West LA League

Doxa, for once, came out victorious in a tough West LA semi final match. Full time saw the game finish 1-1, meaning the game went directly to penalties. Brian Burdue ended up being the hero as he saved the final penalty to give Doxa the victory.

Doxa’s goal came in the second half when Kyle Holland found space on the left, beat his defender and sent a cross into the box. Doxa managed to keep the ball alive in the box, until Derk Droze knocked a ball over his head and into the path of the on-rushing Ilia Nazarov who drilled the ball home.

Next week, Doxa will play the Final at the same venue, West LA College.

Goals:
#1 – Ilia Nazarov (Derk Droze)

1. Brian Burdue
2. Nas Koubouras
3. Eric Kaufman
4. Eric Meister
5. Dave Adams
6. Ilia Nazarov
7. Andrew Villalobos
8. Chad Evans
9. Steve Chirgwin
10. Derk Droze
11. Bryan Byrne

12. Raul Palomares
13. Kyle Holland
14. Devon Toohey
15. Marcus Watson
16. Ricky Figueroa
17. Tai Doan
18. Craig Reynolds

Sundays win ensures a guarenteed top 4 finish for Doxa, and a place in the West LA semi-finals. With a strong line-up to choose from, John Gerrard went with a 3-5-2 to start the game. Captain fantastic Derk Droze took the weekend off to go surfing in Hawaii, but rumor has it he spent his Sunday on Google Maps trying to catch some of the action (either that or Ilia Nazarov hooked him up with some Russian spy satellite connections!) The first half was very uneventful and finished 0-0. Doxa changed style to start the second and went out in a 4-4-2, with Gerrard choosing to try use his wingers more.

It turned out to be an effective move and it didn’t take long for the deadlock to be broken off a Steve Chirgwin cross. The hot headed playmaker laid the ball on a plate for a wide open Eric Meister 6 yards out, but being the generous guy he is, Meister decided to touch it on to the wide open Bryan Byrne at the back post who slotted it home. The second came soon after, from a lobbed ball to the top of the box. Eric Meister out jumped two men to win the header. The ball landed at the feet of Byrne who played a one-two with Steve Chirgwin, and hit a shot past the keeper from the top of the box.

Craig Reynolds and Tai Doan received “deserved” yellow cards after being subbed into the game, for walking onto the pitch two soon (go figure). Raul Palomares also got his name in the book for walking away from the referee as Doxa were taking a throw in. Apparently there is a different standard of refereeing in the West LA league! Steve Chirgwin, meanwhile, started doing some wind-sprints up along the right win. Very unusual for the stay at home center midfielder!

The third goal came from a great cross from the right. Ilia Nazarov beat two guys and drilled a peach of a ball to the back post. With Meister lining up to volley it into the back of the net, the defender decided he would take the credit and smashed the ball into the roof of the net! Doxa did give up a goal near the end of the game, but there was nothing the diving Brian Burdue could do about it as a freekick was drilled top corner. He did make some other terrific saves, including a fantastic save in the first half to keep the game at 0-0.

Goal 1: Bryan Byrne (Raul Palomares, Eric Meister)
Goal 2: Bryan Byrne (Eric Meister, Steve Chirgwin)
Goal 3: OG (Ilia Nazarov)

1. Brian Burdue
2. Devon Toohey
3. Chad Evans
4. Eric Meister
5. Dave Adams
6. Bryan Byrne
7. Raul Palomares
8. Marcus Watson
9. Trevor Persson
10. Ryan Taylor
11. Steve Chirgwin

12. Ilia Nazarov
13. Tai Doan
14. Craig Reynolds

Doxa got an important win Sunday to move themselves back into the promotion places in the West LA league. The winning goal was scored by Devon Toohey off an Ilia Nazarov cross. The right back is no stranger to the opposing teams area, but rarely puts his efforts on target. This time around, he managed to let the ball hit his leg and roll into the empty net (keeper was down injured). After that Doxa took control of the game, nothing else to report on this one!

