ACFC squeaks by The Devils 2-1

Went to a UFC match Monday night and a soccer game broke out ... kind of.

Striving to secure first place in Div 2B, ACFC met the second of three major challenges Aug. 10, taking on a strong Devils side, who were intent on rebounding from a 7-1 thrashing they had received at the hands of the league-leading Hotspurs last week.

In a game marred by sketchy challenges and the usual John Ferraro ball dynamics, Angel City still kicked off to an early lead with Ben O'Meara taking a David Woirhaye pass and striking it solidly past The Devils keeper just seven minutes in.

Strong defence and solid goalkeeping from Peter Marlenga kept The Devils reigned in for most of the half and at the 33-minute mark Brandon Cole notched his second of the season, knocking in the deflection off a DW shot inside the box. Cole literally walked the ball in over the goal line with a smile on his face.

After the second goal gentlemanly conduct appeared to go out the window, with The Devils defence knocking O'Meara to the ground on several occasions (it seemed to be the only way they could stop him). One such challenge left O'Meara with a gash in the side of his head and a blood stained jersey. While O'Meara left the game at that point, his injuries will not keep him out of the lineup for next week.

The second half saw more clunky challenges from the Devils, and a few more ACFC injuries, with Ben Kull being taken down from behind, and Peter Wasek being cleated down the calf. Calls were not forthcoming.

The Devils pushed forward and made things interesting, putting a lone goal past Marlenga at the 47-minute mark on a bouncing shot from just outside the box.

But strong performances from eventual MVP Peter Wasek, Kirby Adams and Leo Wallach, and a couple of breakaway saves by Marlenga (one off a bicycle kick), kept the win in ACFC hands.

Matt Onheiber -- who picked up the lone ACFC yellow card during the game for a fair challenge -- and David Alarcon also had strong nights.

When the final whistle sounded coach Billy Alarcon was heard to say: "Great match boys ... I heard we won." The squad may have lost a few battles on the field, but came away with the overall win.

ACFC's record now sits at 5 wins and a loss, with a +12 GD. The squad play the Hotspurs next Monday at Griffith Park with a 7 PM kickoff. The Hotspurs lost 3-0 to Hollywood United Monday leaving ACFC alone at the top of the tables with one game to go before mid-season.


GAME STATS

ACFC (2) vs The Devils (1)

Goals:
ACFC: Ben O'Meara (7:00), Brandon Cole (33:00)
The Devils: (47:00)

Assists:
David Woirhaye (2)

Shots:
ACFC (8) vs The Devils (12)

Corner Kicks:
ACFC (2) vs The Devils (4)

Yellow Cards:
ACFC (1) vs The Devils (1)

MVP: Peter Wasek

ACFC 7s Results: August 8

Matador (0) vs AC Allstars (4)
Goals: Russ Muratov (2), Matt Onheiber, David Woirhaye
Shutout: Peter Marlenga

Typhoon FC (5) vs Angel City FC (2)
Goals: Brad Helmink (2)

Barrington United (4) vs ACFC (7)
Goals: Craig Nichols (3), David Alarcon, David Woirhaye, OG, Leo Medina
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Top Goal Scorers | Summer 7s

18 Tiit Tikenberg
16 Craig Nichols
11 David Woirhaye
8 Marius Sandvik
6 Matt Onheiber
6 Russ Muratov
5 Jonny Ibanez
4 Volkert Besseling
4 Sevan Hanimayan
4 Mike Lewis
4 David Alarcon
3 Michael Sharp
3 Jaime Chavez
3 Brad Helmink
2 Ian Worrel
2 Miguel Lopez
2 Santiago Gomez-Ribeiro
2 Ricardo Ledoux
2 Michael Gemballa
2 Ari Yaghmaie
1 Ivan O'Neil
1 Sergei Baranov
1 Ben Kull
1 Brandon Cole
1 Kelechi Okoro
1 Leo Medina

ACFC topples Hollywood United

A saved penalty kick, a last minute goal and solid defense throughout ACFC's first encounter with the Hollywood United machine pushed the home team to a narrow 1-0 win, first place in Div 2B, and a game-winning streak which now sits at four.

Monday's match up at the John Ferraro dustbowl saw the triumphant return of Peter Marlenga in between the ACFC posts in a game which could have gone either way. For 80 minutes the run of play, shots on goal, ball possession and even fouls were dead even. The ACFC defense, bolstered by some solid goaltending by Marlenga held the line -- withstanding heavy pressure from the high-scoring United side, while the Angel City forwards and midfield pressed forward on the counter to create several goal scoring opportunities.

However, at the 80-minute mark Hollywood United were awarded a PK for a 50-50 collision in the box ... some would say was not warranted. Marlenga, the hero of last year's Division C Cup final stepped up to the line and repeated his PK-saving performance, aided by a quick defence, which managed to leap on and clear the rebound.

Then eight minutes later some solid work in the opposing box by Sevan Hanimyan saw the ball slide into the goalmouth between Matt Onheiber and Ben O'Meara. O'Meara, who had earlier narrowly missed a shot from point blank range, made no mistake this time round and deftly shot the ball beneath a sprawling keeper for the win. Another chance seconds later threatened to make it 2-0, but the final whistle blew to give ACFC its fourth straight win.

