It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.....
After coming from behind to defeat Philadelphia the night before, there
was at least hope that the KC Attack could at least make a decent
showing against the St. Louis Ambush. However, it was not to be. With
Kansas City again looking disorganized, not to mention tired, the Ambush
did just what their name implies. They completely ambushed the Attack.
Behind the solid goalkeeping of Jamie Swanner, the Ambush easily had an
NPSL rarity - a shutout. This was the seventh of Swanner's career, and
it was well-deserved. With little offense, the Attack sunk to a record
of 2-5, with another two games to play on the road before opening their
season at home.
The first quarter started with the Attack looking fairly good
defensively. Kevin Zimmerman, again the only goalkeeper traveling with
the Attack, came up with some nice early saves against Joe Reiniger,
Steve Kuntz, Mark Moser, Matt McAvin and Brandon Ward. St. Louis seemed
to be having trouble keeping the ball in the field of play, giving up
restart after restart. Unfortunately for both teams, though, neither
side seemed able to score on a restart (unusual for St. Louis). It
wasn't until the sixth minute that Moser beat KC defender Sam Ekeme to
finally get one past Zimmerman for two points. The Attack seemed to be
having difficulty maintaining possession for any length of time,
consistently not being able to control the ball quickly and losing it to
the 'bush. However, it was another six minutes before the Ambush
scored. They finally got their restart machine working and player/coach
Daryl Doran put in another goal. The shots which KC were managing to
take were sailing well wide of the goal or hitting the post or crossbar
almost as often as Swanner had to make a save. Byron Mitchell, defender
for the Ambush, seemed to some kind of one-man wrecking crew. He seemed
to constantly be nearby when a KC player went down, and before the first
quarter ended he had come in late on a bouncing ball and slid hard into
Zimmerman's outstretched arm (which was around the ball at this point),
causing a stoppage in play due to injury, but receiving no card. KC 0,
ST 4
The second quarter opened up with what looked like absolutely no
sense of order to KC's offense. A player would get the ball and head
towards the goal, only to realize that he had little or no support from
his teammates, who seemed content to stroll casually downfield as if
they were golfing. The players were quite obviously tired after playing
the night before in Philadelphia, but they seemed to have lost all
interest, as well. At one point, in one of the few shots taken, Novica
Marojevic sent a shot in from the corner that went across the goal
mouth, behind Swanner, hit the far post and bounced out. The Attack
were not able to get any breaks at all, it seemed. Mitchell was still
wreaking havoc in St. Louis' backfield, and he was finally carded for
holding a KC player after the player ended up sprawled near the wall in
the Ambush end of the field. Eloy Salgado's shootout attempt beat
Swanner, but bounced off the post. Salgado was so sure it was going in,
that he had started to turn away and was unable/unwilling to chase the
ball down and try to shoot it in the goal before the five seconds were
up. The Attack had absolutely no luck converting in the power play
situation. This quarter, St. Louis had difficulties with over and back
- they kept giving KC restarts on the yellow line. KC could not take
advantage of any of them. Zimmerman was still making some great saves.
Moser tried a bicycle kick in KC's goal, but Zimmerman was right behind
him to practically pick the ball off Moser's foot. A few minutes later,
Doran bulldozed his way through several KC players, only to have his
shot stuffed by Zimmerman. Zimmerman also had three brilliant, quick
saves on a St. Louis restart near the yellow line to keep KC within
sight of the 'bush. Neither team could find the goal this quarter,
thanks to some great goalkeeping on both ends. KC 0, STL 4
The action started early on in this quarter and never let up.
Before the four-minute mark, Noah Epstein took advantage of KC's
inability to clear the ball and put in a two-pointer just past
Zimmerman's fingertips. About a minute later, while St. Louis was
setting up for a corner kick, Zimmerman was getting more medical
attention - this time it appeared to be something wrong with his
face/eye. It was obvious that with the arm injury by Mitchell and
something else bothering him, Zimmerman was nowhere near 100%. With no
backup keeper, he had to remain in the game. In the sixth minute, Moser
had a shot knocked down by Zimmerman, but the bouncing ball was put in
the net by a quick touch from Ward. The Attack were still spending a
lot of time strolling around the midfield, not in any apparent hurry to
help out up front or in back if they were not already in position. A
couple minutes later, Moser got an easy goal when someone left him
completely unmarked inside the box. Only a fool leaves Moser unmarked
anywhere NEAR the box, let alone inside it! Moser actually was not
having all that great a night - he missed two or three wide open goal
chances. With a little over three minutes left in the quarter, Mike
Laposha was carded for obstruction when an Attack player (Jeff Davis or
Simon Weiss) was thoroughly blockaded away from the ball. Marojevic's
shootout attempt was saved by Swanner. Less than 30 seconds later, KC's
Wade was carded, also for obstruction. However, no one I spoke with
(including the referee assessor) saw him do anything! There was not
even a St. Louis player in sight on that side of the field. The ball
had been cleared from St. Louis' end of the field and Zimmerman had come
out to the yellow line to clear it. Wade was on the other side of the
field, completely uninvolved in the play (as he was uninvolved in most
of the game), yet the whistle blew and the card went up. Unbelievable.
