FC Sonic – Lehigh Valley NPSL Soccer

Ricky Mucelli has been terrorizing opponents all summer long, and Saturday night against the visiting TSC Maryland Red Devils, the FC Sonic forward continued to do just that, triggering a 4-1 Sonic victory and  keeping the Sonic on top of the NPSL’s Keystone Conference standings with four regular season games to play.

Mucelli scored the first goal of the night in the 16th minute. and later assisted Cody Antonini, for his first goal of the season, on an unbelievable individual effort as Mucelli slipped past two Red Devil defenders and calmly rolled the ball in front of the frame for an on-rushing Antonini tap in at the 52nd minute. “Ricky was very strong tonight, and generally gave the Maryland defense headaches the whole match long,” said Sonic coach Dave Weitzman.

The Maryland side, although outplayed for much of the first half, made things interesting in the 43rd minute as Gordon Templeman made a deft change of direction and hit a left footed screamer to the far post that bounced into the goal to level the score at 1-1. The dismay of the 400 or so FC Sonic supporters only lasted about a minute, as Leslie Fraser collected the ball 30 yards from goal and, with a defender draped all over him, Fraser fired a blast into the back of the Red Devils net for a 2-1 halftime lead.

Antonini closed out the scoring at the 86^th minute with his second goal of the night, receiving a nice feed from Sky Rimmelee and blowing past two defenders, dribbling 60 yards to goal and slipping the ball between the Maryland keeper’s legs to round out the convincing 4-1 victory.

FC Sonic Lehigh Valley (7-0-1) come right back with another home match at Lehigh’s Ulrich Sports Complex on Tuesday, 7:30pm, against local rival FC Reading Revolution (3-0-5).

The remaining Sonic schedule:

Home matches – FC Revolution 6/29; Pocono Snow 7/3; Erie Admirals 7/9

Away matches – NJ Blaze 7/6

On Saturday, June 19, FC Sonic Lehigh Valley took on the the FC Buffalo Blitzers in a NPSL rematch after last weekend’s 1-0 Sonic victory. The 3pm matinee started with both teams having a couple of early chances, the best coming in just the 5th minute when Sonic midfielder Carlington Lamont missed a golden opportunity off a beautiful Cody Antonini cross.

Buffalo opened the scoring in the 16th minute when the Sonic defense failed to mark Blitzer Andy Theit as he made a diagonal run from left to right and calmly finished a cross from outside the box. Although FC Sonic had the better run of play throughout the match. they just could not seem to capitalize on their efforts. As the Sonic pressed for the tie late in the match, Buffalo finished the game off with a second goal in the 80th minute. The Blitzers earned the 2-0 victory, aided by a tremendous effort from their goalkeeper, and man of the match, Dan Panaro.

Without much time to regroup after the season’s first loss, FC Sonic traveled to Erie to play the undefeated Admirals (last season’s NPSL national finalist) in a Sunday afternoon clash of the two top teams in the Northeast Keystone Conference. The first half saw both teams getting decent opportunities to score with the best chance coming to the Sonic early off a Ricky Mucelli shot that got past Danny Mudd, the Erie keeper, but clanged off the far post. The intensity increased as both sides realized the importance of a good result, but the halftime whistle saw the score knotted at 0-0.

The second half had FC Sonic getting the better of possession and putting the Admirals on their heels. Finally, in the 87th minute, Sonic defender James Graf found a Jordie Ciuffetelli throw in at his feet inside the six yard box and smashed it home. The Sonic held on to regain sole possession of first place.  The win was the result of a tremendous team effort and Sonic goalkeeper Charlie Sales deservedly recorded his first NPSL win and shutout.

FC SONIC, now 6-1, return home this Saturday evening to host the Maryland Red Devils at 730pm, at the Lehigh University Ulrich Soccer Stadium.

On Tuesday night, in Columbia, MD, the NPSL’s FC Sonic Lehigh Valley persevered and scored late to beat the home Maryland Red Devils, 1-0, earning three more valuable points to stay on top of the table in the Northeast Keystone Conference. With just less than twenty minutes remaining, Sonic substitute Eric Miller broke free on the right flank and delivered a pinpoint service, allowing forward Ricky Mucelli to unload a right footed side volley that scorched the back of the net in highlight film fashion.

The game, similar to recent matches, witnessed FC Sonic winning the possession battle but once again struggling to finish on their chances around the goal. The Sonic players, however, have continued to create scoring opportunities. ”The goals will come,” said head coach Dave Weitzman. ”Yes, I’m concerned that we have not been capitalizing on our early chances. We are allowing our opponents to stay in the game, and one of these days, in this league, somebody will make us pay for it. At the same time, we do stress working hard for all ninety minutes and, to the players credit, they seem to do just that in each match.”

Early in the game, both sides had several terrific scoring attempts, including a Maryland shot that rattled off the crossbar. After a scoreless first half, the Sonic made a few adjustments in the second half, relying on speedy subs like Miller, as well as Dan Scavone and Ryan Wetherhold. Dan Odenwelder played a wonderful match as he dominated the central midfield, winning many tackles and helping the Sonic side to change its point of attack. ”Every one of our players have contributed to our early success. It hasn’t been just one player,” Weitzman noted. ”We are very happy getting three points on the road but there is little time to celebrate as we now must pay close attention to the challenges that lie ahead.”

FC Sonic hit the road again for Saturday’s return leg against Buffalo followed by a clash with the Erie Admirals on Sunday. The Sonic return home on Saturday, June 26, when they host Maryland in a 7:30 pm start at Lehigh’s Ulrich Soccer Stadium.

On a pictuesque Friday night at Lehigh University’s Ulrich Soccer Stadium, FC Sonic Lehigh Valley improved to 4-0 on the regular season and claimed sole possession of first place in the Northeast Keystone Conference of the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL), capitalizing on a late penalty to beat Buffalo FC (1-2) 1-0.

