Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Back to Back Into the Break

Boyd Leads Triple Threat as Alamo City Takes Second Straight Match

Thierry Henry got back on the field and almost put three balls into the back of the net in his first match in a month as the superstar came back from a hamstring injury.  Frustratingly, he couldn't get on the score sheet.  That number three though, proved a bit prophetic as the three 'other' big guns for Alamo City provided the scoring to give the Battle a second straight victory after losing four straight previously.  "It absolutely feels good," said Boyd.  "For a few matches myself, and the rest of the team simply didn't step up.  Eddie [Johnson] was the only guy getting off the bus.  Yeah, we had some injuries and one hell of an unfortunate scheduling quirk ... but bottom line was that we simply weren't doing enough.  We'd all gotten used to the weekly Thierry Henry show.  It felt good the last two weeks to step up for the team and for him."

It couldn't have come at a better time for the Battle.  After losing four straight the team was starting to look inward to try and find what the problem could be.  Sure, Thierry Henry went down with an injury but that didn't explain how the rest of the lineup couldn't find a way to get on the score sheet.  Last week the club looked to find themselves a bit and this week the rest of the big guns got on the board for Alamo City.  Despite having a PK attempt saved Blas Perez put one in the net along with Boyd.  Hassli notched another assist while new addition Branko Boskovic added an assist to round out the scoring.  Week 12 proved to be one heck of a lift to the team spirits rather than hammering home what was almost becoming a sobering truth.

The club started Major's Cup Qualifying this week and got off on the right foot.  More importantly, the Battle secured the 2012 Freedom Cup by beating Malmo FF 4-1.  No matter the outcome of the AIK-Malmo FF match up neither club can match Alamo City's 6pts in the competition.  "Getting that Silverware was a nice reminder of what we're capable of and what we're trying to accomplish here at Alamo City," said Hassli after the club found out that Malmo couldn't match their efforts.  "It's a good way to regain some confidence going forward."

---- In player movement news, the Battle have released Milovan Mirosevic and Michael Gspurning and brought in Justin Meram and Felipe Martins.

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Four for the Door


Grown Ass Man Stands Up and Delivers

Eddie Johnson led the way with a goal and an assist as Alamo City stopped their losing streak by beating the previously table topping Pennsylvania Stoners 4-2 this weekend.  The streak had been very ugly for the Battle as a vast array of issues plagued the club the last few weeks.  "It was horrible.  We lost Henry to injury, we had a match where only half of our roster was even available to be selected, DeLeon and Gspurning went down with injuries, Blas was suspended, we caught Second City on the day they put out there best performance of the season, and we couldn't put points on the board to save our lives.  It was just ugly ..."

The one silver lining in all of it was that Alamo City got a leg up in the Freedom Cup by beating AIK 3-0 in the first match of the competition.  This is a new week though, and the Battle must look forward.  Second City is already up again and this week's match triples for the Battle.  Major's Cup Qualifying begins and it is also Leg 2 of the Freedom Cup as Malmo FF is on the dockett as well.  There's plenty more to talk about as teh Battle have made a couple of roster moves over the course of the week.  Branko Boskovic and Miller Bolanos were added in lew of Reggie Lambe and Kelyn Rowe being released.  "Bolanos is a guy we wanted in the draft.  He's started the season slow but we feel that is more a product of the team than of his play.  He's been a force on the field and makes things happen.  Fortunately for us his previous owner wasn't patient enough to wait it out.  We feel his stat lines are going to improve greatly as the season progresses.  That's the same situation with Boskovic.  Obviously we've liked him since he came to the league as we originally brought him in.  Injuries and uncertainty with the line up in DC have led to him just now finding his stride.  Again, a lack of patience has led to a great player landing in our lap."

Week 12 Line Up:

Eddie Johnson
Blas Perez
Miller Bolanos
Kris Boyd
Eric Hassli
Branko Boskovic
Theirry Henry
Kamani Hill

Kevin Hartman

Nick DeLeon
Milovan Mirosevic
Michael Gspurning


Monday, May 14, 2012

The Golden Sombrero

Scheduling - Suspensions - Injuries Leave Battle Short Handed and Outgunned


The stars officially aligned to ensure that the Alamo City Battle Soccer Club would lose their fourth straight BSL match this past weekend.  Between the players suspended, injured, and without a match the Battle were forced to field a short handed lineup against Gold Coast.  The outcome ?  An abysmal output on the scorecard (1pt) and yet another loss.  Nobody at Alamo City spoke to the media this past week and things are rumored to be very, very ugly behind the scenes.  All we can do here at the official website is move forward and hope that the news reports get better as the season goes along.  After a short turn around the Battle have to jump right back into the mix in Week 11 as they face Pennsylvania, the team atop the BSL table at the moment.

