Express run through Flames 5-3

Newark, NJ -- On a beautiful, but yet tragic night after the world found out the death of legendary music icon Michael Jackson, the Westchester Flames (1-7-3) came into New Jersey to face off the Newark Ironbound Express (5-7-0).

This was the final home game for the Express and they left in fashion, as they defeated the Flames for the second time 5-3. Flames were missing a couple of key players, as forward Josh Trott and midfielder Michael Konicoff were missing in action due to illness.

Throughout the 1st half, the Ironbound Express moved at a fast pace and kept the ball away from the Flames. The Express went up 2-0 and forward Avis Volnerman scored both in the 16th and 31st minutes. The Flames responded back in the 32nd minute, as forward Jose Dos Santos scored off a rebound.

Late in the 1st half, the Express would drain the Flames’ confidence away when forward Chris Kurcz found his way through the defense and scored in the 40th to put the game at 3-1.

The Express cleared most of their bench at the start of the 2nd half in preparation for their match against the Ottawa Fury. They would carry their momentum from the 1st half to the 2nd when they put up to more goals to have a comfortable 5-1 lead.

You can say it was too little too late for the Flames late in the 2nd half when they cut the score to two and scored in 72nd and 82nd minutes. Express goalkeeper Alex Lunna kept the Flames from scoring and made some clutch saves.

“We played bad and didn’t show up today” said Flames head coach Gus Skoufis. The Ironbound Express improve to 6-7-0 and will face the Ottawa Fury. As for the Flames they suffer another loss and now have a record of 1-8-3.

By John Tolis
6/25/09