Samba start weekend off right with 2-0 downing of Strikers

The big weekend kicked off Friday night with a game against the new look Las Vegas Strikers. The Strikers came into the game leading the league in goals scored, boasting powerful attackers and an offensive oriented mindset similar to that of the Samba. The early action was back and forth with the Samba controlling the pace, but unable to penetrate the game Strikers defenders. What ensued once the team settled into its game, was a display of free kick artistry. A Vegas foul in the 26th minute, found Mark Hogenhout and Joel Sanchez diagramming a free kick from 23 yards out. Sanchez took a two foot Hogenhout tap and fired off an unstoppable bullet to the top left corner of the Strikers net, and the Samba were off and running.

In the 81st minute Hogenhout struck gold of his own on a kick from 30 yards out, a curving shot that arched magnificently again into the upper left corner, leaving the Vegas keeper in disbelief.

Behind dominant denials of attack from fullback Tommy Hernandez and his line mates, Samba netminder Matt Biggam was rarely tested, but came up big when challenged, posting his first shutout in the 2-0 victory.

Showdown with Rooks Saturday night ends with satisfying 2-1 victory

It began in the eighth minute as many Samba games against the Rooks have, with Chico deftly capitalizing on a miscommunication between Samba defenders for a shot over the charging Biggam for a 1-0 lead. The Samba sagged for much of the first half, not displaying the crisp passing and angled runs that are the hallmark of the Samba attack. Though frustrated with their inability to organize the offense early, the Samba kept pressing the Rooks defenders with pushes to the Chico box. In the 43rd minute, Jeffrey Stepan's dribbling drew a three man crowd of Rooks to the right corner, but Stepan managed to serve a cross to the sprinting Hogenhout who  hammered home the equalizer at 1-1.

A combination of halftime adjustments from Coaches Artie and Jack Cairel, and the teams steadfast desire to defend their home turf, had the Samba firing on all cylinders to begin  the second half. In marked contrast from 2004, in which the Samba also started off hot, the depth of this years team gives the Cairel's the ability to pour talented fresh legs into the attack, in their system of merit based play. The terms "starters" or "subs" become almost interchangeable, without a noticeable dropoff in play between the two.

This system paid dividends in the 52nd minute, when Wondolowski who had come off the bench with Stepan late in the first half, headed in the game winner off of a dropped ball forced by tenacious defender Nick Kowba. Following the goal, the "soccer educated" home crowd erupted with chants of "S-A-M-B-A," sensing the importance of this rivalry, and coaxing maximum effort to the final whistle. 

Great effort from defenders Chris Bessemer and Kowba to take commanding charge of balls in the air, along with the leadership and distribution from Hogenhout and the midfielders, kept the Samba in possession of the pace to the end. Speedy runs by forwards Adam Smarte, and Ronnie Silva helped force some of Chico's 29  fouls, to only 11 for the Samba.

Unlike speed and height, intangibles can only be evaluated by watching a player play, and as overheard by one person scouting the game, "those guys really showed some heart and fight out there in that second half."  That spirit has made this team a dangerous contender from the Salinas Valley.

The Samba take their league leading 6-1-1 record to the road next weekend for games against two more California rivals, the Sonoma Sol and the Sacramento Knights.

The Samba return home June 11th against the San Diego Pumitas