This weekend, Doxa take on PSA Elite in what will be the first ever CSL Charity Shield game. Both teams did fantastically well in the National Championship this summer and it will be a battle between two of the best amateur teams in the country!
All support is very much welcomed – we hope to see you all there!
Doxa 7 – 0 PSA
Saturday’s performance at the Village will go down as one of the best of the season from Doxa. From Brian Burdue’s heroics in the first half that kept the home team on top, to a range of top class goals, the entire Doxa team put in a terrific shift. There were some concerns prior to kick-off that numbers might be down, but that turned out to be a very minor issue. Raul Palomares scored from the half way line after spotting the keeper off his line, while Alex Bengard scored an absolute rocket top corner, with his right foot.
Doxa return to league action next weekend with a trip away to Pateadores.
Goals
1 – Kyle Holland (Bryan Byrne)
2 – Raul Palomares (Steve Chirgwin)
3 – Bryan Byrne
4 – Bryan Byrne (Alex Bengard)
5 – Sean Lockhart (Andrew Villalobos)
6 – Alex Bengard (Raul Palomares)
7 – Andrew Villalobos (Raul Palomares)
Starting Line-Up
1. Brian Burdue
2. Andrew Villalobos
3. Nas Koubouras
4. Steve Chirgwin
5. Sean Lockhart
6. Eric Meister
7. Bryan Byrne
8. Alex Bengard
9. Joe Cartlidge
10. Raul Palomares
11. Kyle Holland
13. Zach Roberts
14. Ritchie Million
15. Noah Rothstein
Doxa cruised into the quarter final of the CSL cup with a convincing 5-0 win over Internazionale at Manhattan Village on Saturday night. It was a tough fixture for lower league Internazionale, but they put in a very strong performance and kept the score at 1-0 until halftime.
Man of the Match: Kyle Holland’s performance on the line!
Goals:
1 – Andrew Villalobos (Ilia Nazarov)
2 – Masa Kaneda (Raul Palomares
3 – Steve Merker (Raul Palomares)
4 – Ilia Nazarov (Eric Meister)
5 – Noah Rothstein (Steve Merker)
Starting Line-Up
1. Brian Burdue
2. Andrew Villalobos
3. Nas Koubouras
4. Pete Hazdovac
5. Mat Davis
6. Eric Meister
7. Bryan Byrne
8. Yuki Kaneda
9. Masa Kaneda
10. Ilia Nazarov
11. Ryan Taylor
12. Steve Merker
13. Kyle Holland
14. Raul Palomares
15. Noah Rothstein
16. Devin Toohey
Doxa got back to winning ways with a strong 7-0 win at Faye Ross middle school in Artesia. Playing on grass, it turned out to be a tougher game than normal for the Doxa midfield who reverted to long balls instead of short passes that kept getting stuck in the longer surface.
Doxa got on the board early, when Andrew Villalobos sent a ball through the middle to Byrne who lobbed it over the onrushing keeper. The same combo added the second when Villalobos cross was headed in by Byrne. Steve Merker got the first of his Doxa career when he drilled an effort past the keeper from just inside the box. And the half time score was 4-0 when Andrew Villalobos hit a screamer from outside the box into the top corner.
The second half produced more chances for Doxa, but it wasn’t until the 70th minute when the fifth came. Marcus Watson played a ball down the wing to Byrne who squared a cross to the head of Merker for his second of the game. Byrne sealed his hat-trick off a Zach Roberts cross with 10 minutes to go, heading it off the post and in. And the final goal came when Merker unselfishly squared a ball to a wide open Byrne to tap home. Team work by Merker!
Doxa return to the same venue next week for a league encounter with Artesia’s first team.
