DPR began the season with an easy win against Berklee.Things began slowly for DPR as they came close on several chances and looked like a team that was rusty and had some new players. Things started to gel, however, and the goals came with some regularity. As predicted before the game, Ilyas had a toe-poke goal.
Berklee was also fortunate not to open the floodgates, as Dan and Alessandro began thundering shots off the keeper's shins that he seemed to know little about. Alessandro finally opened his account late in the first half, with a nice strike.
This is not to imply that it was a one-sided affair. Edimar made a number of fantastic saves, coming out and really closing the angles down on Berklee shooters. He also held on to lose balls nicely, and avoided ceding any costly rebounds. This kept us in a position of control. And Val and Paul kept things bolted at the back to prevent us from giving away easy chances.
With the score at half-time 5-0, started the second half with the usual sag in energy. After a lack-luster series of plays, Nick got whistled for a hand ball in the area which was harsh, as it was clearly ball to hand. The resulting penalty made it 5-1.
DPR took that to get more motivated, and the goals started to flow again. The highlight of the match came late in the match with a real team goal featuring several quick passing combinations starting out of the back, up the left hand side, and punctuated with a return ball to Paul who had made the run all the way to the far post on the right to slide it in low past the keeper. It was a classy way to put an exclamation mark on a good win. Our effort, however, will need to be stepped up next time.
Final Score:
DPR 10- 1 Berklee
Team Record: 1-0-0
