Still smarting from the embarrassment of a…
By Dylan Butler
Frustration and anger fueled the Brooklyn Knights boys’ Under-17 soccer team in a 30-minute pre-game meeting Monday night at the Metropolitan Oval before its Super Y-League clash with the Westchester Flames.
Still smarting from the embarrassment of a loss to the Ironbound Sport Club two days earlier, the Knights took out their frustrations on the Flames in a 7-0 win under a torrential downpour.
“Saturday we lost, 7-2, and (tonight) we came out angry and hungry,” said Vassili Roussopoulos, who scored a pair of first-half goals for the Knights. “We went over and over the mistakes we made (before the game) and tried not to do the same things today.”
Against Ironbound, the Knights led, 2-0, but then stopped playing their style of soccer and gave up seven straight goals. Roussopoulos was determined not to let that happen again.
The senior from Staten Island put the Knights (4-3-0 Metro Division) in front, 1-0, in the 27th minute, slotting in a feed from Kevin Mesa, and following a left-footed rocket from Kevin Kelly, the Tottenville senior put the Knights in front, 3-0, in the 40th minute.
“We keep it short and on the ground,” Roussopoulos said. “That’s how we keep possession and wear the other team down.”
Kelly, a senior at Holy Cross, unleashed a cannon from 30 yards out that beat Flames keeper Joe Adamiak low to his right.
“That was luck of the Irish, you could say,” Kelly said. “I went up to take a shot and a kid from behind shook me off a little and I slipped and fell, but the ball took a nice skid, a nice shot. A goal is a goal, though. I meant to shoot it.”
Despite a seemingly safe lead at the half, the Knights continued to pour it on the Flames, whose Monday performance was a shadow of the side that lost to the Cosmopolitan Rough Riders, 1-0, July 5.
Lamin Jammet scored the first of his two second-half goals in the 50th minute and was quickly followed by John Alvarez’s chip that put the Knights ahead, 5-0. After Jammet’s second goal, Danny Gray capped the scoring for the Knights, who take on the Flames (3-6-0) again July 23.
“We just kept our heads up and came out to play the way we used to play,” Mesa said. “We had more confidence this time and touching the ball more relaxed. Everything worked out.”
Reach Sports Editor Dylan Butler by e-mail at TimesLedger@aol.com or call 718-229-0300, Ext. 143.