Goals:
1- Bryan Byrne (Andrew Villalobos)
2- Bryan Byrne (Andrew Villalobos)
3- Steve Merker (Bryan Byrne)
4- Andrew Villalobos (Alex Bengard)
5- Steve Merker (Bryan Byrne)
6- Bryan Byrne (Zach Roberts)
7- Bryan Byrne (Steve Merker)
Starting Line-up
1. Brandon Avery
2. Mat Davis
3. Marcus Watson
4. Joe Cartlidge
5. Eric Meister
6. Alex Bengard
7. Bryan Byrne
8. Andrew Villalobos
9. Steve Merker
10. Steve Chirgwin
11. David Adams
12. Ritchie Million
13. Zach Roberts
Saturday night at the Village produced a stellar performance from Doxa, running out 8-2 winners. Many are actually comparing this performance to one of the best of the season! A full squad of 18 showed up for the game, including club captain Derk Droze who made his first appearance of the season – capped off with a goal. Andrew Villalobos also scored twice, getting his first goals of the season.
Goals scored by Andrew Villalobos (x2), Derk Droze, Gabe Valencia, Steve Chirgwin, Alex Bengard, Ricky Figueroa and Ilia Nazarov.
Doxa 4 – 1 Santa Ana Winds
Doxa got back to winning ways after several weeks without a game, down in Santa Ana. With plenty of rain hitting the southern California region in the past few weeks the field was extremely muddy in spots, which ended up causing some problems for both teams.
Doxa were the first to score. A corner from the right found Ilia Nazarov on the back post, who knocked the ball across the box to Pete Hazdovac. Hazdovac took two swings, eventually connecting with the ball and putting it in the back of the net. Doxa’s back line endured a tricky first half, with Marcus Watson’s attempts to make the Olympic handball team getting a boost. Half time saw the score at 1-0.
Shortly into the second half, Doxa took a 2-0 lead off a spectacular goal. Mat Davis lofted a free kick that fell on the right hand side of the box, where Bryan Byrne volleyed the ball with pure accuracy against the inside of the post and back across goal, right into his path. Technically it was a goal and an assist. Santa Ana got back into the game less than five minutes after that, when Watson won the yellow jersey by giving away a penalty. Brian Burdue down gracefully to the right, only for the Santa Ana player to knock it to the right (it was a good dive!)
Doxa rallied in the final 20 minutes, and Nas Koubouras got his first assist of the season when he put Pete Hazdovac through on goal. The big Croat took a touch and finished neatly past the keeper. In the last 10 minutes of the game, Kyle Holland came off the bench to settle the game with a deft goal. From around 30 yards up, Holland lofted a ball over the keeper and into the back of the net.
Next up for Doxa is a home league game on Saturday versus PSA at Manhattan Village.
1. Brian Burdue
2. Mat Davis
3. Andrew Villalobos
4. Marcus Watson
5. Nate Reeves
6. Nas Kourouras
7. Bryan Byrne
8. Ilia Nazarov
9. Pete Hazdovac
10. Steve Chirgwin
11. Ryan Taylor
12. Richie Million
13. Zach Roberts
14. Yuki
15. Masa
16. Kyle Holland
17. Arron Craggs
The CSL Cup Final turned out to be a very entertaining event Saturday night at Manhattan village. Both teams were unbeaten in league play all season long going into the game, with Doxa having won the Premier Division and FC Anaheim having won the First Division, ensuring that it was always going to be a very competitive final.
And it looked like their might have been a shock on the cards when FC Anaheim took the lead 30 minutes in. A through ball left an Anaheim striker 1 vs 1 with Brian Burdue and he chose to lob it over Burdue into the back of the net. Shortly before half time, Tai Doan was taken off after suffering a pretty nasty concussion. FC Anaheim went into half time with a 1-0 lead.
John Gerrard chose to change things up for the second half, and reverted to a 4-3-3 formation. The momentum was definitely in Doxa’s favor, only for several great opportunities to be squandered. But the breakthrough finally came off a Sean Lockhart free kick. The ball was swung in, and captain Derk Droze was on hand to nod the ball in on the back post. The game really turned on its head soon after, when an FC Anaheim defender received a second yellow for taking down Eric Meister as he beat him down the line. Doxa really started to take control.
