Pateadores vs. Zenit St. Petersburgh Consolation Round 2-2

Tonight's game was a rematch in the consolation round with Zenit of Russia. Again the boys came out strong scoring in the first ten minutes with a Juan Carlos Martinez goal off of a rebound from Dario Garcia's shot. This was set up by a flicked header from Andres Roman. The boys continued with great defending from the back line of Giovanni Partida, Nick Stanley, Corey Schramm and Senna De La Cruz. The Russians eventually tied the game off a questionable PK. With quick play from Trevor Hyman out of center midfield, they continued to  connect and play in sync with quick passing creating shots for Andres Roman and Juan Carlos Martinez. Eventually the Russians scored the second goal to go ahead and the boys fought back to have Juan Carlos Martinez knock in the equalizing goal off the Russian's goalie error. At half time, the score was 2-2 as the boys were battling and feeling good about their chances.
In the second half with subs Michael Grey, Tony Velasquez, Chris Costantini and Alex Jackson. Our boys battled as they were down a man in the second half due to second yellow card offense. Michael Grey was key in tracking back to play both center mid and transitioning to forward on attacks. The game eventually ended in a 2-2 tie going to PK's. Tristan Thompson, Michael Grey, Corey Schramm, Nick Stanley and Tony Velazquez all converted their PK's but fell short in sudden death. Another excellent performance from our boys as they never stopped competing. In the locker room after the game the boys were in good spirits as they knew they played great and were just unlucky in PK's. They celebrated with a classic Italian pizza party in town with all the parents supporting and celebrating with them.
Tomorrow is a rest day as they will spend the day on a private tour of Tarranto a 45 minute drive from the hotel.