Colorado Rush won their United Premier Soccer League home opener by a scoreline of 2-0 against FC Boulder with some late game heroics by goalkeeper Sh
Colorado Rush won their United Premier Soccer League home opener by a scoreline of 2-0 against FC Boulder with some late game heroics by goalkeeper Shailer Thomas who fought off three sound chances by FC Boulder in the final 20 minuets of the the match.
Griff Dorsey opened up the scoring in the 11th minute when he was able to sneak behind the defense and get on the end of a clever through ball that he placed low and firm into the back of the net to give Rush the early lead. Just before the first half came to an end, Ben Gaido hit a strike from twenty yards out that took a slight deflection off a defender, which sent the ball up over Joey Vella the FC Boulder keeper to make it 2-0 in the 44th minute heading into halftime.
FC Boulder came out firing in the second half after having only one real scoring chance in the first half. In the 73rd minute the Rush offense mounted a counter attack and rang one off the crossbar. The final 20 minuets of the match FC Boulder put the pressure on the Rush defense, Rush keeper and man of the match, Shailer Thomas was brilliant in denying three dangerous scoring chances in the 70th, 77th and 89th minute to save the home opener shut out.
Rush Coach Joe Webb said, “We have work to do but we have a good group. We have the right players.”
Rush dominated in the first half and were led by veteran play from Nick Blanco and Colin Clark who seemed to be all over the field creating problems for the FC Boulder defense. Even with the surges from FC Boulder late in the first and in the second half, Captain Nic Hartman and Peter May anchored the defense allowing only a few chances on goal, where keeper Shailer Thomas was up to the test each time.
The young Griff Dorsey will be a player to watch with this team going forward. He’s got great vision and doesn’t shy away from taking on defenders one on one. In addition, the first half pairing of Nick Blanco, Ben Giado and Griff Dorsey leading the offensive attack, seemed to be a very cohesive grouping and worked seamlessly together in the first home game.
This was a solid start at home for the Colorado Rush(1-0-1), with the next test coming away against Logrones SC on Sunday, March 26th.
