06/07/2009 10:18 AM
| It was a beautiful evening at Chukchansi Park and although the skies were full of clouds the rain and thundrestorms never came down on the pitch in Fresno. The Fresno Fuego (1-2-2) were eager to get on the field and go to battle against the Orange County Blue Star (4-2-2) as both teams are looking for the needed three points for the fixture. The Fuego were caught early for the second game in a row by giving up a goal to the Blue Star’s Roi Castro in the 4th minute of the match. The flow of the game was developing and Castro was able to penetrate the left side of the defense and blast a beautiful shot into the far post, past Fuego keeper Ryan Kenny to give Orange County the early lead. The Fuego were able to keep their composure and maintain a great deal of possesion as they seemed to be in control of the match. In the 18th minute Fuego was awarded a direct kick outside the box and midfielder Fabricio Codeceira made no mistake in bending the ball around the wall and into the upper 90 giving Fresno their first goal of the night. A world class finish by Codeceira stimulated the energy of the Fuego side. The game began to settle and both teams battled for rights to the ball. There were some crunching tackles by both teams as they attempted to set the tone for dominance. It was in the 34th minute when things were changed as midfielder Adrian Alvarado was able to find striker Santiago Aguilera about 10 yards out who banged a one time shot off of the crossbar and into the goal. There was a bit of controversy at first but the linesman was in the appropriate position to make the call and clearly determined that the ball had completely crossed the line for the Fuego’s second goal of the night. It only took the Fuego a matter of minutes as they put an explanation point on their will to win Friday night’s match. On a indirect set piece from about 30 yards out they served the ball into the box where center back Gaston Cignetti was able to win the ball and send it across the goal mouth where Aguilera headed it into the back of the net. It was a magnificent goal and gave the Fuego a comfortable lead. In the second half the Fresno Fuego continued to put high pressure on the ball and dictated the flow of the game. It was in the 85 minute that the Fuego were rewarded for their hard work and intense pressure as Jonathan Torres picked the ball from Blue Star goalkeeper Joseph Scachetti and was able to curl a shot into the back of the net from a difficult angle. Torres who had entered the match only 4 minutes prior was quickly on the score sheet to give the Fuego a 4-1 lead. The Fuego were not done on the evening entertaining their fans as in the final minutes of play midfielder Jose Cueves was able to find striker Tyler Reinhart who buried the ball in the back of the Blue Star net in the 90th to give the Fresno Fuego the 5-1 victory. The Fresno Fuego looked sharp and showed character after going down a goal early to the Blue Star. The Fresno Fuego are back in action against the Bakersfield Brigade on Wednesday June 10th, 2009 at Chukchansi Park. Kickoff is set for 7pm and the game will be presented by Comcast. “The World’s Game… Your Team” Go Fuego!!! |