Stockade FC rallies to tie Elm City Express
Kingston rallies from 4-0 deficit to earn point against reigning NPSL champion Elm City
Kingston Stockade FC rallied from a 4-0 halftime deficit to play the defending National Premier Soccer League champion Elm City Express to a 4-4 draw at Dietz Stadium on Saturday.
“We had to take pride in the performance we gave over the final 45 minutes,” Stockade coach David Lindholm said. “We had to stick together as a team, and they did that.
“They worked so hard for the fans, and for the badge, and I’m so proud of them and I’m so happy that they get a result out of this.”
A crowd of nearly 725 fans roared to life as Michael Creswick, who came in off the bench at the half, scored the tying goal in the 83rd minute.
Kingston looked poised to do more damage in the closing minutes after the Express were forced to play with 10 men when Tyler Carlos was issued a red card in the 85th minute.
Pedro Espindola broke away and nearly gave Stockade the lead in the 88th minute but his shot bounced off the right post.
Shortly after, a Juan Gotti corner was headed away by Elm City in front of the net.
Espindola kicked off Kingston’s rally, scoring on a header in the 54th minute after having another shot bounce off the post five minutes earlier, Espindola said he was just happy to walk away with the draw.
“This is the kind of game everyone wants to play in, when you’re losing 4-0 you got your head down and you’re thinking there’s no coming back from this,” he said. “After the first goal our confidence went up and we just put the foot in their throats.”
Espindola credited the rally to Lindholm’s halftime speech, recalling when the coach told them “this is not over” and the talent was “clearly here.”
“Then to come out and do what he did is just
amazing,” Espindola said. “I’m still shaking of excitement.”
After Espindola got them on the board, Stockade went on the attack and took control of the match with Victor Guirma scoring Kingston’s 2nd goal in the 72nd minute and Espindola striking again in the 77th to put Stockade within one.
Espindola said erasing the deficit was amazing.
“Proving to us and everybody that’s coming to support us, that we are able to come back from a 4-0 game against the defending national champions,” Espindola said. “It shows we have a lot of talent and that we can go further this year.
“It proves a lot of people (were) wrong about us.”
After both teams had chances early, Elm City looked unstoppable for the balance of the first half.
The Express capitalized on a pair of early set pieces, with Carlos finding the net in the seventh minute and Anthony Asante making it
2-0 in the 10th.
Elm City continued to keep Stockade off balance, and Shaquille Sanchez got the past Kingston’s defense in the 27th minute to give the Express a 3-0 lead as the crowd fell silent save for the rolling beat of the Dutch Guard supporter’s groups drums mixed with occasional cheers for Stockade and taunts for Elm City.
Things just got worse for Kingston when it conceded a fourth goal in the 43rd minute when Carlos stuck a penalty kick in the net for his second goal of the game.
Lindholm blamed the four goals on his squad coming out a bit flat.
“In the first three minutes it could have been 1-1,” Lindholm said. “Both teams had great opportunities and they scored on two set pieces.
“We let down our guard a little bit on two set pieces and they were up 2-0. And then we put our head down a little bit, and we allowed
them to get two more.”
He credited the rally to every player on the roster.
“I said let’s try to represent this club, this franchise, this city and the Hudson Valley and be the best team we can and I though they did that,” Lindholm said. “There are number of guys; Juan Parada ran things in midfield; a number of guys scored goals; and the subs who came off the bench made a difference for us.”
Lindholm said he wants his team to carry this momentum to Brooklyn next Saturday when Kingston faces the Italians at the LIU Brooklyn Athletic Complex at 7 p.m.
“We got three regular season games left,” Lindholm said.
He admitted Stockade, now 2-3-2, has a long climb to reach the postseason.
“We need a lot of points to qualify for the playoffs, and if we can put performances in like we did over the final 45 minutes, we will get there,” he said.