Weekend Recap: Oh for Two

Written By: Andrew Morgan

The Purple and Gold hit the road last Friday for the first of two matches away from Royal Oak, the first being the second and final regular season match up with RWB Adria on the year.  The match began pretty evenly, with both sides having solid chances on goal, but RWB Adria struck first and took an early 1-0 lead.  Things became a little more lopsided from there on out, as only a couple of minutes later Adria was awarded a penalty, which they converted, to make it 2-0. In the 61st, Adria continued to pile it on with another goal to make the score 3-0, and then scored again in 80th to make it 4-0.  Roughly five minutes later, Jonathan Barnes was taken down in the box, and Chukwudi Nwokoye slotted the resulting penalty into the back of the net for his first goal of the season to break the shutout, and the score of 4-1 held as the final result.

On Saturday, OCFC took to the road again, this time for a friendly match against NPSL Great Lakes Central Division side Kalamazoo FC. Kalamazoo controlled the match early on, having the first chances of the game, and scoring in the 25th to lead 1-0. OCFC had solid chances throughout the first half, but couldn’t convert, and the score remained 1-0 at half. With it being a Friendly, Oakland subbed off most of the starting eleven and made way for some new faces on the pitch,The teams continued to trade chances in the early stages of the second half, but neither side found the net until the 67th when Kalamazoo extended their lead to 2-0.  OCFC continued to battle throughout the remaining minutes, but failed to find the back of the net, and Kalamazoo added an additional insurance goal in the 87th to set the final score at 3-0.

A bright spot to the weekend were the debuts of several players for Oakland County FC: Anthony Tucker, Ian Walker, Ruggero Verzillo, Ludvig Asigo, Kevin Lencioni, Jeff Okerstrom, Julian Birge, and Chris Serwatka. This experience in game action before heading into the second half of the PLA Season will prove to be key.

The match against Adria is a tough one to swallow, but we had our chances to breakthrough in the match; Just didn’t take advantage when we needed to and we paid for it. In a 10-game season, each one is as important as the next. Can’t afford any more mistakes from here on out” stated coach Morana after the weekend roadtrip. “The friendly match was everything I anticipated. We got some players some much needed playing time and tried new things out. Can’t ask much more from them in that aspect.

What’s On Tap:

Oakland County FC returns to league-play on Wednesday, June 28th where they travel to Avondale High School (2800 Waukegan St, Auburn Hills, MI 48326) in a matchup vs. Carpathia FC of Macomb. Kickoff is set for 7:30 PM.

The next home match for your Purple & Gold is July 1st with a matchup scheduled against PLA East expansion side Toledo Villa, with kickoff set for 7:30 PM. Tickets can be purhcased here.