Royals Topple Crown Villa in Friday Night Thriller

As the 2nd half of the Select League season prepared to kick off, Woodland FC welcomed Crown Villa to Charles J. Stump Memorial Park for a rematch of the opening day fixture of the Select League. In the first chapter of the story of Woodland's title defense, they used their experience and clinical finishing to beat this Villa team 4-0 away from home.

Crown Villa was eager for revenge. Not only had they improved their roster since opening day via the midseason transfer window, but they had gelled, grown as a squad, and found deadly momentum in the form of Lukas Lubingo's goals, Gage Cameron and Ocean Comfort running the midfield, Henri Kagay's leadership, and Harrison Ennis' goalkeeping. At stake was 2nd place in the table, and leg up on chasing down 1st-place Olathe United, as well as the inside track on KCAFF Super League qualification.

Both teams needed this result, and the momentum gained from this going into the Kansas State Cup competition would be immense. The game far exceeded the hype.

The match began with Woodland enjoying some attacking joy down either flank through the work of Tate Lancaster and Isaac Yang. With dribbling and crossing skill of Yang and Lancaster, Woodland drove in several menacing crosses that the Villa defense dealt with admirably. The rebounds would be picked up by Jake Ashford, Federico Verlicchi, and Sean Thomson who kept the attacks recycling and the pressure building.

History doesn't repeat, but it certainly rhymes. The breakthrough occurred the same way it did in the first chapter. Isaac Yang won a free kick on the right side of the field, about 40 yards from goal. Federico reprised his role of free kick taker to whip an inswinging ball into the box. Givler rose highest to flick the ball on to Sean Thomson who redirected it off the post where it rebounded directly back to him to tap in. The Royals knew how big the moment was in their title chase as the entire bench cleared and rushed down the sideline to celebrate with the goalscorer at the corner flag. The Royals got their early lead attacking the Woodland Drive end of the field, and with the club flag fluttering in the Kansas Spring air, everyone knew that it was game on in Shawnee.

1-0

Crown Villa began attacking with renewed vigor and purpose. New forward Colin Sandefeur made himself a proper problem for the Woodland defense at times with his physicality and ball pressing. Gage Cameron and Ocean Comfort kept trying to find ways to break through the Woodland defense, and if not for the alert play of goalkeeper Naguib Nassir, they surely would have found the breakthrough earlier. It took Brian Vidal on the Villa left wing to take the initiative. He used some excellent dribbling to get past Gage Pemberton and race into the box. Pemberton made a risky challenge trying to play the ball just as Vidal pushed the ball ahead. Vidal was brought down on the left side of the box, and the referee called for a deserved penalty kick. Ocean Comfort stepped forward to take the attempt, and put past Nassir to knot the game up.

1-1

Both teams would have their chances throughout the rest of the first half, none closer than when Tate Lancaster fired a forceful shot straight off the crossbar from a tight angle that Givler had fed to him on a through ball. Villa would come close through Lubingo who scooped up an overhit cross, dribbled into shooting distance, and fired just over the bar. The crowd could sense how important the next goal was in this match, and the tension was palpable, but no more breakthroughs were forthcoming as the halftime whistle sounded.

1-1

Halftime

Woodland would begin strongly in the second half when Gage Pemberton battled for a header with Lubingo, won it, and knocked it down to Isaac Yang. Yang collected the ball, looked up, and switched fields to Lancaster who had beaten his man with some fine dribbling. Lancaster raced into the box, and just as he was about to make the decisive move with the ball to either cross or shoot, he was clipped from behind, and tumbled to the ground. Referee called penalty, as the crowd roared. Woodland captain Chandler Givler handed the ball to Federico Verlicchi, who barely managed to squeak it past the diving Ennis.

2-1

Halfway through the 2nd half, Derrick Carson, Jake Ashford, Chandler Givler, Isaac Yang, and Federico Verlicchi would all be substituted for Jake Hilpertshauser, Ben Johnson, Diego Mendoza, Brett Jackson, and Joseph Caughron. Each of these subs would play crucial roles in seeing out the match.

Ben Johnson (Impact Player of the Match) stood strong in the shadows of his own penalty box numerous times to deny goal scoring opportunities to the Villa wingers, and when able, contributed multiple key passes up front to Caughron to keep the Villa defense on their heels. Deigo Mendoza tackled well in the middle of the park, controlling the pace of the game with his intensity and work rate. He was crucial in winning several key tackles to disrupt attacking moves. Jake Hilpertshauser kept things moving on the right wing, setting up several key throw ins, and through balls down the channel. Brett Jackson used his leadership abilities and to keep everyone calm, press the defenders at the right time, and help maintain possession. Joseph Caughron sprinted for nearly 25 minutes straight, keeping the ball deep in Villa territory, winning headers, playing physical, and disrupting any rhythm Villa tried to gain.

But it was Sean Thomson, fighting through an injury late in the game (and while Woodland was out of subs), and with a goal in hand, put in tackle after tackle to dominate the midfield throughout the match, and earn himself joint man of the match honors with Tate Lancaster who bled minutes off the clock late by fighting for the ball at the corner flag, and provided consistent pressure down the Woodland left for all 90 minutes. The match would end in Woodland's favor at 2-1. A massive result going into the league break for State Cup.

With the win, Woodland improves to 7-2-1 (23pts) and maintains 2nd place. Their next match will be this coming weekend in the Kansas State Cup (day and time still TBD) at Compass Mineral Fields in Kansas City, Kansas.

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