Home Field Advantage – Game 8 Recap

The grass was as thick as the air was heavy. Humidity and low cloud cover only emphasized a lethargic Blue Machine outing in Westford this past Saturday. Westford – and their grass – controlled the pace of the game. Consistently missed passes and overrun balls hampered BMachine efforts to get back in the game after going down by 2 goals.

A dejected BMachine bench.

One bright spot was the only goal on the day in a 1-5 loss. Marcelo Brociner took a through ball from Ethan Sweeting down the left wing, outpaced 3 Westford defenders and expertly placed a low curving ball past the keeper by the near post. Unfortunately, the rest of the game slowly sank into the quagmire that became BMachine’s 3rd loss of the season. Perhaps the best part of the afternoon was our visit to Kimball’s Ice Cream on the way home!

Wow, wish we’d had scored this much.

Game, what game? I came for the ice cream.

Now with a record of 4-3-1 BMachine looks forward to finishing the season on a high note as Billerica comes to Somerville for the final game at Tufts C Field. See you then!

Heartbreaker in Waltham – Game 7 Recap

The Blue Machine came out slowly, but that didn’t last long. Having played a “friendly” the night before, the boys seemed tired at first. But about five minutes into the first half, the BMachine’s offense kicked into gear.

The first sign of energy came from a fierce shot by Jesse Griffin, a shot set up by some fancy footwork by Zach Lougonov. Although deflected wide, the shot signaled the star of a ferocious 10-minute spurt, during which the Blue Machine moved out to a seemingly commanding 2-0 lead.

Elliot Rippe set up the first goal with a beautiful pass to Jesse Griffin, who knocked it in from 10 yards out. Meanwhile, the defense settled down as Iladro Sauls, Henry Salazar and Isaac Saron swept everyone out of the zone. And, of course, Marcelo Brociner was playing his typical excellent game in the goal, with diving saves here and there throughout the half.

Somerville went up 2-0 about 12 minutes into the half when Jonathan Sands, whose speed and the tenacity in the middle always attracts the opposition’s attention, fired a blistering shot, while RJ Guardia positioned himself perfectly for the rebound and his first goal of the season! The rest of the team had hits its mark, as Ethan Sweeting and Noah Adamson combined on some fancy passing and dribbling while Jamie Keegan kept moving the ball down into the Waltham end. All looked good for the Blue Machine at this point.

But, alas, the tide quickly turned as Waltham answered with a goal of its own, a wicked shot that not even Brociner could stop. Still, the Blue Machine kept their fighting spirit. After some great some great defense by Isaac Saron it looked like they would go into the half with 2-1 lead.

But just like that, Somerville was called for a penalty inside its own box. Waltham scored on a penalty shot, making it 2-2 at the half.

The second half was tightly fought, with the action moving from end to end. At one point Noah Adamson saved a goal by throwing his body in front of his shot. Meanwhile, the combination of Sweeting and Keegan kept the pressure on the Waltham defense.

With five minutes to go a frantic flurry of action saw shots from Jesse Aronson, RJ Guardia, and Ethan Sweeting. But, alas, none went in. And then it happened: The usual air tight Somerville defense, which up to then had been playing terrifically, was briefly caught sleeping and Waltham scored. Suddenly, Somerville was down 2-3, with its playoff hopes were fading by the minute. Some thought the Waltham player was offside when he scored the goal, but to their credit the Blue Machine did not let that possibility bring them down. They played with spirit until the end. Unfortunately, no amount of spirit could overcome the games results: The Blue Machine had lost a heartbreaker!

Thanks to Adam Sweeting for this recap.

New Acquisition – The Squirrel

After a scintillating 4 – 0 start the BMachine have lost 3 of their last 4 games. BMachine head office has gone out on a limb a acquired, at no small price, the services of the renowed Brazilian Striker – The Squirrel. Coaches Phil and Gus are hoping the Brazialian master of the beautiful game will bring life to their ailing squad. Check out his skills in the video snippet below!