If anyone out there knows what happened, please let me know. Anyway,
Moser scored on the shootout to get his hat trick for the evening. With
the teams 4 v 4, Reiniger scored a two-pointer just seconds later. KC
0, STL 13
As the fourth quarter got underway, I figured out why KC was
struggling so much. It was the goalkeepers. Not that Zimmerman was
playing badly, he wasn't THAT bad. But......the entire game, Swanner
could be heard yelling out instructions to his teammates, helping them
mount attacks and cover their backs. From KC's side of the field could
be heard..........nothing. If there was any talking out there, it was
completely inaudible. It is difficult for any team to score, let alone
win, when there is no onfield direction from the back. Zimmerman's
biggest problem (aside from being silent) was that he had utterly
terrible ball distribution, invariably giving the ball to the 'bush
anytime he kicked or threw the ball downfield. Add to that the Attack's
total lack of gumption, and there was no way they were going to turn it
around and beat the Ambush the way they had beaten the Kixx the night
before. In the fourth minute, Salgado was carded for tripping Abraham
Francois, and he headed to the penalty box without even a whimper of
complaint. Moser again scored on the shootout, and Kuntz put away the
power play goal (with what I personally thought was the nicest goal of
the match) with a beautifully placed shot past Zimmerman. Before the
ugliness (for KC fans) was over, Epstein would beat Zimmerman in a
one-on-one after beating Wade at midfield. As 6,307 fans celebrated
Swanner's shutout, a completely broken-spirited Attack finally got to
leave the field and head home. KC 0, STL 17
The Kansas City Attack headed into their final weekend of a
nine-game opening road trip needing to get a win or two, or at least a
solid game. In their quest to achieve this goal, the Attack had
re-signed goalkeeper Scoop Stanisic from the Harrisburg Heat. Stanisic
is no stranger to the Attack, having been with them when they won the
NPSL Championship the first time in 1992-1993. Also, Kevin Koetters and
Nate Houser would be back in the lineup for the first time in several
games, bringing some experience and leadership back onto the field. The
game against Buffalo was the Attack's third straight game against an
opponent at the top of their conference. Prior to the start of the
game, Blizzard forward, Rudy Pikuzinski, was honored for having reached
the 1,000th career point plateau in Buffalo's previous game. The Attack
were only hoping they could score more points than Buffalo in this one
game, for now.
The Attack struck early in the first quarter. Simon Weiss,
surrounded by four Buffalo players, got a ball that bounced off the
boards and then off Villalobos to Weiss, who put the ball in the goal
for his first goal as an Attack player in under a minute-and-a-half.
Blizzard goalkeeper, Bill Andracki, was coming up with saves, but only
when the Attack players actually shot on goal. Sam Ekeme had a
three-pointer go just wide, while Novica Marojevic whiffed on open-net
chances...twice. At the other end, Buffalo had their own woes, when
Rudy Pikuzinski had apparently put a loose ball into the Attack goal,
only to have the goal disallowed. (It was never really clear from the
radio broadcast what had happened). The Blizzard did manage to tie up
the score with a little over two minutes left in the quarter when Banks
beat Eloy Salgado and touched the ball to the upper-left-had corner of
the goal. However, the Attack ended the quarter on a high note when Ed
Carmean's shot from just inside the three-point arc caught Andracki out
of position and backpedaling too slowly to stop the shot. KC 4, BUF 2
The second quarter was mostly a defensive battle, as neither team
was able to find the back of the net for most of the 15 minutes.
However, after KC was penalized for too many men on the field, Andrew
Crawford beat Jim Schwab to score on the resulting power play in the
11th minute. Crawford almost managed to put the Blizzard ahead, but his
shot was blocked by Wes Wade at the far post. KC took a slim lead into
the locker room at halftime. KC 4, BUF 3
In the third quarter, what had started out to be a stellar first
game in goal for Stanisic soon turned a bit dismaying. Villalobos had
received a pass from Valdivia. He took a shot, which hit the boards,
deflected off Stanisic and then ricocheted off the far post and into the
goal to put the Blizzard in the lead. Soon after, Rudy Pikuzinski's
long shot rebounded off Sam Ekeme and into the goal after Stanisic had
committed to the near post. Before the Attack could end this
mini-disaster, Valdivia took a shot which hit the post. As Stanisic
reach to pick up the rebounding ball, he touched it wrong and knocked it
into the goal. KC 4, BUF 9
The fourth quarter sounded as if KC was playing some good, solid
soccer. More solid than the last few games had sounded/looked, at
least. It sounded as if the defense was pretty solid, with many shots
being blocked. However, the offense still was not quite set. The
offense was not shut out in this quarter, however, Eloy Salgado had a
goal with a little over five minutes left in the game to pull the Attack
within three points. This goal was originally put on the scoreboard as
a three-pointer, only to have it changed to a two-pointer as he was just
inside the arc when he took the shot. Salgado had a three-pointer hit
the post soon after. When there were about two-and-a-half minutes left,
KC called for a time out, but did not put in a Sixth Attacker. Instead,
they relied on Stanisic's ability to play well off his line to serve as
offensive help. Alas, even with several restarts near Buffalo's goal,
KC was unable to close the gap. The bright spot? Only one more game
remained in this opening nine-game road trip. KC 6, BUF 9
Game 9-KANSAS CITY v DETROIT (at Grand Rapids) 12/7/97
After the disappointing loss in Buffalo the night before, the
Attack were looking to beat the Detroit Rockers in Grand Rapids this
game. With more experience in the goal, and a defense that seemed to be
gelling, the only thing left was for the offense to finally outscore
their opponents. This time, the Attack was up to the task, holding off
the Rockers to beat them for the second time this season.
