Sevilla vs. Mallorca
Both Major 10 Downtown Soccer League teams of talented players gave a good match Sunday, despite still getting used to full field play and the presence of 97% humidity. The action started right away for Sevilla, when Tyler Rohan threw the ball in from behind the middle of the field, over the heads of the Mallorca defenders to Elias Griffin, whose breakaway resulted in the first goal of the season for striker Griffin (and first assist for Rohan).
Mallorca’s Dante Vega-Lamere took possession, but Sevilla’s Matt Levine stole his thunder, clearing it to Jacob Roter. Roter attempted a breakaway but was thwarted by Cameron Burger (who continues to shine under the tutelage of star defensive coach David Burger). Anthony Miguez had a great boot for Sevilla, but Mallorca’s Julian Chow retaliated and sent the ball the other way. Sevilla’s Max Kong and Lumia Nocita put up a wall, however, blocking Nick Winokur’s hard kick. Vega-Lamere appeared from behind and shot on goal, but Sevilla’s first half goalie, Nick Leong, smothered it.
Soon after, Mallorca’s Ben Karam took over a Sevilla throw-in, passing to Miranda Coombe. Her boot to Vega-Lamere caused Leong to come out of the goal, but he couldn’t get to the ball before Vega-Lamere. His shot on goal was inches wide, much to the disappointment of the crowd. Leong punted it to Sevilla’s Tyler Adams, who sent it downfield. Mallorca’s Elan Halpern was ready to defend it, first with a strong boot and then a header. Her shot on goal was also saved by Leong. Sevilla’s next surge was stopped cold by Chow, who passed it to Lucy Winokur, but her shot was saved by Leong. Roter passed the ball to Griffin, whose breakaway was saved by Mallorca’s goalie Douglass Stapler. Rohan’s next long boot was cleared by Jackson Kaufman of Mallorca, who passed to teammate Martin Ortega. Ortega’s fine pass was squashed by Roter, who threaded it past Mallorca’s Charlotte Youkilis on defense to Sevilla’s Gabriel Colon. Vega-Lamere took possession again, but his aggressive moves were blocked by Sevilla’s Luke Marable. Griffin took advantage with another fine breakaway, but Stapler made another awesome save. Following up quickly was James Carney, with another shot on goal that went wide. Mallorca’s Gabriella Rutherford showed perseverance, and she and teammate Kaufman put a lot of pressure on the goal, but the whistle ended the first half with Sevilla ahead 1-0.
In the second half, Ortega moved into the goal for Mallorca and Gabe Colon into the goal for Sevilla. Both made many fine saves, but a quick shot by Leong (now at striker) went over Ortega’s head and under the crossbar to bring Sevilla a second goal. With Griffin now at sweeper, Stapler tried to answer with a breakaway, but couldn’t get past Sevilla’s “diamond defense” of Griffin, Nocita, Levine, and Miguez.
Midfielder Roter took the ball again, but his kick was cleared by Mallorca’s Athena Karavasilis. Mallorca continued to put the pressure on. But Stapler’s last shot on goal was saved by Colon, and Sevilla prevailed over the hard-charging Mallorca team, 2-0.
