Kull coaches team to first half Silverlagos shutout

Manager Ben Kull donned the coach's stopwatch and clipboard Tuesday night to lead Angel City FC to a 1-0 first half lead against a scrappy Silverlagos squad. ACFC went on to win 5-1 upon Coach Alarcon's second half return.

Following the game, Kull commented, "I was going to use the headline 'ACFC polishes the Silverlagos,' which I thought was pretty clever, but it didn't really highlight my own personal achievement, which is what I really care about."

ACFC came out strong, dominating possession in the opening minutes, leading to a ninth minute Brandon Cole goal. Not much else happened for the rest of the first half.

Well, actually, the ACFC defense, led by game MVP Justin "Kirby" Adams (aka "The Kirb") held the Silverlagos to only one shot on goal for the half. So that was good.

As halftime arrived, there was a general feeling of unease among the squad members as some wondered to themselves whether they would regret missing the half dozen shots they missed in the first half. The team looked to Kull for a rousing Gene Hackman style pep talk. A pep talk that would never come. Instead the rookie coach muttered something about switching fields and prayed for a real coach to arrive.

His prayers, as well as those of the entire team were answered with the half time arrival of Head Coach Billy Alarcon.

Alarcon was overheard saying, "I got here as fast as I could. How much damage did he do?"

As the second half began, ACFC struggled to maintain possession on the dust carpet of John Ferraro #6. And in the 54th minute, they paid the price as a tenacious Silverlagos squad won and converted a direct free kick, just outside the box.

For the first time this season ACFC had their backs against the wall. Facing an advancing Silverlagos threat and the real possibility of dropping points, Coach Alarcon and his team stared into the abyss and asked themselves what kind of men they truly be.

The answer came in the 65th minute as Dan Sapienza blasted a shot into the back of the opponent's net. And with it went all hopes for a Silverlagos upset.

In characteristic ACFC fashion, the Teals scored three goals in the final 20 minutes of the game, thanks to strikes from Brandon Cole and Dan Sapienza, both notching braces on the night, as well as a last minute header by Oleksyi "Russ" Kovalevsy from a David Woirhaye cross. A potent combination, as Russ leads the team in goals with six on the season and Dave is tops in assists with six.

The Silverlagos responded to the flurry of goals with a frustrated elbow to the head of midfield general David "Puma" Alarcon, earning a straight red card.

Angel City players Dan Sapienza and David Woirhaye received yellow cards on the night. And Coach Alarcon put his final stamp on an impressive victory with a late game yellow card of his own for defending his players, which as Manager Kull would note, is what real coaches do.

*Most of the facts in this piece are true. Some quotes gave been manufactured to serve the agenda of the author.

GAME STATS

Goals: Brandon Cole (2), Dan Sapienza (2), Russ Muratov
Assists: Russ Muratov, Tom Bry, David Woirhaye
ACFC MVP: Kirby Adams
Shots: ACFC (12), Silverlagos (3)
Corners: ACFC (6), Silverlagos (3)