Week 11 Squad:


Kris Boyd
Eric Hassli
Eddie Johnson
Nick DeLeon
Blas Perez
Kamani Hill
Reggie Lambe
Milovan Mirosevic

Kevin Hartman

Kelyn Rowe
Thierry Henry
Michael Gspurning

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Make That a Losing Streak

Alamo City Drops Third Straight Thanks to Coaching Goof

"It's absolutely on us.  The club played well enough to get a point, at minimum.  The staff failed the players this week.  The tying goal was left on the bench.  That's us, that's our fault, and it makes us sick.  The players have battled admiribly since Henry went down with the injury and have proven that this isn't a one man team.  We let them down."

The reference of course, is to Eric Hassli being the first sub this past weekend.  The big man got off of his scoring schneid but had to watch from the bench as his goal didn't count in the score line and his team suffered a thrid straight loss.  The mood in the locker room wasn't pleasent but the optimism remains.  Eddie Johnson has proven his value as he's come back from injury and received regular time up front for Seattle.  Kamani Hill has contributed since his pick up and Gspurning put up another clean sheet (although he did suffer an injury that looks to keep him out a few matches). 

The small silver lining ?  Alamo City got a leg up in the Freedom Cup as AIK was held scoreless in their match up.  Hopefully that will spark the Battle enough to get back on track and start winning points in the league.

The huge elephant in the room ?  Half of the Battle roster either doesn't play, or is out with injury ... could it get any worse ?

Week 10 Lineup:

Eddie Johnson
Eric Hassli
Kelyn Rowe
Milovan Mirosevic
Nick DeLeon

Kevin Hartman

Team not playing: Kamani Hill, Reggie Lambe, Kris Boyd
Injured: Thierry Henry, Michael Gspurning
Suspended: Blas Perez

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Back to Back Losses and a Gut Punch

Who Will Step Up and Take the Throne in Henry's Absence ?

It wasn't just a second straight loss for Alamo City this past weekend.  The 4-2 score line against CD Gunners represented everything that the Battle had hoped to move past this season.  Instead it was another spirited effort for naught.  The bane of Alamo City's existence once again reared its ugly head.  The Gunners tightened up the race for the Founder's Cup while taking the early lead in the BSL Classic.  The biggest blow from the match though, was to captain Thierry Henry.  A hamstring injury will see the ACSC scoring leader out for 3-4 weeks.  That's just a tough pill to swallow.

The club can't get down on itself though.  Staring the Battle in the face is a date with the very steady Rose City Flyers FC, and the BSL Game of the Week.  Nothing like adding a little grease to the fire for Alamo City.  "That seems to be our M.O. around here.  When it's good, it's damn good but when it's bad .... yeah"  There was little comment from ACSC management as the club has closed doors for all but the mandatory media briefings and contractual obligations to appearances.  It's quiet around San Antonio, but not because the club is worried.  The club is simply focusing on the next several matches as the players and management have to be at their best in order to get through the absence of Henry.  A positive from the weekend is that Eddie Johnson netted his first and was credited with an assist before MLS scoring changed the 2nd Seattle goal to an own goal.

One move was to swap Colorado teammates Jaime Castrillon and Kamani Hill.  While Castrillon has played well he simply hasn't been able to figure in the scoring.  It's a shame because the Alamo City management love the play they've gotten so far.  That doesn't get results in the BSL though and Kamani Hill has shown he's worthy of a roster slot.  Even as a bench option for Colorado he's found the score sheet more times than many starters across the league.   

As if the two straight losses, continued failings against CD, and the Henry injury weren't enough ... this match also markes the opening of the Freedom Cup for 2012.  ACSC will be taking on not only Rose City, but AIK as well.  "Rains ... pours ... etc"

Week 9 Roster:

Kris Boyd
Blas Perez
Nick DeLeon
Eddie Johnson
Kamani Hill
Kelyn Rowe
Milovan Mirosevic
Reggie Lambe

Michael Gspurning

Eric Hassli
Kevin Hartman
Thierry Henry