Wolves 00 win all 3 ECNL Florida Showcase games
Game #1: Wolves 00 vs. Jacksonville Armada FC
Final Score: Wolves 00 win 2-0
Goal Scorers: Ali al-Qadi (unassisted), Bryce Schaner (unassisted)
Game 1 Summary:
The Wolves 00 team controlled most of the first half action which saw Ali al-Qadi score an unassisted goal in the 34th minute. The first half ended 1-0 with a clean sheet as goalkeeper Kyri Wixom made several strong saves to keep the scoreline at 1-0. The 2nd half saw Armada FC come out stronger with more possession, but in the 65th minute the Wolves had 3 consecutive shots on goal resulting in Bryce Schaner putting the 3rd shot off the post from 18 yards out to increase the lead to 2-0. The game finished 2-0 as the Wolves switched goalkeepers at halftime and Brian Ostapenko made several spectacular saves to preserve the shutout for the Wolves.
Game #2: Michigan Wolves U18/19 vs. East Meadow SC U18/19
Final Score: Wolves 5-0
Goal scorers (Assists): 36′ – Schaner (Turko); 53′ – Kuhlman (Schaner); 63′ – Schaner (al-Qadi); 66′ – Schaner (Check); 83′ – Midgley (Silberg)
Game 2 Summary:
The first half of today’s game saw a ton of action as both squads had early chances. East Meadow displayed a bunch of direct play thru their speed striker only to be shut down by Alex Bowser and Noel Sampa. In the 36th minute, the Wolves broke out and played the right flank where Tyler Turko hit a one-time cross right to Bryce Schaner on the 6 yard line for a beautiful header finish. The first half finished 1-0 with Brian Ostapenko keeping the clean sheet.
The second half, however, saw the Wolves take complete control with a combination of great build up from the back line and tremendous possession by our central midfielders breaking down EMSC on multiple occasions. The Wolves 2nd goal had Schaner finding Kuhlman on the 6 yard line for a one touch finish, al-Qadi playing a thru ball to Schaner for his 2nd goal, Schaner completing the hattrick off a feed from AJ Check and the 5th goal from Drake Midgley off a great assist from Adam Silberg. Kyri Wixom was seldom tested in the 2nd half as he once again kept the clean sheet. Wolves are now 2-0-0 with 7 GF and 0 GA. Bryce Schaner was recognized by the ECNL as the Man of the Match with 3 G and 1 A and awarded the MOTM ECNL Patch.
Game #3: Michigan Wolves U18/19 vs. FC Boston Bolts U18/19
Final Score: Wolves win 3-0
Scorers (assists): 33′ Silberg (Midgley); 70′ al-Qadi (Gonzalez, V.); 85′ Schaner (al-Qadi)
Game 3 Summary:
The third and final game in the Florida Showcase looked like that…both teams were a bit sluggish with both teams committing a bunch of turnovers. The Wolves struck first in the 33rd minute as Drake Midgley dangled a defender to drive toward the near post before dropping the ball back towards the PK spot where Adam Silberg put the ball into the back of the net for a 1-0 lead. The first half ended that way as Brian Ostapenko continue the shutout trend for our 5th consecutive half at the Showcase.
The second half showed the depth of the Wolves as the possession dramatically shifted to our squad as the boys moved the ball around the field with possession building from the backline linking up with the midfielders. In the 70th minute, Vinny Gonzalez found himself overlapping from his outside back position all the way down to the Boston endline before serving a ball back to the 8 yard line where Ali al-Qadi full volleyed the ball into the back of the net for the goal of the weekend and a 2-0 lead. From that point on, the Wolves controlled the rest of play with one final goal coming in the 85th minute when al-Qadi served a cross from 30 yards out where Brent Schaner headed the service into the side netting for a 3-0 lead. The game finished with this scoreline as Kyri Wixom came in at half as GK and completed the Wolves 3rd shutout of the weekend.
The Wolves finished the ECNL Florida Showcase with a perfect record of 3-0-0 scoring 10 goals and securing 3 shutouts to run their record to 7-1-1 on the season and 1-1-1 in ECNL Midwest Conference play. The squad will have scrimmages in both January and February before resuming ECNL play on March 2nd and 3rd at home against the WNY Flash.
