Odyssey vs Cal-Mum

This evening I made the trip out to Caledonia to check out a non-league matchup between Cal-Mum and Odyssey in the Cal-Mum Tournament. The match was the first of two varsity games to be played for the tournament's final day.

The game got off to a slow start with the first real chance coming 20 minutes in when a long ball found the head of Odyssey striker Joe Walsh. Walsh redirected towards goal, but his header went just high of the crossbar. Shortly later in the 28th a thru-ball played in by Walsh was smothered by Cal-Mum's junior goalkeeper Erik Miles.

Cal-Mum found their first chance a minute later when confusion in the box lead to a dangerous chance with a portion of the net open after the ball was redirected, but the shot was sent over the crossbar. The first half continued rather unevenfully with Miles dealing with an Odyssey cross rather comfortably and no real chances coming for either side.

Early in the second half, Odyssey subsitute Chris Terwilliger made his presence felt in the midfield, adding some bite in the center third and winning tackle after tackle. The intensity picked up for the team from Greece as they continued to win the ball and maintain possession, looking quite unlikely to concede a goal. This added pressure led to a turnover that eventually set up a powerful volley by Jason Snook that went just wide. Shortly after Snook's opportunity, Adam Cottorone sent in a corner kick that found the head of Tim Alesio to break the deadlock.

In the 76th minute Odyssey midfielder Kevin Booth got free and sent in a nice shot on goal, but Miles, who looked solid throughout, again was up to the task and tipped the shot over the bar.

Odyssey would eventually add a 2nd goal just 2 minutes from full time as a long range shot from Alesio provided an unlucky bounce for the Cal-Mum keeper and found the back of the net. Led by Alesio's brace, Odyssey improved to 1-1 on the season as Cal-Mum fell to 0-2-2.

The win game senior goalkeeper Joe Scarlata his first shutout of the year after his first bid for a shutout was wiped out with a penalty kick goal. His goals against average stands at an anemic 0.50 early in the season. Joe provided his thoughts on the match as well as the state of his team after the game.

Thoughts on getting his first shutout of the season:

"It feels good to get the shutout, but I've got to credit alot of it to the defense because I only got two shots on me today. They played well and really stepped up and won the ball and that keyed us to the win."

Thoughts on this year's team:

"Well, I think we have an opportunity to be better than we were last year. Our leadership has improved and the young guys really listen and learn. It seems like guys know what to do with the ball instead of panicking, and we're more fundamentally sound than last year."

Thoughts on the team moving forward:

"We're definitely a more mature team this year. It was great to get the first win out of the way, and now we can get a few more practices in and build off of this game. This should be a good foundation for the rest of the season."

Goalscorer Tim Alesio added that he thought that the improved intensity in the second half led to winning the ball consistently and giving him the opportunities he needed to find the back of the net. This intensity is contagious and really leads to improvements throughout the team.