Mid-Season Review

This is a fun year. Six matches down, four to go, and AC United stands head and shoulders above the bracket, with an undefeated record and a +12 goal differential. A critical upcoming date will be November 6th, when the second-place Plymouth Fire come to Ardsley Park for a rematch. ACU stole the Fire's lunch money on September 19th, and as of today's standings, the Fire haven't lost another match since then. With the MUSC matches finished (1:2 and 3:0 wins for ACU), United will close out the season with rematches against the Ukies, Hunter Tornadoes, and Upper Dublin Black Knights. That, and maybe a little more tournament action.

A few notes:

Good to see Ricky back in action... that was a scary way to open a season. As the boys get bigger and older, the injuries are getting real.

Let's take a minute and give a big shout out to the mids and backs. It's the nature of game reporting that I am going to end up writing about the guys up front who score goals and make assists. Even so, every attack always begins with strong defense, superior ball handling, and constant pressure on the opponent. Our back lines have never been so fit, so aggressive, and so consistent in their performance. They're pretty sharp in transition, too. More hours in motion have helped: Running cross country seems to agree with Jake pretty well, while Nick S (and probably several other guys) might be doing about a hundred hours a week of soccer practice between ACU and school teams.

John very nearly scored the winning goal in OT in the tournament champs. Awesome.

Speaking of goals, Jimmy posted up five goals on the tournament, but Kyle scored four, and one of them on a sick stomach the first day. Jimmy would win the Golden Boot, so maybe there's a Golden Bucket for Kyle.

And since goals come from shots, and shots come from service, a couple more shout outs to Steven, Andy, Brad, Michael, and Nick P, who are the glue that holds together the offense. For all the attention that our big forwards will draw during matches, it's the 'regular size' guys who are delivering good service to the forwards and fighting for possession midfield.

This is a team that is firing on all cylinders. It's a real treat for us parents to see this whole Maroon machine come together on the field. Thanks again, and always, to Coach Price, Coach Galasso, and the new Technical Director in Charge of Shooting the #$%&! Ball, Chuck Gesing.