So close… This past Saturday, the NY Magpies, the reigning Division I National Champions traveled down to the Sarasota Polo grounds to take on the Florida Redbacks. Last year, up in NY, the Magpies absolutely destroyed the Redbacks. This year, the Redbacks were ready.
Saturday was a perfect day for Florida footy. It was a pleasant 92 degrees with a light breeze and moderate humidity…NY had been training in 50 degree weather. However… at the start of the first quarter, one could not tell that NY minded the heat. NY was absolutely dominant. They controlled the middle and were actually quite impressive to watch with players in perfect position. Lots of nice hand ball movement and kicks to the chest for easy marks. The Redbacks looked stunned at the NY level of skill. With maybe 7 minutes gone, the Redbacks had allowed 3 goals… it looked to be a long day… however… the Redbacks adjusted. They tightened up on the Magpie players to keep them from getting free. Suddenly… there were lots of contested balls and the Redbacks were winning them. Delivery was rather sloppy but the Redbacks appeared to have weathered the initial storm.

Quarter 1
NY Magpies 3 3 21
Florida Redbacks 0 1 1

The second quarter saw a different Redbacks team. They were fired up and played with a belief that they could hold their own against the talented Magpies. The battle for the middle was evenly contested with great play from the Redbacks rotating rucks and rovers. When the Magpies came forward, they were hit hard. There were no easy shots. As a result, the Magpies were quite surprised as the Redbacks started to close the gap going into the half.

Quarter 2
NY Magpies 4 8 32
Florida Redbacks 3 2 20

The third quarter saw more of the same. Now it was obvious that the Redbacks were feeling fired up. They were the fitter side as NY was suffering in the Florida heat. Florida began to dominate play. Unfortunately, the NY defense was impressive and never ever allowed any marks near the goal. The Redbacks kept intense pressure on the NY defense but found it difficult to get shots off and NY continually was able to put together a few kicks to get the ball out of their end. It would have been nice if the Redbacks could have capitalized more on their dominant quarter but none the less, the Redbacks felt they could really win the game as the quarter ended with the Redbacks down by just one goal.

Quarter 3
NY Magpies 4 11 35
Florida Redbacks 4 5 29

The fourth quarter started as the 3rd had ended. The Redbacks were fierce to the ball and suddenly there was a shot on goal… and the game was tied at 35!!!! The Redbacks were exhilarated!!! However, NY did not get the message that it was time to fold. In fact, the Redbacks received a sudden taste of what a National Champion is made of… NY turned it up a notch. Suddenly they dominated the middle. The smooth movement was back. The perfect kicks hitting perfect leads… in a stunning 5 minutes… NY kicked 4 straight goals!!!! The Redbacks were stunned… However, the Redbacks than showed what they were made of… they could have quit… but they did not… they tightened their resolve and fought back into the game. After that 5 minute blast, the Redbacks dominated again… however, dropped balls, errant kicks, etc. limited impressive fitness and impressive contested ball winning skills. In the end, the Redbacks scraped back a bit closer but not enough to lead to victory. None the less, every Redback left the field knowing he could hold his head high for giving an impressive fight against an impressive opponent.

Final
NY Magpies 8 13 61
Florida Redbacks 7 6 48

Redbacks Goals: Ryan Morton – 2; Cameron Freeman-2; Brad Vertescher -1; Rob – 1; Dustin Jones-1

BOGs Redbacks: Cameron Freeman, Brad Freeman, Rob, Janni Mirosevich, CJ Morton, Ryan Morton; Nick Myers; Ian and many others had impressive play that contributed to the tough battle that we gave NY!!!!




We have our second game coming up May 7 (we have requested a field location and time from USF and are waiting to find out what they give us.) Let us know if you can make this game ASAP as several players said they may not be able to make it. This is a very very important game. Last year we lost a close game in Philly by just 2 points as we missed a last second shot that would have won the game. On our home field if everyone shows up, we should be able to get revenge. If we played like we did against NY, they could be in trouble. However, we need better turnouts at training. Our biggest limiting factor is that we don’t train enough together to have the smooth passages of play that we are capable of… let’s see numbers out this Thursday


Thursday training:
Training will be at USF for Thurs. 6:30pm-8:30pm. . Let’s get good numbers so we can be prepared for our second game.