U14 Alameda United Select Boys Soccer Team Extends League Record to 5-0

It wasn’t Alameda United’s best game of the season, but it wasn’t the worst either. Alameda’s 3-0 victory over the Walnut Creek Blazers turned out to be good enough keep the U14 Select boys soccer team solidly in contention for first place in league play, with a 5-0 record and a 32/1 goals for/against ratio. 

The score didn’t reflect how dominant Alameda was, but it did indicate that United wasn’t quite hitting on all cylinders. Despite playing with some key injury- and illness-related handicaps for the second straight weekend, Alameda kept the ball on the Blazers side of the field for most of the game and outshot Walnut Creek 25-4. 

As lopsided as the statistics and field position were, Alameda only led 1-0 at halftime.  Part of it was the Blazers’ strategy—they played very defensively and pulled their forwards back to help guard their goal. 

Some of it was some sloppiness and lethargy by Alameda, who didn’t score until mid-way through the first half, when Alex Achramowicz took a nice feed from defenseman Carl Penney, broke through, and found the net on a hard ground ball shot that was too hot for the Blazers’ goalkeeper to handle. 

Meanwhile, first-half Alameda goalkeeper Markus Gilbert turned away the only real threat he faced, racing out of the penalty area to kick a ball away from an advancing Blazer. 

In the second half, Alameda did a better job of crossing the ball from its wings in front of the Walnut Creek goal, resulting in two more tallies. 

The first came early in the half, a Jano Heljo score on a cross from the right wing by midfielder Raymond Lee.  It was Heljo’s thirteenth goal in league play.  He had to leave the game after the goal because of the same recurring injury that had kept him out of the starting line-up, but kept his string alive of posting at least one goal in every league game so far. 

Alameda’s second goal of the second half was scored by Markus Gilbert on a cross from the left wing by forward Cameron Putterman. Other notable crosses included several excellent corner kicks by forward Cameron Burns, who gave his teammates great opportunities to score, but no one could capitalize.  That was pretty much the story of this game for Alameda—lots of opportunities, but not much scoring. 

The U14 Alameda United Select boys soccer team continues league play the weekend of Oct. 22-23 before traveling to Davis to participate in the Davis Legacy Lily Nisen Memorial Shoot Out tournament Oct. 29-30.