BMachine Bounces Back – Game 6 Recap

Less than 24 hours after suffering their first defeat of the season to undefeated Stoneham the Blue Machine warmed up on their home field under the watchful eyes of coaches Phil and Gus to take on the undefeated Wilmington boys.

Coaches Gus and Phil for the first time went to a 3-2-2 formation beefing up the defense to neutralize a formidable Wilmington attack. The BMachine came out firing on all cylinders with improved passing and an exciting display of attacking soccer. Five minutes into the game Elliot Rippe beat two defenders and sent a blistering shot that went over the upright of the Wilmington goal. Wilmington showed why they are undefeated, counter attacking and testing the BMachine defense of Henry Salazar, Noah Adamson, Zach Logonov, and Issac Saron on numerous occasions. Ten minutes into the game Wilmington had their first chance at a goal only to be thwarted for the first of many times by central defender Noah “The Road Block” Adamson who deflected a shot giving the opposition a corner. The corner however almost gave the BMachine a golden opportunity when Jamie Keegan won the ball on the BMachine 18 yard line and sent a long through ball to Elliot that was headed away by the lone Wilmington defender.

Jamie Keegan wins the ball.

Fifteen minutes into the first half and the pace was fast and furious. RJ Guardia made a superb pass to Elliot and his cross was saved by the Wilmington goalie. Shortly after Jesse Aronson sent another cross into the box to no avail. Wilmington countered with a blistering long range shot leading to a fantastic save by the BMachine’s goalie Marcelo Brociner. Marcelo immediately got the ball down field to Ethan Sweeting who beat a few defenders and made a spectacular touch pass to Jesse Griffin who’s shot was just wide of the goal. Wilmington immediately countered and were awarded a direct free kick 24 yards from the BMachine goal. It was a hard shot that led to another outstanding save from Marcelo. Two minutes from the half a bad BMachine clearance led to Wilmington shot which was again saved by Marcelo who was determined to deny Wilmington.

The ref blew the whistle for the half and the Blue Machine had just played a scintillating 30 minutes of outstanding soccer.

BMachine defends against a Wilmington corner.

After such an action packed first half it was no surprise that the second half was played at a slower pace. Wilmington controlled the pace of the second half but the BMachine shut them out with stellar defense from Henry, Noah, Isaac and Daniel Portilo. Daniel came in at left back to replace the injured Zach and the converted forward was able to build the BMachine attack from the back with some nice passes to the midfield players Iladro and Jesse A. Somerville’s best opportunity at a goal in the second half came when Jamie passed to RJ who sent a cross in to Elliot who’s shot screamed just over the upright. Throughout the game midfielder Jonathan “Flash” Sands played a stellar defensive game challenging the Wilmington midfield and forwards beating them to the loose ball and establishing the counter attack.

Thanks to Maure Aronson for this recap.

Pwnd – Game 5 Recap

A 60º raw and rainy Friday night didn’t keep the heat off the pitch at Cerrone Park in Stoneham. Problem was, it was Stoneham brought the heat. At times it was more like a rugby match as BMachine were outsized and were taking some hard, and at times questionable, hits from Stoneham players. Fouls were dolled out evenly by BMachine parent Maure Aronson who was called on at the last minute to ref the game as the scheduled ref never showed up.

Postgame Zach – “Uh, What just happend?”

BMachine’s unwillingness to pass the ball in favor of footwork cost them dearly. Stoneham defenders were attacking relentlessly as soon as the ball reached a BMachine player. The rain was no small factor. Countless misfires due to the wet conditions and Stoneham’s pressure resulted in many missed opportunities and only a couple legitimate shots on goal.

Still, there were some positives to note. Noah Adamson was a welcome site on defense after his absence in recent games. BMachine tenacity was typified by RJ Guardia, Jonathan Sands and Elliot Rippe as they would not let up the effort until the very end. This energy spread to the rest of the team and propelled them during stretches when things were going so wrong that no one was talking on the pitch. These boys are growing however. I was proud to see that the Blue Machine fought to the very end of the game with minimal quibbling and still had smiles to share afterwards. It was a hard fought game. In the end, on this day, Stoneham was just a better team. BMachine loses 4 – 0.

