The Villages SC 2–1 SC United Bantams
The first round of the playoffs, at Greenwood Field in Asheville, North Carolina — a gusty pitch, rain early, blue sky by the half hour.
Lucas Mauro scored both.
We came in as the number one seed from the Southeast Division. The Bantams were level on points with Asheville City at the top of the South Central and came through on goal difference, arriving off a 3–1 win over Southern Soccer Academy Kings. They had a goalkeeper in Justin Segal with nine clean sheets in seventeen starts, and an All-American in their side with nine goals and fifteen assists.
It took us a while to settle. The Bantams kept the ball well early and were the more physical side for the opening half hour.
Then Mauro scored, from an unselfish ball by Ferreira — the commentators called it a fantastic goal and gave the assist as much credit as the finish.
1–0 at half time. Ferreira nearly made it two right before the break, a curling effort that clipped the near post.
Mauro got his second in the second half. The Bantams pulled one back and finished the match a man down, pushing for an equaliser deep into stoppage time that never came.
2–1.
"It took the Villages a while to settle into their game. The Bantams did a good job of keeping possession, especially towards the beginning. But then as the Villages settled down, they did what they do best — they capitalised on a crucial mistake, and on the hard work and tenacity of each other."
Our eleven: Mathias Tieppo in goal — a goalkeeper with professional experience in Brazil, and one the opposition commentary singled out before kickoff as "so good" — with Pedro Santos, Lucas Mauro, Frederico Ferreira, Leonardo Andrade, Alvaro Carrera, Mateus Ferreira, Nikolai Muench and Enrique among those starting. One change from the side that beat Tampa Bay.
Lucas Mauro created several dangerous opportunities offensively and score both of our goals. With strong in 1v1 situations and constantly looking to help defend, he is Man of the Match for our first playoff game.
That's a place in the top sixteen in the country, and the first of three playoff wins this summer — every one of them by a single goal.
Asheville SC next.
