UTICA CITY OFFENSE ICES FLORIDA
UTICA, N.Y. – Eight different players found the net for Utica City en route to an 8-5 win over the Florida Tropics Sunday afternoon at the Adirondack Bank Center. Andrew Coughlin made 11 big saves in the win.
Ben Ramin broke the ice early, creating a turnover and sliding a shot past Tropics keeper Hugo Silva 1:48 into the game. Joey Tavernese doubled the lead a minute later off a restart pass from Jake Schindler. Lucas Montelares cut the lead to one seconds later. Lucas Texieira tied the game with a power play goal with 8:46 remaining in the first quarter. Mauricio Salles put City back on top with two minutes to play in the quarter after a beautiful feed from Mohamed Kenawy.
Utica continued to dominate in the second quarter and their efforts paid off. Bo Jelovac doubled City’s lead with a top corner blast at the 10:03 mark. Nate Bourdeau followed up with a tap in two minutes later. Guilherme Dos Santos pulled Florida back within one at the end of the half.
The second half started out quiet, with both teams trading chances. Slav Ubiparipovic ended the scoreless run at the 7:55 mark of the third quarter after another great run from Schindler. Dos Santos responded with his second of the match less than two minutes later.
Jose Luis Birche brought Florida back within one with a long shot that deflected off a Utica defender and into the net. Kenawy restored Utica’s two-goal lead with under five minutes to play, converting on a stellar bounce pass from Tavernese. Liam Callahan sealed the game with an empty net goal with 1:38 to play.
Utica City FC remains undefeated at home and their record is 3-1. The next match for the team is at home on Sunday, December 16 against the Harrisburg Heat. Tickets are available at www.empirestatetix.com or by calling or visiting the Box Office.
Scoring Summary
Goals | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final |
Florida | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
Utica City | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 8 |