The go-ahead goal came through the same man again, Droze. He received the ball just inside the FC Ahaheim box, took a touch wide to his left before drilling a left foot half-volley past the keeper. The third goal came through an unlikely source when right back Devon Toohey picked up the ball 35 yards from goal. Toohey took one touch forward before belting a screamer into the top right corner. And the game was sealed up with 10 minutes to go when Steve Chirgwin picked up a ball in a very similar position, only to rip a dipping shot into the left bottom corner.
Any of the final three goals could have been mentioned as choices for goal of the season. Full credit goes to a very hard working FC Anaheim team who themselves had an excellent season. They are sure to be a team to watch out for in the coming seasons as they look to become a Premier Division team.
The win captured a very fulfilling repeat double in the CSL for Doxa Italia.
Goals:
#1 – Derk Droze
#2 – Derk Droze
#3 – Devon Toohey
#4 – Steve Chirgwin
1. Brian Burdue
2. Eric Meister
3. Eddie Pinto
4. Trevor Persson
5. Devon Toohey
6. Josh Tudela
7. Tai Doan
8. Ricky Figueroa
9. Steve Chirgwin
10. Derk Droze
11. Sean Lockhart
12. Ilia Nazarov
13. Brandon Avery
14. Bryan Byrne
15. Dave Adams
Doxa will play host to FC Anaheim in this weekends CSL Cup final. The game is slated for a 7pm kick-off at Manhattan Village this Saturday, June 5th.
A win for Doxa would clinch this seasons CSL League and Cup double, a repeat of last seasons performance.
All supporters are welcome to come watch the game, entry to the venue is free.
PSA 1 – Doxa Italia 3
Doxa battled to a hard fought win in Sundays CSL semi-final over a strong PSA team. The first half was back and forth with both teams creating some decent openings. But it was Chad Evans who opened the scoring in the 32nd minute. Josh Tudela, making his debut, played a through ball to Steve Chirgwin. Chirgy hit a cross shot to Derk Droze on the right and the captain squared a ball back into the path of Evans. Evans drilled the ball low and hard through a crowd of bodies and into the back of the net.
Shortly after half time, PSA had a few decent chances to level the game only for Brandon Avery to make some decent saves. The back line was also holding solid and a number of tough tackles kept PSA at bay. The second goal came off a PSA error when the GK tried to play a pass to his right back. Tudela read the pass, a chipped the keeper from 25 yards. The ball hit the inside of the post and bounced in. From there, Doxa started to take advantage of break-aways, and that is how the third goal came. David Adms managed to jump in fronnt of a PSA cross, blocking the ball with his back. The ball deflected to midfield where Bryan Byrne picked it up and beat 2 PSA defenders, dribbling right to the end line before cutting a ball back across the front of goal to a wide open Tudela. Not a bad debut from the former LA Galaxy midfielder.
The final will be played in early June.
Goals:
#1 – Chad Evans (Derk Droze)
#2 – Josh Tudela
#3 – Josh Tudela (Bryan Byrne)
1. Brandon Avery
2. Nas Koubouras
3. Nate Reeves
4. Trevor Persson
5. Dave Adams
6. Josh Tudela
7. Alex Bengard
8. Chad Evans
9. Steve Chirgwin
10. Derk Droze
11. Bryan Byrne
12. Raul Palomares
13. Sean Lockhart
14. Andrew Villalobos
15. Marcus Watson
Unfortunately, I missed the first 15 minutes of the game as I stopped in to Bristol Farms to pick up a boxed dinner (mashed potatoes and chicken) and missed the first 2 goals of the game! As a result, the following report was copied from ESPN!
Doxa Italia 3 – PSA Reserves -1
Doxa Italia went into the the knockout round of the Raul Briones Cup facing PSA Reserves. Doxa previously played this same squad defeating them 3-0 with a limited squad. Tonight they had a strong side starting the match and it showed right from the starting whistle. PSA is an organized side and has some good talent but struggled defending against the precision passing and ball possession of Doxa Italia.
