FC Baltimore Christos Defeats Virginia Beach City FC 5-0

By J’Mar Smith/FC Baltimore Christos

FCBC opened the season in Norfolk as they took on Virginia Beach City FC. 

Even with the cold frigid weather nothing would stop Baltimore from showing they are ready for another title run.  The home team was held in check the entire game.  They managed just nine shots with four on target. 

The first half was more of a feeling out process for both teams.  After a score by midfielder Spencer Hanks in the fifth minute, things were pretty stagnant.  Not shortly after, FCBC received an unfortunate injury to the lineup as defender Mal McGovern went down, forcing rookie defender Jordan Ehart to step up and make his NPSL debut.  FCBC didn’t miss a beat as they continued to apply pressure to Virginia Beach’s offense.  The first half would see FC Baltimore controlling time of possession and protecting the lead with a save by rookie goalkeeper Jailon Gillespie.

The second half saw the FCBC offense really start to pick up.  Midfielder Alejandro Arbaelaz scored the next two goals that were assisted by fellow midfielder Brandon Knapp, while the next was given to defender Ben Bender who passed the ball right to Arbelaez for the easy score.  Head coach Larry Sancomb was impressed with his team’s resilience and dominant performance in the second half. 

“We got better on our final third passing, we pressed the game better in the corners…we are an offensive machine but our defensive guys did a great job.” he said. 

Sancomb also applauded Bender and Ehart for their role.

“Jordan Ehart played freakin’ phenomenal….Ben Bender was really good in that ten spot and it gave them problems,” he added. 

Baltimore scored four of their five goals in the second half while shooting 17 shots with nine on target.  As the game moved into the later minutes FCBC poured it on, scoring the last two goals in the last seven minutes of the game.  Bender was responsible for both assisting on one to Knapp and scoring the final goal of the game.  Another change in the second half was the change at goalkeeper with Gillispie going out for the returning Michael Zierhoffer who had three saves. 

Arbaelaz led the team with two goals while Bender had two assists and one goal.

FC Baltimore Christos would go on to win the game 5-0, moving their record to 1-0 on the young season.  FCBC will have their home opener on Saturday, June 5th in a rematch against VBCFC at 7:00 pm.  Look out for more information on FC Baltimore’s social media pages.