The Annapolis Blues have set something of a precedent for themselves midway through their second season. The Blues are winning every game and their fan base has quickly picked up on the team’s success.
The Blues successfully promoted a “shellout” for their home opener and set a National Premier Soccer League attendance crowd by drawing 11,171 to Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. That boisterous crowd was defined by children hopping in their seats and rolling down the grassy hill in the north end zone.
The Blues opted to capitalize on their newfound local appeal by holding a Youth Soccer Night, inviting children’s clubs from around the area to Friday night’s game against the Alexandria Rough Diamonds.
The Youth Soccer Night promotion paid dividends with attendance announced at 8,459 — making it the second-largest regular-season audience in NPSL history.
Forward Brady Geho led the way with two goals and an assist as the Blues gave the big crowd plenty to cheer about by blowing out Alexandria, 5-0. The Blues improved their unbeaten record to 5-0 and further solidified their first place standing in the Mid-Atlantic Conference.
“It’s amazing, just being able to keep on scoring and scoring” said Geho, an Archbishop Curley graduate who plays at St. John’s. “It’s just the best feeling, and [the whole team] is coming together. The [fans are] just bringing us together even more.”
The Blues kept their side of the field fairly clean throughout the first half, playing keep-away on the rare instance the ball crossed midfield into home territory. Any time the Rough Diamonds glimpsed potential momentum shifts off of rare turnovers, there was another Annapolis defender to snuff out a potential run.
“I think that’s motivated by their mentality,” Annapolis coach Colin Herriot said. “As soon as we lose possession, we have a real desire to win it back and hunt the ball.”
Both teams threw up several wayward shot attempts early before the Blues finally connected in the 20th minute. Luke Dunne deftly chipped a ball over the goalkeeper’s head after chasing down a lead pass from fellow midfielder Nathan Macek.
Annapolis added another goal three minutes later when Geho drew multiple defenders then dished the ball to midfielder Matias de Jesus, who finished into an unoccupied net. The Blues got their third goal in the span of six minutes with Geho scoring off a pass from midfielder Toshi Davis.
“I think the [first] goal gave them confidence, so they were able to catch on from that,” said Herriot, who nonetheless was not pleased with the sluggish start. “The first 20 minutes was way too slow tonight.”
Annapolis pocket passes deep in Alexandria territory remained on point with the third goal displaying the rapid ball movement that caught the Rough Diamonds out of position. “You can’t score if everyone’s standing still,” Geho remarked.
After another lengthy scoreless stretch, Geho closed the first half by scoring his second goal in the 45th minute to give the Blues a commanding 4-0 lead at halftime.
That eventful first half made up for some disconnected post-break soccer. Bronson Shepherd made some valiant saves for Alexandria to repeatedly stymie any Annapolis attempts to increase the lead, but the Rough Diamonds could not get anything goal offensively.
Midfielder Webb Kosich booted in a penalty kick in the 87th minute to close out the scoring and give Annapolis another dominant win. Earlier this season, the Blues pummeled the Rough Diamonds (0-5), 12-0, on their home field.
Members of the team were insistent that the Blues remain focused in taking every opponent seriously, and hope the Blues’ performance set a good example for the countless youths in attendance for the win.
“I hope they see our guys try and play with no fear,” Herriot said. “They’re confident, and they’re not scared of making any mistakes. So if there’s a kid here tonight that can see that there’s local players on this stage willing to try and express themselves, then that’s good enough for me.”
Annapolis Blues at Virginia Dream
Wednesday, 7:30 p.m.