Goal 1: Devon Toohey (Ilia Nazarov)
Goal 2: Ilia Nazarov (Gabe Valencia)
Goal 3: Andrew Villalobos (Ryan Taylor)
Goal 4: Andrew Villalobos (Kyle Holland)
Goal 5: Ilia Nazarov (Bryan Byrne)

1. Brandon Avery
2. Devon Toohey
3. Chad Evans
4. Eric Meister
5. Dave Adams
6. Ilia Nazarov
7. Ricky Figueroa
8. Gabe Valencia
9. Andrew Villalobos
10. Ryan Taylor
11. Sean Lockhart

12. Derk Droze
13. Kyle Holland
14. Bryan Byrne

A very understrength Doxa team lost on Sunday, the first loss for the team in any competition in nearly a year. Gabe Valencia scored Doxa’s only goal off a Bryan Byrne cross. More dreadful refereeing hampered Doxa’s efforts. One has to question how opposing players can curse at the referees in Spanish and get away with it, while Doxa players get red carded for the same offense in English. Go figure I guess!

Huge props to Brandon Avery again who kept the score down. With Doxa attacking with as many players as possible, there were several breakaways that should have resulted in goals only for Avery’s goalkeeping! Outside of that it was a disappointing Sunday.

Doxa Italia – 5
Botofugo/LA Blues – 2

Coming off a great Coast League win over PSA the night before. Doxa Italia was called into action again against Botofugo/LA Blues in the West LA Simon Bolivar League. Match started off with Doxa taking all of the play and Blues slowing the pace as much as possible. Didn’t work for long when Steve Chirgwin took a pass from Dave Adams and smashed a shot into the upper 90 from 25 yards out in the 10th min. With Doxa clearly controlling the possession the game slowed to a crawl as the Blues had nothing to bring to the match.

A huge problem with the WLA league is the officiating and it needs to be addressed. It can be quite atrocious at times and today’s match was no exception. With both teams paying $100 per game for the refs. The quality should be far superior than what it is. It is absolutely unacceptable and several teams have voiced exactly that. This match was not an exception as blown calls happened against both teams. One (of many) officiating blunders happened when Doxa defender Nate Reeves intercepted a ball and made a run up the right when the Blues forward attempted to slow him down with some contact that could or could not be a call for Doxa. The ref blew the whistle and signaled for a free kick for Blues shocking just about everyone in the stadium. The ensuing free kick was played short and then lifted to the top right of the six yard box, Doxa GK Brian Burdue elected to stay on his line and the big LA Blues forward was able to fend off defender Nasus and head home a goal to even the score 1-1.

The rest of the first half was all Doxa as attack after attack led to chances with Raul Palomares getting possession inside the box several times only to come up empty. End of first half 1-1.

The halftime speech was centered around Burdue not coming off his line during the Blues goal, the many missed chances for Doxa and the slow pace of the match, which is what Blues wanted. The 2nd half would be much different then the first with Doxa dictating the pace. Right from the kickoff a scoring opportunity presented itself when Chirgy knocked the ball to Ryan Taylor who hit a volley just off target. Dave Adams was controlling the midfield a spraying the ball around at will creating many opportunities.

The 2nd goal for Doxa came about 10 min in when Sam Allen pushed the ball up the right side and crossed it to a wide open Eric Meister who one timed it past the Blues keeper.

Blues had an opportunity when the Doxa defense let it’s guard down and a misplaced clearance landed at the feet of the Blues forward who was one v one with Doxa keeper Burdue. With Nate Reeves closing in hard from behind the Blues forward took a touch to the inside at the top of the box. That’s when Burdue came rushing out to close the angle. The forward was able to avoid Burdue but pushed the ball too far wide to create a shot as Nasus was able to close him down and the ball went harmlessly pass the end line for a goal kick.

Doxa created wave after wave of attack. The 3rd goal came when Craig Reynolds knocked a ball cross field from left to right to Ryan Taylor who juked the defender by heading it to himself. The defender was able to catch Ryan but a crafty delay gave Ryan just enough space to beat the keeper at the near post.

The 4th goal came when a Craig Reynolds centering ball was at the perfect pace and height for Ricky Figueroa to attempt a bicycle. Perfectly executed but aimed a tad off target, the bike landed right at the feet of Gabe Valencia who took the ball to the end line and centered it to Derk Droze who smashed home.

The 5th goal was a Doxa defensive clearance that made it’s way to the wide open Derk Droze at the center circle. Derk took off and chipped the keeper from 20 yards out finishing off the Doxa scoring.

