Win the first fifteen minutes.
This is a philosophy that soccer players are taught from the youngest ages and it is a tried and true formula for success. On Sunday night in front of 8,861 supporters at Navy-Marine Corps Stadium, the Annapolis Blues proved the adage to be true. Scoring early and often, the Blues broke the FC Frederick defense with a 4-1 victory.
Forward Alex Abril led the scoring barrage with a pair of goals in the first half (13th and 45th minutes). Fellow striker Rich Monath scored in the 35th minute while defender Taku Takahashi added an insurance goal in the second half (75th minute). Frederick did get one back with an own goal late in the second half, but were unable to cut their deficit any further.
The Blues improve to 6-1, bouncing back from their first loss of the season Wednesday to the Virginia Dream.
“They really showed their character today,” Blues coach Colin Harriot said. “Obviously, our previous match didn’t go quite the way we wanted and so we wanted to be really attack-minded and create a lot of goal scoring opportunities. It was really pleasing to see how our boys responded against a really good team [in Frederick].”
With the victory, the Blues retained their foothold on first place in the National Premier Soccer League’s Mid-Atlantic Conference. Their next challenge will be DMV Elite FC, who currently sit in second place in the conference, on Saturday at Bladensburg High School.
After a difficult 4-2 loss on the road to the Virginia Dream on Wednesday, Annapolis looked to set the tone early. The Blues wasted little time testing the Frederick defense using their high-press attacking style. In the match’s first minute, Abril found Alek Wroblewski on the outside with space to operate. While Frederick defender John Eskay halted Wroblewski’s attacking chance with a well-placed sliding tackle, it helped open up space through the middle for the Blues to capitalize on.
Annapolis’ attacking duo wouldn’t waste their next chance at goal. In the 13th minute, Wroblewski surged down the right flank forcing the Frederick defense to play catch-up. The UMBC forward slid a speedy, diagonal pass into the box for Abril who buried his shot into the back of the net.
“When we had the ball, he was always dangerous,” Herriot said of Abril, who played his club soccer at Maryland United FC and collegiately at High Point University in North Carolina. “Then around the box, he was able to really get some great goals for us. So it was overall a complete performance from him.”
The Blues were not happy with just one goal and continued to assert their dominance in the midfield and in the attacking third. Abril, Toshi Davis, and Matias De Jesus forced the Frederick defense to chase for long portions of the match, which in turn created gaps for Wroblewski and Monath to break through up top. Monath made the most out of his space in the 35th minute, receiving a pacey pass from Wroblewski on the edge of the 18-yard box. He proceeded to hit a low right-footed blast past Noah Kump to extend the lead to 2-0.
Abril added a second just before the end of the half.
Defensively, the Blues maintained their defensive shape through the first half and held Frederick’s attack at bay. Frederick’s best chance at a goal came in injury time after Jonathan Yowell fired a darting shot from distance. However, Blues goalkeeper Owen Allegro was more than up for the challenge, diving low and parrying the shot wide of the goal.
In the second half, the Blues worked toward putting the game out of reach. Abril came close to having his hat trick when in the 49th minute he slipped past the defense and hit a low shot with the inside of his right foot. Although the cheeky shot beat Kump, it hit off of both posts and was inevitably cleared away by the Frederick defense.
Frederick was also denied by the woodwork early in the second half with Cole Hellert’s shot from distance clattering off of the right post. After facing some nervy moments early in the second half, defenders Takahashi, Leo Palomo and Nicolas Shirley locked down their defensive third and helped retain the clean sheet. The Blues added a fourth goal late when Takahashi slipped past the Frederick defense to add an insurance goal.
Annapolis Blues FC at DMV Elite FC
Saturday, 7 p.m.
At Bladensburg High School