 7,208 spectators at Sunday’s game, the Blues now hold three of the top four highest attended regular season games in NPSL history. “It’s incredible, it makes you dream bigger than you ever have before. Having the city behind you, it’s a different feeling, it definitely pushes you to go further,” Meyer emphasized.
Annapolis’ next matchup will be against Northern Virginia United on Wednesday June 21st at 7 p.m., a re-scheduled game originally postponed due to poor air quality. As the Blues stay on the road the following game will take place against Virginia Dream FC, slated for a 7 p.m. kickoff on Saturday June 24th.