Meister's celebration included lifting up his jersey!
Doxa put pressure on the PSA defense immediately taking many shots and making the PSA GK work to keep Doxa off the scoreboard. Andrew Villalobos took a smashing shot from 25 yards out only to have it blocked by the PSA defense. The ball landed at the feet of left back Eric Meister who proceeded to smash a volley from 35 yards out that S curved pass the sprawling PSA keeper into the upper 90 of the right side of the goal. Easily the goal of the year (so far) – voted on by the Grunions B&G Doxa Italia supporters club.
Doxa Italia continued to pressure up top which led to a great give and go that had Andrew Villalobos alone at the top of the box smashing a shot off the near post and into the net giving Doxa a 2-0 lead after 25 min. PSA did not give up and started to create their own chances. The Doxa defense (*COUGH* Nate Reeves *COUGH*) was struggling clearing the ball and one errand clearance found it’s way to a PSA MF that passed to a wide open FW who was one v one with Doxa GK Brian Burdue. The PSA forward took a little too long to shoot the ball and Burdue was able to smother the shot with a diving save to his left saving Nate Reeves butt once again.
Shortly after The PSA GK was hitting his stride in drop kicking 80 yard bombs into the Doxa defense.. One of these bombs was brilliantly volleyed into the path of an on rushing forward who was alone on goal against Doxa GK Burdue. With Burdue rushing out making himself as big as possible, it forced the forward into a quick outside of the foot shot that just went wide of the post. At this point it was the Andrew Villalobos show who must have had 15 shots in about 10 min. With the PSA keeper making some good saves to Andrew smashing it off the post to just not scoring the all imp0rtant 3rd goal.
The 2nd half began with PSA having a positive outlook being down 0-2 and the Doxa defense just being lazy. The combination of Nate Reeves thinking about after match sushi to PSA pushing forward led to PSA having some possession in the Doxa half of the pitch. No real chances were had and Doxa GK Brian Burdue had little to do except freeze in the brisk So. Cal night air. 2nd half changes were made with Tai Doan, Derk Droze and Sean
Kyle "Evgeni Plushenko" Holland?
Lockhart coming in to help get the all important 3rd goal. It didn’t take long as a Sean Lockhart corner was flicked on from the near post to a wide open Kyle Holland who headed home the 3rd goal from 3 yards out. Cracks were made that Kyle Hollands new mullet hair cut was styled after Russian ice skater Evgeni Plushenko. The similarities are SHOCKING.
PSA were still not giving up and especially with the Doxa Italia defense being lazy and an ill-advised back pass from Devin Toohey to GK Brian Burdue who was busy counting the stars through the rain clouds violently disconnected a clearance that landed right at the feet of a PSA FW at the the top of the box. With Burdue rushing out the PSA F crushed a shot just outside the reach of the diving Burdue but not being rewarded with a goal as the ball smashed off the outside of the far post. Shortly after Doxa MF Tai Doan decided to give PSA a chance by back passing to a PSA FW who was alone on goal against GK Burdue. Burdue rushed out forcing the PSA FW to adjust his attack and missing an open goal shot. PSA still did not give up as a foul just outside the box created a chance that PSA did not squander and a Doxa defense just watched as the tall PSA FW headed home the goal that would kill the Doxa clean sheet. It would be too little too late as the final whistle blew and Doxa once again came out as the winners.
Starting Line Up:
1. Brian Burdue
2. Nate Reeves
3. Eric Meister
4. Devin Toohey
5. Craig Reynolds
6. David Adams
7. Steve Chirgwin
8. Ricky Figueroa
9. Kyle Holland
10. Andrew Villalobos
11. Ryan Taylor
12. Sean Lockhart
13. Tai Doan
14. Derk Droze
