A velvety plush green carpet and crisp autumnal breeze welcomed the Predator OT’s to their new home at Ciccarone field.  The beauty of the setting was only bested by the rugged good looks of the 20 to 30 Santangelo’s that were present at the night’s festivities.  Most were there to receive their very own B. Santangelo bobblehead entrance gift.  None were disappointed by the bobbleheads or the Predator’s play. 

The Predators won 3-1.  It was a convincing display of teamwork, in front of a record number of fans.  When ask if he was satisfied by his team’s performance, Gottlieb grimaced and responded, "I’m never satisfied."  In the post game interview Gottlieb summarized the game in the eloquent prose of a barrister as follows: 

"P. Luzak played the role of #10 well this evening and much of our attacking play worked through him. This was good.  I would like to see him on the ball even more.  While I am pleased with the clinical nature of our finishes tonight we need to create more goal scoring opportunities.  M. Santangelo (the younger brother of the fan favorite B. Santangelo) and J. Maruca are in good form and both were dangerous.  M. Santangelo played especially well.  I was also pleased that our forwards opened their accounts this evening.   Both D. Becattini and J. Ortiz scored lovely goals.  Nevertheless, we again had difficulty breaking a disciplined defense.  We need to execute more quickly and find ways to unbalance the opposition.  Defensively, we were solid for most of the game.   Our new signing, B. Santangelo, earned his wages as did J. Licari-Gattuso.  I feel we had several lapses of concentration and failed to keep compact at times.  Two factors contributed to this.  We were forced to put together a make-shift back line due to injuries (see article below) and the fact that the season is still young and we are not yet fully match fit.   Finally, I counted far too many errant passes that led to needless loss of possession.  Nevertheless, tonight I witnessed something on which we can build."

Game Statistics

WCU Predators OTM 3 - Roslyn Boys Club 1

Goals - Mike S 1, David B. 1, Julio O 1

 

 

 

Man of the Match

 

Two players will be missing from this coming Friday ’s encounter with Roslyn Boys club.  In a statement released this afternoon by J. Shaginaw, the team physio, two players will be absent from this coming game --   W. "Wak" Mahaniah and D. Procaccini.  The statement by Shag’s said, "Wak suffered a injury to his back and will require 2-3 weeks before he is fit to train."  "It was a rash challenge at the end of a reserve game that led to the injury," said Shaginaw.  The challenge was caught on tape and can be view here.  In regards to Procaccini’ injury the statement claimed that, "he was suffering from a severe hang-nail. " 

Late on Monday evening Coach Gottlieb signed highly rated defender B. Santangelo.  The late-night signing completed what Gottlieb called a, "long and arduous courtship."  Of his new signing, Gottlieb said, "our backline is chock full of talent; however, we just got a lot stronger."  "Blaise gives us some much needed piss and vinegar and woe be to the opposing player who thinks he can glide through our backline."  Apon hearing the news of the signing an unnamed player was heard to sigh, "thank god he signed with us, I don’t think I could take him playing for the opposition and kicking me for another season."

The Predators OT win the season opener 5-0.  John Maruca, player of the Match, scored twice to lead the team to a comfortable win.   "We didn’t play as well as I think we can, " said Coach Gottlieb, "however, it is a testament to the quality we have that we can play  a pedestrian game and win convincingly."  "Our first real test comes next week", continued the Manager.  "We play Phoenix Boys Club next week and we will have to be much sharper to get a good result."   In typical lawyer-speak the Manager balanced his review of the teams performance.  He said, "on the positive side our goalies did well; both Kevin and Bobby made saves that prevented goals .  "Up top David B. and Don G. and Peter R held the ball up, maintained possesion and did well to bring the rest of the team into the attack."   "Where we need some work is in our midfield and on our backline."  "In back we were a little ragged, disorganized and failed to win balls in the air" commented Gottlieb, " this is troubling."  "I am also concerned", said Gottlieb, with the "completely ordinary play of our midfield."  "Our midfield will have to be more industrious, win more balls, and be more creative." 

