New Hampshire Douses Flames 5-0

May 30, 2004
PHANTOM MENACE, PART 2
Dylan Butler, assistant editor, BigAppleSoccer.com

(Amherst, NH, 05/30/2004) - The final score doesn’t tell the whole story, according to Westchester Flames coach Gus Skoufis, but it’s the only story that counts as the Flames suffered a 5-0 defeat at New Hampshire Saturday night.

The shots were even at 9 and the Flames held a 4-3 edge in corners, but the Phantoms (3-2-1) made the most of its scoring chances to take over the lead in the Pro Soccer League’s Northern Division.

The Phantoms jumped ahead 2-0 11 minutes into the game on goals by Ryan Ackerman and Manny Brito and then added three goals in the final 22 minutes to put the game away.

“It was a pretty even game and we had a lot of missed opportunities in the first half,” Skoufis said. “Then they score two goals on two mistakes in the back.”

The Flames (2-2-2), which entered the game riding a modest two-game winning streak, struggled without defender Mersim Beskovic, who injured his knee in an off-field accident and could be lost for the season.

Danny Parkin started in Beskovic’s place and Aboubacar Camara started up front. But both players are not back to full fitness and that hurt the Flames, especially in the second half when Mark Manganello scored twice — in the 68th and 75th minutes — and Val Teixeira added the final goal in the 88th minute.

“The rustiness of Parkin and ‘Boubar’ showed, without a doubt,” Skoufis said. “They’ve been out too long. It hurts (not having Beskovic) but we have to deal with it and find a solution.”

The Flames return home, where they are 2-0-1, to face the Brooklyn Knights Sunday at City Park Stadium. Kickoff is slated for 5:30 p.m.

“We were starting to feel good but I think this is a good lesson. I saw a lot of weaknesses and we’re going to make some adjustments and take it from there,” Skoufis said. “We have to be able to put the ball in the net and tonight we didn’t do that.”

Westchester Flames

Guillermo Valencia; Laurence Piturro, Danny Parkin (Julian Vergaga-85), Mario Gallo, Chris Musinski (Julian Kapaj-40); Alex Tobon-Villa, Fredy Nava (Frank Gizzo-73), Roberto Esquivel, Costea Decu; Aboubacar Camara (Chikudi Richardson-85), Evaud Thompson.

New Hampshire Phantoms

Kyle Singer; Sean Carey, Brandon Curran, Anthony D’Angelo (Michael Santangelo-75), David Evans; Ryan Ackerman (Ceasar Cuellar-79), Manny Brito (Keiran O’Brien-65), Richard Fleming (Val Teixeira-83), Mark Maganello, Robrecht Vanrykel (Michael Cabral-79); Bjorn Hansen.

Scoring

New Hampshire — Ryan Ackerman (Bjorn Hansen) 7
New Hampshire — Manny Brito (Richard Fleming) 11
New Hampshire — Mark Maganello (Ryan Ackerman) 68
New Hampshire — Mark Maganello (Richard Fleming) 75
New Hampshire — Val Teixeria 88
Discipline

New Hampshire — David Evans (yellow card) 17
Westchester — Mario Gallo (yellow card) 35
New Hampshire — Robrecht Vanrykel (yellow card) 40
Westchester — Costea Decu (yellow card) 50
Westchester — Alex Tobon-Villa (yellow card) 56

Attendance — 1,125

06/01/2004