FC Sonic controlled possession through much of the game, but found themselves pressing late in the game for the difference maker. “The boys played really well defensively tonight,” said Sonic coach Dave Weitzman.  “I thought we did some really good things on and built up play in our middle third of the field but we struggled with creativity and finishing inside the attacking third.  We’ll have to pay more attention to these things in the coming weeks but I’m really proud of our guys for keeping their composure and never quitting. In the NPSL, games are often won in the final moments and tonight was one of those nights.”

Nearing the end of a game that appeared headed for a draw, Sonic’s Carlington Lamont claimed ball possession near midfield and beat two Buffalo defenders before putting a neatly timed through ball to Hunter Norton. Norton took the first touch towards goal with only open space and the Buffalo keeper, Dan Panaro, in front of him. As Norton took his next touch, Panaro came off his line, but missed the ball and took Norton down inside the box for the penalty kick.

In front of a frenzied crowd of over 600 FC Sonic supporters, including AYSC, MIDWAY MANOR and FC LEHIGH players who were special guests at the match, Lamont calmly took the penalty kick and beat the Buffalo keeper for his fourth goal of the season.

On Tuesday evening, FC Sonic travels to Maryland to play the Red Devils at Howard County Community College. The Sonic hit the road again for Saturday’s return leg against Buffalo followed by a clash with the Erie Admirals on Sunday.  FC Sonic return home on Saturday, June 26, when they host Maryland in a 7:30 pm start at the Ulrich Soccer Stadium.

We (FC SONIC 3-0-0 9pts – tied for 1^st with Erie Admirals) are heading into the heart of our season as we play 4 games in 10 days. The boys are looking forward to playing in front of our home crowd on Friday at Lehigh’s Ulrich Soccer Stadium. We have had our challenges the past couple of matches but good teams find a way to win and our boys have been resilient on the pitch. We haven’t been down in a match this year but we have had opponents play us very competitively and level the score on several occasions. However, our players have taken it upon their shoulders to do everything they can to earn the those most important 3 pts.

James Graf, Cody Antonini, Leslie Fraser, & Carlington Lamont have played very well (consistent) early in the season and Jordie Ciuffetelli & Ricky Mucelli have been on another level as they are both playing with a lot of confidence right now. Sam Bishop, Ryan Hess, & Jim Feimster have been steady and provided the veteran leadership, needed, while Ryan Wetherhold has provided a spark for us late in matches.  Sam Feldbaum (Lafayette) & Matt Kosik (Lehigh) will start on Friday night for the first time this season.

I think Buffalo FC will be our best competition to date and they proved that last season as they beat us twice, home & away. We will need to play a cleaner game on Friday with making fewer mental mistakes. It should be a very entertaining match and I’m sure we’ll have a very good crowd behind us as it’s FC LEHIGH Youth Night. In addition, AYSC will also have a team or two at the game supporting our squad.

After the Friday game, televised “Live”on Service Electric Channel 50,  it’s back on the road for 3 as we play Maryland on Tuesday & then travel to Buffalo and Erie next weekend.

* AJ Barnold & Luke Calvano will not be available for the match (2 players that started the past 3 matches) – AJ was “red carded” in the Ponoco Snow game on Sunday and Luke will be out of the country (Honduras) for his internship.

On Sunday afternoon, June 6, FC SONIC (3-0-0, 9 points) traveled on their deluxe Transbridge bus to East Stroudsburg University to play the Pocono Snow (2-2-2, 8 points) in a Northeast (Keystone) Conference derby.  As the team traveled the 45 minutes north on Route 33, the dark clouds above seemed to shows signs of a major storm and just maybe a sign of things to come.

Just prior to the kickoff, the heavens opened and buckets of rain came down almost sideways. The match started in the downpour and, within the first 15 minutes, the visitors found the back of the net. Carlington Lamont did a balancing act on top of the 18 to keep possession and then slipped the ball to a wide open Ricky Mucelli, who calmly placed the ball in the goal for the 1-0 lead.

With the opening goal in the books, so too was the rain, leaving behind only a seemingly insignificant wind. As play continued, the Snow was awarded a free kick from 40 yards out and in front of the FC Sonic bench. As the ball was struck by Roy Thompson, Sonic keeper Sam Bishop got caught off his line when the ball danced in the wind and found its way into the back of the net for an equalizer.

The Sonic seemed to regain their composure and possession as play in the midfield began to open up. Jordie Ciuffetelli streaking down the left flank and towards goal with the ball at his feet and confidently slid the ball to the far post and beat the Snow keeper for the 2-1 lead.

At the start of the second half, things got exciting on the pitch as AJ Barnold was red carded for a late challenge and sent off. The Snow quickly leveled the score at 2-2 on a tally by Jason Rudder and the Sonic team, down a man, once again had their backs against the wall. However, the veteran Sonic players dug deep and responded as Leslie Fraser raced inside the 18 with the ball and was awarded a penalty for a careless tackle. FC Sonic captain Ryan Hess stepped up to the spot and placed the ball into the lower left corner for the 3-2 lead, and the visitors held on for the eventual win.

The Sonic are now tied for first place with the last year’s national runner-up Erie Admirals atop the Keystone Conference. Following the victory, the Sonic players stopped by Sonic Drive-In on Route 33 for a celebration of their 3-0 start to the season. The players and organization would like to thank our supporters and “Reggae Nation” for braving the elements and displaying their passion and loyalty for the team.

FC Sonic will host Buffalo FC on Friday night June 11 at 7:30pm at Lehigh University Ulrich Soccer Stadium. The game will also be televised “Live” on Service Electric TV2 Sports.