Game Statistics

WCU Predators OTM 5 - Upper Moreland 0

Goals - John M 2, Mike K 1, Mike S. 1, OG 1

Man of the Match

 

Following the close of tryouts on the evening of Monday, July 29 Coach Gottlieb announced the selection of captains for the Predators OT.  Michael Kistler and Chad Von Eck were selected by Coach Gottlieb to lead the team on field in their first season.    "Both Kist and Chad are natural leaders,"  said Coach Gottlieb. 

Predators OT Captains

Chad Von Eck	Mike Kistler

West Chester United Soccer Club (WCUSC) is pleased to announce the formation of a new premier Over-30 men’s team to be named the WCUSC PredatorsOTM.  The WCUSC PredatorsOTM will compete on Friday evenings in the Over-30 Intercounty Soccer League as well as in the USASA Over-30 National Cup.

All WCUSC PredatorsOTM home games will be played on the soon-to-be completed WCUSC turf-field at the West Chester Area Sports Association Complex! 

Additional details: Team Information

Team Uniform

Name Phone Email Head Coach Michael Gottlieb 215-850-7562 kopfc1@aol.com Trainer Karl Zandi 610-701-9822 kzandi@comcast.net Goalkeeping Coach Vince Dambrosio   vincedambrosio@comcast.net Physio Justin Shaginaw

# Pos Name City, State College  9 F Dave Becattini Landsdale, PA  Drexel University  19 G Vince Dambrosio Coatesville, PA  Millersville University  18 D Don Geist      0 G Bobb Hawkey Philadelphia, PA    1 G Kevin Justice West Chester, PA  University of Delaware  10 M/F Chris Keirsey  Trappe, PA    14 M/D Mike Kistler Gilberstville, PA  Widener University  16 D Juan Licari Philadelphia, PA    5 M/F Peter  Luzak      15 D Wakengo Mahaniah Philadelphia, PA    8 M John Maruca Downingtown, PA    17 F Jose Ortiz Philadelphia, PA    6 M Julio Ortiz Havertown, PA    3 D Drew Procaccini Audubon, PA   13 F Peter Reali      12 D Mike Reardon Malvern, PA   11 D Blaise Santangelo      4 M Mike Santangelo Exton, PA    22 M Justin Shaginaw Philadelphia, PA    2 M Chad VonEck Ardmore, PA University of Scranton  7 M Karl Zandi West Cheser, PA West Chester University

		Date		Location
Season Schedule:
	Game	Friday October 3rd @ 7:30PM vs. United German Hungarians		UGH
	Practice	Monday, October 6th @ 8:30-10:00PM		Ciccarone
		No game Columbus Day Holiday
	Game	Monday, October 13 @ 8:30PM vs. Black 47 Dynamo		Ciccarone
	Game	Friday October 17th @ 7:30PM vs. Vereinigung Erzgebirge		Ciccarone
	Practice	Monday, October 20th @ 8:30-10:00PM		Ciccarone
	Game	Friday October 24th @ 7:30PM vs. Plymouth Sr. Men Rowdies		Plymouth
	Practice	Monday, October 27th @ 8:30-10:00PM		Ciccarone
	Postponed	Friday October 31st @ 7:30PM vs. Upper Moreland Storm		Ciccarone
	Practice	Monday, November 3rd @ 8:30-10:00PM		Ciccarone
	Game	Friday November 7th @ 7:30PM vs. Plmouth Sr. Men Rowdies		Ciccarone
	Practice	Monday, November 10th @ 8:30-10:00PM		Ciccarone
	Game	Friday November 14th @ 7:30PM vs United German Hungarians		Ciccarone
	Practice	Monday, November 17th @ 8:30-10:00PM		Ciccarone
	Game	Friday March 27, 2009 @7:30PM vs. Phoenix Sports Club		Ciccarone
Winter Break
	Far Post Indoor League - January-March			Far Post
	Practices restart Late February.			Ciccarone
	National Cup Competition - March 2009			tbd