PASL Week 2 Recap
21.03.2021
This weekend's matchups of week 2 of the PASL proved to be an eventful Saturday with two matches between Miami United v Florida Brothers and Palm Beach Stars v Naples United. Here is a brief recap of both games.
Naples United V Palm Beach Stars
After last week's confident 2-0 win vs. Boca Raton, PBS looked to get a second win vs. Naples. The young team has had an impressive season in the UPSL season before competing in the PASL. They placed 4th in the UPSL premier Florida south with 10 wins, 1 draw, and 4 losses, scoring 20 and allowing 15 for a goal difference of +5. Their playoff run ended in the Florida South final vs. Florida Soccer Soldiers 2-1. Meanwhile, for Naples United, it will be their first PASL match. Last week, they ended in a high-scoring 4-3 win against the Florida Brothers. This will be the first time the two teams play each other.
The two teams were evenly matched, but Raul Sanchez would open up the scoreboard in the 21' off a counter-attack from a stolen ball on the right side, and a low cross was enough for him to make it in. But ten minutes later, PBS gets a bouncy lob pass from the back that finds Bustamante 1 on 1 with a defender and times the bounce over the keeper who can only see the ball go over him. Before the half would end, both teams get a pair of red cards, a straight red for Perchy of Naples United for a hard foul, and Juan Arpino of Palm Beach Stars.
The second half would see more of the same as the first half but slower as both teams played with ten men. In the 58', Raul for Naples gets a nice pass in the box with space and bangs it in for Naples to take the lead. The gridlock would continue as both teams find the wing to attack, but nothing goes in the net. Before the final whistle, Goss of Naples United gets a second yellow, and three minutes later, Sierra of PBS gets a red for arguing back to the referee. Final score 2-1 Naples. Raul Sanchez leads the league with five goals after scoring two from this match. Palm Beach suffers their first loss in the PASL and will take on Miami United, and Naples will face Boca Raton in week 3.
Miami United v Florida Brothers
The Florida Brothers came off a busy last season competing in the UPSL and NSL before starting in the PASL. The Brothers finished the UPSL 2nd tier by winning promotion to the 1st tier, recently beating Kendall 2-1 in the Florida south final but lost the Florida Championship to Jacksonville 5-2. In the NSL, they didn't get past the quarterfinals after losing 6-1 to eventual NSL Premier winners Red Force. Their last PASL match was a promising comeback that fell short 4-3 to Naples United, and the Brothers look for their first win in the new league. Meanwhile, Miami United had a bye week for the first match and looked for 3 pts like FL Bros. Their UPSL 1st tier season ended in the playoffs in a heavyweight matchup vs. Florida Soccer Soldiers. FSS would win the Florida South semifinals on penalties.
The game was all Miami United since the start. They dominated possession, had silky passes, and a good 1st touch. The good playwork lead to a corner in the 12' wear a Miami header got blocked, but Florida Bros had two failed clearances, one by the keeper and one by a defender, and it lined up nicely for Shelton to get one in for United. They would still continue the gameplan of controlling possession by having bait and move passes. Whenever the Bros would go on an attack, Miami had midfielders and defenders who made plenty of standing tackles to turn over the ball. However, the Brothers did win many clean sliding tackles on their defensive wings to disrupt Miami's flow and even win some poor 1st touch passes by the boys in violet. Yet, those opportunities never went back of the net.
In the 2nd half, during the 56', Shelton gets in a 2 v 2 situation and makes a left cut on a defender and smashes it home to get his second on the night. The Brothers reacted by now getting into Miami's final third after making key substitutions and holding on to the ball under pressure. However, it wouldn't be enough. Despite Woo Ling getting a second yellow that left United down to 10 men in the 89', the Brothers couldn't rally a comeback as they fall 2-0.
Miami will take on Palm Beach Stars next week, a replay of the UPSL 1st tier Florida south match week 6, in which United won 2-1. Florida Brothers will be off next week and will return in match week 4 vs. Palm Beach Stars.
You can watch both matches in their entirety on the PASL TV youtube channel, done by our partner's TopSite agency.
