FC Baltimore Falls to Northern Virginia United 3-0
It was another frustrating night for FC Baltimore 1729, and it comes at the hands of another fellow expansion club in a 3-0 defeat. Last Sunday, FC Baltimore lost 1-0 from a stoppage time penalty kick goal against Charlottesville Alliance FC. The story of that match was not only the last second game-winner, but the fact that FC Baltimore weren’t able to generate too many chances. The story was very similar Friday evening in Leesburg, Virginia. The club faced off against Northern Virginia United FC, who just came off of a 2-1 season opening win against FC Frederick.
Things started quickly as the first five minutes looked promising for FCB. The pressure was applied, and Northern Virginia appeared to have their hands full on the defensive end. Once those first few attacks were dealt with, NVUFC didn’t seem to have much trouble the rest of the evening.
Come the 22nd minute, the game saw its first goal. R.J. Moore for Northern Virginia made an incredible strike towards goal from outside the 18. The ball whizzed over Ben Sauer’s hand and hit the bottom of the crossbar, and it somehow stayed out of the net. It seemed like the threat was over. However, nearly 15 seconds later, NVUFC won the ball back, and Giovanni Vasquez drilled one from nearly the same distance over the, yet again, outstretched hand of Ben Sauer.
13 minutes later, Shaka Bangura had a say, and curled one from distance as well. The score was 2-0 heading into the break, and both goals were a sight to behold.
No goals were scored in the second half until the 94th minute. Defenseman Jake Campbell took a 50 yard run with the ball and wasn’t even touched until reaching the final third. By that time, the ball was in the back of the net, finishing the scoring at 3-0.
FC Baltimore looked sluggish, uncreative, and overall frustrated on the night. The squad was very out of character Friday night, not to mention three yellow cards being shown to Jade Mesias, Cale Thorne, and Lucas Mendes.
FC Baltimore head coach Brandon Quaranta had a number of thoughts to share after the game.
“Completely and utterly disappointed in the performance. I thought we didn’t do anything well enough to get a result tonight. On the road against a good team, and the boys have to make a decision whether they want to change that or keep going with that level of work they put in today.”
Even though this team has had some atypical performances recently, one cannot forget how this team started the season. The club scored 16 goals in three matches before this 180-minute drought. The quality is there; it just needs to be released again. The team will look to bounce back with Virginia Beach City FC coming to town Saturday, June 9th.
Last time these two teams faced off, FC Baltimore won 5-2 and gave VBCFC their first regular season loss in two years. Virginia Beach currently sit atop the Mid-Atlantic Conference, so this could be a huge opportunity for FC Baltimore if they want to make a push for the playoffs.
Contributor: Christian Taylor/FC Baltimore
Photo Credit: Christian Taylor/FC Baltimore