Doxa squandered many scoring chances with Gabe Valencia missing several oportunites and Ricky Figueroa hitting yet another one off the post.

Blues did have one more chance when a ball sent over the top leaving the forward one v one with GK Burdue yet again. With Burdue coming out closing the angle, the Blues forward decided to try and bend the ball to the far post. Burdue had read this perfectly and was in full stretch to his left when shot was mis-kicked as the forward kicked the ground during the strike. With the GK fully committed the ball bounced awkwardly over his outstretched legs and into goal giving LA Blues their 2nd of the match.

The final whistle sounded soon after and another victory was had for Doxa Italia.

Doxa Italia has defeated Matadores 5-2 in a previous match and LA Blues/Botofugo 5-2 currently. Matadores are the current champions and Blues are the runner-ups (and previous season’s champs) of the Simon Bolivar WLA League. Though the playoffs are a different beast as both of the teams will most likely have completely different players on their rosters. Such is life in an unaffiliated southern California amatuer soccer league.

1. Brian Burdue
2. Nate Reeves
3. Nas Koubouras
4. Eric Meister
5. Dave Adams
6. Craig Reynolds
7. Raul Palomares
8. Sam Allen
9. Ricky Figueroa
10. Ryan Taylor
11. Steve Chirgwin

12. Derk Droze
13. Gabriel Valencia

Goal #1: Andrew Villalobos, assist Chad Evans
Goal #2: Ryan Taylor, assist Ilia Nazarov
Goal #3: Sean Lockhart, assist Sam Allen
Goal #4: Steve Chirgwin, assist Derk Droze
Goal #5: Ilia Nazarov, assist Sean Lockhart

After a long night out on Sunday, I completely forgot what happened in the game and I am also not sure about the squad! If anyone wants to fill in the gaps please do so in the comment section!

Starting Line Up:
1. Javier Barragan
2. Nate Reeves
3. Eric Meister
4. Devin Toohey
5. Craig Reynolds
6. Marcus Watson
7. Steve Chirgwin
8. Chad Evans
9. Kyle Holland
10. Andrew Villalobos
11. Ryan Taylor

12. Ilia Nazarov
13. Ricky Figueroa
14. Derk Droze
15. Sam Allen
16. Sean Lockhart

I’m not sure when the last time a Doxa team was shut out in a league game, but Sunday’s game finished in a stalemate. Both teams had good chances to win it, and the last 15 minutes was all one way with Doxa carving out a few half chances. What killed the game was the rolling clock, esp with the opposing team using any means to waste time. The game also seemed to be cut short by 10 minutes. All be it, still a decent result and the team remains unbeaten!

Starting Line Up:
1. Brandon Avery
2. Trevor Persson
3. Marcus Watson
4. Devon Toohey
5. Nas Koubouras
6. Dave Adams
7. Steve Chirgwin
8. Chad Evans
9. Sean Lockhart
10. Kyle Holland
11. Derk Droze

12. Sam Allen
13. Ricky Figueroa
14. Ryan Taylor
15. Craig Reynolds

Doxa started the West LA League with an impressive 5-0 win on Sunday. The first goal came courtesy of center midfielder Raul Palomares. Palomares picked up a clearance after Craig Reynolds had crossed from the right, and he drilled a shot into the bottom corner from 25 yards out. Eric Meister got the second goal of the game before half time. He played a short ball to Kyle Holland, who returned the favor by finding Meister’s head with a pinpoint cross.

The second half saw much of the same with Doxa easily dominating the game. The third goal came shortly into the second with Eric Kaufman getting on the end of an Andrew Villalobos pass. Villalobos picking up where he left off before he headed to Germany a few months back. Sam Allen, making his first start of the year for a Doxa team, capped off a solid performance with two assists. Sean Lockhart scored both goals, with his second being goal of the game. After picking up the ball on the right, Lockhart chipped the keeper and cheekily celebrated before the ball hit the back of the net!

Starting Line Up:
1. Javier Barragan
2. Nate Reeves
3. Craig Reynolds
4. Eric Meister
5. Nas Koubouras
6. Dave Adams
7. Trevor Persson
8. Eric Kaufman
9. Sean Lockhart
10. Kyle Holland
11. Raul Palomares

12. Sam Allen
13. Derk Droze
14. Ricky Figueroa
15. Tai Doan
16. Andrew Villalobos