ACFC's record now sits at 4 wins and a loss, with a +11 GD. The squad play The Devils next Monday at John Ferraro with an 8:45 PM kickoff.


GAME STATS

ACFC (1) vs Hollywood United (0)

Goals:
ACFC: Ben O'Meara (88:00)

Assists:
Sevan Hanimyan

Shutout:
Peter Marlenga

Shots:
ACFC (11) vs Hollywood United (12)

Corner Kicks:
ACFC (2) vs Hollywood United (6)

Yellow Cards:
ACFC (1) vs Hollywood United (0)

MVP: Peter Marlenga

ACFC 7s Results: August 1

Euro United (1) vs AC Allstars (4)
Goals: Tiit Tikenberg (2), Michael Gemballa, Sevan Hanimayan

Slutty Buffalos 3 (5) vs Angel City FC (2)
Goals: Tiit Tikenberg, Matt Onheiber

Fin McCool United (7) vs ACFC (2)
Goals: Mike Lewis, Ari Yaghmaie

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Top Goal Scorers | Summer 7s

18 Tiit Tikenberg
13 Craig Nichols
9 David Woirhaye
8 Marius Sandvik
5 Jonny Ibanez
5 Matt Onheiber
4 Russ Muratov
4 Volkert Besseling
4 Sevan Hanimayan
4 Mike Lewis
3 Michael Sharp
3 Jaime Chavez
3 David Alarcon
2 Ian Worrel
2 Miguel Lopez
2 Santiago Gomez-Ribeiro
2 Ricardo Ledoux
2 Michael Gemballa
2 Ari Yaghmaie
1 Ivan O'Neil
1 Brad Helmink
1 Sergei Baranov
1 Ben Kull
1 Brandon Cole
1 Kelechi Okoro

ACFC takes third straight win with 6-2 Inter drubbing

A quartet of goals by striker Ben O'Meara bolstered ACFC to its third straight win Monday night as the blues destroyed Inter 6-2.

Neither shoddy officiating nor the questionable quality of the John Ferraro pitch could keep Angel City down as the squad played calm, cool and collected against an undermanned Inter, in a game where the away side could easily have notched double digit goals.

O'Meara -- voted MVP of the match -- opened the ACFC account at the 19-minute mark off a pass from Brandon Cole, and added a second nine minutes later after a strong run down the wing by a newly revitalized Ben Kull.

David Woirhaye put ACFC up by three just before the half, converting a pass from David Alarcon.

The second half was littered with questionable calls by the referee, with Inter getting numerous free kicks outside the ACFC box for dives and often non-existent contact. One such kick resulted in an Inter goal at the 67-minute mark. However, when O'Meara was hauled down on the opposite side of the pitch right in front of the ref, no such call materialized. After being yellow-carded for dissent, O'Meara got the best possible revenge, notching his third and fourth strikes at the 70 and 71 minute-marks off passes from Cole and Woirhaye.

Inter converted a second ridiculous free kick outside the box at 78 minutes (a call which saw two more ACFC yellow cards for dissent). But Woirhaye capped the win minutes later, capitalizing on a counterattack by Kull and Cole.

The game saw a strong back line and solid midfield back-checking restricting Inter to seven shots over the 90 minutes.

ACFC's record now sits at 3 wins and a loss, with a +10 GD. The squad play Hollywood United next Monday at John Ferraro with an 7 PM kickoff.


GAME STATS

Inter (2) vs ACFC (6)

Goals:
ACFC: Ben O'Meara (19:00, 28:00, 70:00, 71:00),
David Woirhaye (38:00, 78:00)

Inter: (67:00, 78:00)

Assists:
Brandon Cole (3), Ben Kull (2), David Alarcon, David Woirhaye

Shots:
Inter (7) vs ACFC (14)

Corner Kicks:
Inter (2) vs ACFC (6)

Yellow Cards:
Inter (0) vs ACFC (3)

MVP: Ben O'Meara

ACFC 7s Results: July 25

LA Soccer Club (7) vs AC Allstars (5)
Goals: Tiit Tikenberg (2), Sergei Baranov, Marius Sandvik,
Sevan Hanimayan

Valhalla (2) vs Angel City FC (10)
Goals: David Woirhaye (3), Craig Nichols (2), Ben Kull, Sevan Hanimayan,
Marius Sandvik, Tiit Tikenberg, Ari Yaghmaie

The Wailers (5) vs ACFC (8)
Goals: Jonny Ibanez (2), Santi Gomez-Ribeiro, Craig Nichols,
Tiit Tikenberg (2), Ricardo Ledoux, Sevan Hanimayan

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Top Goal Scorers | Summer 7s

15 Tiit Tikenberg
13 Craig Nichols
9 David Woirhaye
8 Marius Sandvik
5 Jonny Ibanez
4 Russ Muratov
4 Volkert Besseling
4 Matt Onheiber
3 Sevan Hanimayan
3 Michael Sharp
3 Jaime Chavez
3 Mike Lewis
3 David Alarcon
2 Ian Worrel
2 Miguel Lopez
2 Santiago Gomez-Ribeiro
2 Ricardo Ledoux
1 Michael Gemballa
1 Ivan O'Neil
1 Brad Helmink
1 Sergei Baranov
1 Ben Kull
1 Ari Yaghmaie
1 Brandon Cole
1 Kelechi Okoro