Player/coach Jim Schwab seemed to be just a coach tonight, as he
was suffering from a sore knee (if I remember the radio announcer
correctly). He was on the bench, but in sweats, and did not take the
field at all. KC again played a solid game, and scored the first goal
in this game, as well. In the fifth minute, Nate Houser sent a ball up
for Novica Marojevic, who let it carom off the boards and out to the
center of the box where he was waiting to put it past Bryan "Goose"
Finnerty. Soon after, Shawn Beyer's three-pointer was just wide of the
mark. About four minutes later, Detroit answered when Greg Muhr and
Travis Roy hooked up to even the score. KC 'keeper Scoop Stanisic
seemed strong, making three quick saves to hold off a Rocker onslaught.
However, with a couple minutes left in the quarter, Jason Willan put one
in from the top of the arc to put Detroit in the lead. Not to be
outdone, with under one minute left, Shawn Beyer flicked the ball past
Goose to tie it back up. KC 4, DET 4
Detroit opened up the second quarter with a goal from Travis Roy
before two minutes had passed. Both teams seemed to moving the ball
well and creating a lot of opportunities, only to have Goose and Scoop
continually rebuff their shots. With a few minutes left in the quarter,
Eloy Salgado's three-point shot went just wide when he had caught Goose
out of position. Not long after, another three-point attempt rebounded
off Greg Muhr's face. With about a minute left, Jason Willan kicked in
a rebound shot after KC's defense blocked Travis Roy's shot. Just
before the half ended, Detroit was whistled for too many men on the
field, giving KC a power play which would carry over into the third
quarter. KC 4, DET 8
The third quarter started with KC still on the power play. They
neglected to score during that time period, though. They saved that for
seconds after the penalty expired. Eloy Salgado found Kevin Koetters
just outside the three-point arc and Koetters buried the ball for his
first three-pointer of the season, pulling KC within one point. Less
than a minute later, KC had Novica Marojevic and Brad McTighe on a
two-on-one in Detroit's zone. After Marojevic waited for both Gilbert
and Goose to commit his direction, he slotted the ball over to McTighe,
who finished the shot to put KC in the lead. A couple minutes later,
Eloy Salgado's restart shot rebounded off the wall, only to end up at
the feet of Wes Wade who beat Goose, who had committed to the other side
for Salgado's shot. The remaining ten minutes of the quarter seemed to
have a lot of fouls, but not many real chances at goals. KC 11, DET 8
The fourth quarter opened up with Detroit having some chances, but
finding all of them "stuffed" by Stanisic. At about the five-minute
mark, Rodrigo Gonzales was carded for tripping Shawn Beyer, setting up
Eloy Salgado's shootout goal. KC was once again unable to score on the
power play. Several minutes passed, with Detroit trying to score and KC
holding it's defense strong. At one point, Gilbert and Wade went down
and their was some extraneous kicking and talking which earned each of
them a two-minute unsportsmanlike conduct card. No shootouts, and no
power play, as both teams would have four players for the next two
minutes. With just a four-point lead, KC was taking no chances, staying
home to defend rather than taking "iffy" counterattack chances. With
under three minutes left in the game, Detroit closed the gap to just one
point when Stanisic, out in front of the yellow line, tried to pass the
ball to Sam Ekeme. The ball was intercepted by Lars Richter, who passed
it to Greg Muhr to bury from beyond the three-point line. Schwab was
able to keep his players in the game, however. Even after the Rockers
put in Randy Prescott as Sixth Attacker, the Attack gave up no ground,
holding on for the win. KC will head for their home opener with a
record of 3-6. Not stellar, but not bad considering the rigors of
playing on the road and injuries to key players. KC 12, DET 11
SUMMARY
1 2 3 4 TTL
KC 4 0 7 1 12
DET 4 4 0 3 11
1ST QUARTER
KC - Marojevic (Houser) 2pg
DET - Roy (Muhr) 2pg
DET - Willan (Roy) 2pg
KC - Beyer (Wade) 2pg
Penalties: none
2ND QUARTER
DET - Roy (Malachino) 2pg
DET - Willan (Roy) 2pg
Penalties: DET - 2:00, too many men
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