Picou’s Two Goal Night Gives San Diego Boca FC 2-2 Draw With Bay Area Ambassadors

June 6, 2010 - PRLog -- June 5, 2010 -- San Diego, Ca -- San Diego Boca FC (3-2-1) resumed league play on Saturday night with a 2-2 draw against Western Division rival Bay Area Ambassadors (2-3-2) at Helix High Soccer Stadium in front of a boisterous crowd of 1,379.

Boca FC dominated play early, creating several chances to take a quick lead. In the 7th minute, forward Justin Picou had a shot saved, and in the 16th minute came sliding across the six-yard box to connect on a cross, but sent it just over the crossbar. Abraham Gomez and the Boca FC midfielders controlled the middle and continued to create opportunities to score.

Despite being outplayed, the Bay Area Ambassadors were the team to strike first. A physical challenge caused Boca FC to turn the ball over deep in their defensive third, leading to an opportunistic goal from Manuel Vasquez to give Bay Area the 1-0 lead.

A few more physical challenges from both sides escalated the level of intensity on the field. In the 40th minute, players from both teams were shown yellow cards for pushing one another after play had been stopped. Things quickly settled down, with Bay Area heading into halftime clinging to a 1-0 lead.

San Diego Boca FC Head Coach Papo Santos clearly used the right words to get his players motivated, as Boca FC came out even stronger to start the second half. Only 5 minutes into the second period, Justin Picou chest-trapped a pass, turned, and volleyed a shot from 30 yards out to beat the Ambassador keeper.

“We were talking about how far the keeper was playing off of his line,” said Picou. “I saw an opportunity and I took it. The ball started going up, then just dropped and hit the back of the net.”

With the score knotted at 1-1, Boca FC continued to outplay their opponents. Picou again found the net in the 55th minute, heading home a cross from the right side to give San Diego its first lead of the match. In the 66th minute, Picou nearly missed a hat trick thanks to a goal line clearance from a Bay Area defender. Boca FC continued to create scoring chances, but they were not able to convert to widen their lead.

Matt Mitchell of the Ambassadors was given a second yellow card in the 67th minute, giving the home team a one-man advantage. Boca FC continued to move the ball well and had good looks at the goal, but a long Ambassador clearance put pressure on the defense. A jumble in Boca FC’s 18-yard box ended with Bay Area somehow finding a way to get the ball in the net, tying the score at 2-2.

Although Boca FC was unable to claim three points for a win tonight, they have shown significant improvement in their play overall, pleasing the home crowd. The communication is better, as was the ball movement, organization, and commitment giving Boca FC fans much to be excited about.

Boca FC defender Mike Grba, who played an outstanding game, said, “There has been a lot of progress for this team from when we began. We played very well tonight and deserved a better fate. Tonight’s result was unfortunate, but the performance was encouraging.”

San Diego Boca FC remains in third place in the Western Division of the NPSL, only five points behind the Sacramento Gold, who they will face during the last regular season match.

San Diego Boca FC heads to Southern Oregon to face the Fuego on June 19 before returning home to Helix High Soccer Stadium on Saturday, June 26th to take on Sonoma County Sol with kickoff set for 7:00pm.

In a friendly indoor soccer exhibition, San Diego Boca FC will face off against the San Diego Sockers at the Del Mar Arena on Sunday, June 13th for a 5:00 pm match.  

About San Diego Boca FC

San Diego Boca FC is a member of the National Premier Soccer League, which is in its ninth year of operations.  It has expanded each year, and currently sits at 34 teams spread across the country into five divisions. MLS clubs Chicago Fire and New York Red Bulls have each established reserve teams that are members of the NPSL. For further information about the NPSL, visit www.npsl.info.

For tickets, team and fan information, call (619) 221-8023 or visit www.sdboca.com

Matt Gorham
Director of Media Relations
San Diego Boca FC
619.221.8023

www.sdboca.com
www.facebook.com/sdboca
www.twitter.com/sdboca