Saturday May 20, 2006

          The Atlanta Silverbacks U23s played the Cocoa Expos tonight in a successful effort to remain unbeaten at home, the game ended in a 1-1 tie. The U23s’ second home game was complete with blaring music, cheering fans, and beating drummers.
          The game started with a pretty even match-up between both sides and remained mostly in the middle third of the field with a few chances for each team. After a relatively calm start to the game, things got a little chaotic in the 21st minute when the referee awarded the Expos with a penalty kick after a hard tackle in the box from Paul Pessina and Greg Chevalier. After the Expos’ Pete Marino took the kick which hit the cross bar, the U23s cleared the ball only to have it forced back into their own defensive line. The quick ball caught the Expos offside and the ref gave the Silverbacks a free kick in the back. In the ensuing play confusion erupted and the Silverbacks’ Tim Bender received a red card for a “foul and abusive language” in the 23rd minute. Bender left the field and the Silverbacks’ remaining ten regrouped for the task ahead of them. Seven minutes later in the 30th minute the Silverbacks went down to nine men when forward Kandji Macoumba left the field with an injury. Waiting to see if he would recover, the Silverbacks didn’t sub for him and played with only nine men until the 37th minute when Jyler Noviello came into the game. The half ended 0-0.
          The Silverbacks came out strong in the second half, and although they were down a man, continued to attack the Expos’ defense. Damone Priestley had two excellent chances to put the Silverbacks ahead – the first when he beat the defense but knocked it just wide of the goal and the second when his header from a corner went off the post. The Silverbacks went down in the 64th minute when the U23s’ goalie Jeremy Padgett came out to make a save, during his attempt he collided with Expos’ forward Pete Marino who was able to get a shot off and score. The Silverbacks answered in the 87th minute off a corner kick from John Drummond: Paul Pessina once again came up for the kick and used his head to get the ball in the back of the net. The goal was Pessina's second goal off a header for the weekend. The goal gave the Silverbacks a spark and they dominated offensively for the remaining minutes of the game, however they were unable to score. The game ended in a 1-1 tie.
          Despite being the hometown team the Silverbacks didn’t have the calls go their way: in the first half the Silverbacks had 12 fouls called against them and Tim Bender received a red card, while the Expos had only four fouls called against them and they were awarded a penalty kick.
          The U23s, 1-2-1, will host the Palm Beach Pumas on Thursday June 1. Tickets to see the U23s cost $5 at the gate, for more information call 1-866-GO-BACKS.