ASA Avengers Men's Soccer Team Prevails in a Tough and Physical Game

Brooklyn, NY – The ASA Avengers men's soccer team today plays at home in Aviator Sports Complex against University of Maine – Fort Kent, the #4 ranked team in the USCAA as of October 10th 2018.

Right from the opening minutes of the game, both teams knew that this was going to be a long, physical, and tough game. The Avengers proved they could match the physicality of the Fort Kent Bengals with a goal 10 minutes into the game. "We were combining through the middle and we drew a good foul in the final 3rd," said men's soccer head coach Brett Polow. "Daniel put it away from about 30 yards." After that first goal, both teams had a near even 50% possession of the ball and the first half ended with the Avengers leading 1-0.

In the first half, the Avengers experimented with the starting lineup with players such as Paul Ligenchystarting for the game. In the second half, the Avengers bought in starters Deandre Gordon and Daquan Brown back into the starting lineup. The lineup changes meant that some players who didn't play in the first half needed some time to warmup. During this time, the Bengals attacked for a good 20 minutes and took away the Avengers' momentum and caught us off-guard to tie the game 1-1. "It took us some time to get warmed up," said Polow. "Once we did, we were able to start to attack them and put them on their back foot."

With ten minutes left to go in the game, the Avengers scored their second goal of the game. "We won the ball in our 3rd and got out of our half in a span of 4 quick seconds," said Polow. "Darrian Chambers beat his man around the wing and passed the ball to Josh. Josh combined with Daquan Brown to tap the ball into the right corner of the goal." The game ended 2-1 in a win for the Avengers.

"I felt like the guys were a little overconfident coming into the game after winning against Monroe last week," said Polow. "We need to focus one game at a time. They're already looking ahead to the upcoming regional championships match. We won today, but it could have gone either way."

On offense – "Our guys played a tough game against a physical opponent, our technique tightened in the late second half but still needs to get better."

On defense – "Solid, but would like to see our back field get into the attack more."

Overall – "Happy with the win against a tough team."

The ASA Avengers men's soccer team travels to Rhode Island to play their next game against CCRI on October 18th 2018.