Postgame Interview with Jamie Keegan and Jesse Griffin

BMachine Explodes in the Second Half – Game 4 Recap

Scores 6 goals in the final 30 minutes for a 7-1 rout of Burlington

In what turned out to be a positive omen for Somerville’s Boys of Spring, the heavy rains that were emptying the Saturday afternoon sky came to a near complete halt less than a minute before the opening kick off.

Entering the game with an impressive 3-0 record, the Blue Machine had its hands full in the first half with a tough Burlington team. In goal, Zach Logonov made a couple of outstanding saves to prevent Burlington from gaining a significant edge – though they were the first team to score.

Somerville came right back with a beautiful goal that started with a nice corner kick by Elliot Rippe which found Jamie Keegan right near the net. Jamie did a fine job of chesting it in –which tied the game 1-1.

The rest of the half was a back and forth contest with neither team able to put a goal up on the scoreboard. But Somerville was able to regain some of its offensive flow as a result of the energy provided by Jesse Aronson and Marcelo Brociner – energy that seemed to carry over to the second half.

The Blue Machine jumped out of the box – big time! – in the second half. After benefiting from an own goal, Somerville took complete control of the game. Jamie came through with his second goal after Ethan Sweeting sprinted down the pitch with the ball, crossed it on the ground as Jamie one- touched it into the back of the net.

Another second half highlight was when Jesse Griffin scored two scintillating goals within minutes of each other! The other two goals of the half were also beauties as Eliott and Danny Portilo put up two more points for the Blue Machine.

Other important contributions were made by Henry Salazar who consistently kept the ball away from our goal and Jonathan Sands who made a number of clever passes. RJ Guardia played a fine all –around game and had a number of powerful, on-target shots on goal. Iladro Sauls came within inches of scoring when his excellent shot bounced off of the post. Tough defense from Issac Saron and Jonathan Sands helped keep Burlington off the scoreboard in the second half. In the end, Somerville won a convincing 7-1 victory and now stands undefeated at 4-0.

As always, the team’s rooting section was loud and enthusiastic. And after the game, parents and friends kept up the cool tradition of creating a tunnel for the kids to run through – which they did not once – but twice!

The only missing ingredient in the post game festivities was that Coach Phil wasn’t there to pull off another one of his legendary “hair tricks.” But there is little doubt we’ll be seeing Phil do his thing more than a few more times before the season is over!

Thanks to Ken and Marcelo Brociner for the recap.

TEAM

Here’s an acronym: TEAM. In my kitchen is a poster that my son Jesse Griffin drew as a project with Mom one Saturday afternoon. It has the acronym, TEAM, on it. Next to each letter is the word that letter represents: together, everyone achieves more. Hackneed, perhaps, but true. Game 4 against Burlington displayed nicely the juxtapostiion of, and the epitome of, self-centered mediocrity vs the superiority of teamwork. A tepid 1st half and a stellar, team oriented, second half. One goal in the first half; 6 in the second half. Coach Gus Martins emphasized this fact in the post-game debrief with the players.

Coach Gus debriefs after game 4 victory.

If these guys keep this up, they’ll be unstoppable. We can then enjoy scenes like the one below at the end of every game!

Double Jesse

Jesse Aronson

Jesse Griffin

An unassuming double threat: Jesse Aronson and Jesse Griffin connected for two goals within minutes of each other during the second half of game 4 in Burlington. The first, off a free kick by Zach Logonov, Jesse Aronson headed forward to Jesse Griffin who picked up the pass, worked his way to the left around 3 defenders and banked a shot off the near post past the keeper. The second came moments later. Jesse Aronson sent a lateral pass from the right side to Jesse Griffin at center field about 5 yards beyond the 18 yard line. Jesse Griffin then launched an arching shot that skipped on the wet grass into the bottom left corner. Upon returning to the bench BMachine teammates, Daniel, Iladro and Zach were heard saying “When the Jesses meet – they explode!” Too true. This also marks Jesse Griffin’s purge of that proverbial monkey on his back. Not having scored since U9 play this was quite the way to break out of his long-lived slump.

