Erie Commodores FC Defeats Greater Binghamton FC Thunder 4-1
Erie Commodores FC returned to action today after an eight-day hiatus in league play when Greater Binghamton FC traveled east to finish the 2018 home and away series with the Commodores. Players were met with cool temperatures and light rain at kick off.
Erie looking to continue their unbeaten form in the league came into today’s match with the last meeting between these two clubs freshly in their mind as only 12 days separated the two matches.
The match started out with Erie controlling most of the possession, but it was Binghamton, who against the run of play, decided to play spoiler. In the fifth minute Binghamton on the counter found their striker Devon Lash isolated against Erie’s center back just outside the box. With plenty of space for Lash to get a touch and a look at the Erie goal, he struck, beating the Commodore’s goalkeeper Nicolau Neto near post.
Erie would continue to struggle with possession and passing of the ball for much of the next 25 minutes. With fifteen minutes before halftime the home side saw a change in tempo. Erie seemed sharper and much tidier with the ball as they continued to attack Binghamton’s back line. Minus two or three odd chances for Binghamton, Erie wouldn’t let the away side within 25 yards of their frame.
The breakthrough Erie was looking for came in the 40th minute and very slick passing led to the ball ending up on Binghamton’s right side just outside the 18-yard box at Gabriel Peres’s feet. Peres’s cross to the near post found a streaking Cam “Postman” Philpot, who buried the ball in the back of Binghamton’s net and leveled the score at 1-1.
Heading to the dressing room with the score line at 1-1 was something that Erie would not be expecting from the beginning. After a strong halftime talk from acting head coach Billy Colton, the Commodores found their stride right out of the gate.
In the 46th minute Steven Rigg found the back of the net from a very shallow angle off a beautiful cross from left back Casey Bartlett-Scott. Erie went ahead with a 2-1 lead and never looked back. The final two nails in the coffin for Binghamton came in the 60th minute when Philpot found the back of the net for the second time on the day off a cross from Tajay Reid. Rigg netted his second of the match in the 78th minute off an assist from Casey Bartlett-Scott.
Contributor: Lane King/Erie Commodores
Photo Credit: Jennifer White/Acacia Studios