On Fire in Wakefield – Game 3 Recap

So, what’s the hottest part of a flame?…Blue baby!!! That’s right, the Blue Machine were on FIRE this past Saturday at Wakefield’s Galvin School field. BMachine posted their third shut out of the season and move into 1st place in the standings just ahead of the Stoneham Division 1 team (choose division 2b on the standings page to see the correct division).

BMachine rolled to an impressive 10-0 rought at the expense of Wakefield’s BU12 Div 2 team. In all fairness, Wakefield was playing with a depleted roster as they lost 7 players to the opening day of Wakefield’s Little League season. That said, BMachine went about spreading a wealth of passes and goal scoring opportunities. Each half saw 15 or more shots on goal from all positions on the field. Wakefield keepers put forth a valiant effort but in the face of a variety of shots; some with finesse and others with explosive power, Bmachine were simply destined to score often.

After the first few minutes of play Bmachine forwards Elliot Rippe and Ethan Sweeting began the attack. A lob shot by Sweeting was just grabbed by the goalie. Then Bmachine forward Daniel Portilo pressured from the left wing with some great footwork but couldn’t finish as the shot went wide of the left post. Minutes later Sweeting’s laser from the right side clangs off the crossbar and is then put comfortably into the back of the Wakefield net by Rippe for Bmachine’s 1st goal.

Wakefield’s counter attack was at times focused but any score was denied by Iladro Sauls in goal and a stalwart and ever-present BMachine defense. Defenders on the day, Jesse Griffin and Henry Salazar, were launching clearances back to mid-field on what seemed like every Wakefield attack. 1st half keeper Iladro Sauls, repeating his savior-like performance of last week, would hold Wakefield scoreless as would 2nd half keeper Marcelo Brociner.

Marcelo Brociner defending goal in the second half.

Perhaps a stand-out highlight in a game chock full of highlights was BMachine’s second goal. After a relentless attack down the right side, BMachine were awarded a corner. Jesse Aronson launched a high arching corner that curled right to the near post. The ball bounced off the keeper’s hand and on to the keenly placed foot of BMachine striker Marcel Brociner who volleyed to the back of the net – Amazing!

Marcelo’s goal off Jesse Aronson’s corner.

BMachine’s 3rd goal was created by a beautiful pass into space down the left side from Daniel Portilo. Rippe chased it down and with patience and finesse placed it in under the keeper.

At the start of the second half it was obvious that fatigue was taking it’s toll on the Wakefield side. 7 BMachine goals in the second half: 2 by Daniel Protilo; 1 by Ethan Sweeting; 1 by RJ Guardia; 1 by Henry Salazar; 1 own goal by Wakefield defense and the last, a high arching shot from almost midfield by Elliot Rippe is dropped by the goalie and rolls between his legs into the net.

BMachine kept the heat on to the very end. With moments to go in the game the last shot was taken from about 10 yards out just off the left post by Jesse Griffin. Griffin, striving to score his first goal on his 3rd shot of the day, hasn’t scored since U9 play. He missed just to the left. Keep trying Jesse, your goal will come!

OK, I’m tired of writing . See you all soon.

The Savior

So, I lost count after 6 saves but I know there were more.  Blue Machine keeper Iladro Sauls didn’t see much action at his end of the field in the first half against Chelmsford but he was in for a work out right from the start of the second half.  If it were not for Iladro, “The Savior’s,” shut out performance the game would have been a much closer contest. Save-after-save-after-save, including kicking away a PK during an aggresive series of attacks by Chelmsford strikers.  Awesome!