Written by Brandon Best – Pictures by Destiny Fernandez

October 14^th, 15^th, and 16^{th  –} Dick’s Sporting Goods Park (Commerce City)

This past weekend, FC Denver Premier took part in the USSSA National Championship tournament.  The team had earned the right to compete for the national title and $2,000 by coming in a heart wrenching second at the state cup tournament this past July.  Fresh off their dominating season in the CASL first division, the squad was feeling confident of their chances in the 4 team round robin tournament.

The first game, FC Denver took on the Broomfield Rovers, who had somehow managed to dodge them all season in the CASL.  Knowing that a fast start would be crucial in the compressed time format for the matches, FC Denver immediately started to control the tempo of the game.  Many excellent opportunities were created toward goal, through the work of Vitor Bravo, George Marchant, Kyle Firebaugh, Michael Ogletree, and Curtis Greenley.  Despite their efforts, the first goal of the tournament for FC Denver would actually come out of the back.  Joel Miller, did his best Maradona impression and took on pretty much the whole rovers squad on the dribble.  His cuts and spin moves allowed him to work the ball past the keeper before slotting the ball in for a one goal advantage.  Alas, the lead would not stand as Rover’s was able to come out of half time much more dangerous and get a quick goal off of some nice combination play. But FC Denver would not be denied the victory.  Tyler Imbrogno tracked down a ball on the right hand side of the Rover’s 18 yard box and sent in a dangerous cross that found the head of Vitor Bravo.  Bravo’s header, appeared to be cleared off the line, but due to the spot on work of the assistant referee the play was ruled a goal since it was judged that the ball had crossed the line before being headed out. From that point on, the stingy defense of Miller, Tom Marks, Mario Burstein, Dave Kroening, and Kevin Bourland would keep the Rovers from finding an equalizer.  FC Denver 2 – Rovers 1.

The Next day, FC Denver Premier found themselves’ squaring off against a familiar opponent in AC Legends.  AC Legends is a dangerous squad when they have numbers, and they had enough players to fill their bench.  Both teams came out looking for a result, but it was FC Denver who showed their mettle and controlled most of the game.  The squad continued to play team defense all over the park, which made it difficult for AC Legends to get much of a rhythm.  Once again the first goal of the game for FC Denver would come from the defense as Tom Marks, looking to make a long diagonal pass, hit a ball that bounced in the 18 and over the keeper’s head.  The goal came from about 45 yards out and seemed to catch everyone by surprise.  From that point on it was just a matter of continuing to impose their style of play for FC Denver and avoiding injury where possible.  Ian Campbell did well between the sticks to keep the clean sheet and see FC Denver into the final on Sunday.

Game three was against FC Real Austin (TX).  Needing a victory to secure their spot in the finals, Austin came out and scored 3 goals against a forward looking FC Denver squad. Even with the meaningless result, the game left a sour taste in the teams’ mind and the club was happy to know that they would get a chance to redeem themselves the following day against the same opponent in the final.

On Sunday, FC Denver Premier once again took on FC Real Austin for the second time in less than 24 hours.  With $2,000 on the line and the right to call themselves national champions, FC Denver’s focus was spot on throughout warm-ups and again after the first whistle.  Having just played FC Real Austin, Denver knew how dangerous several of their players could be around goal.  Unfortunately, about seven minutes into the match, they once again got a firsthand view of how dangerous FC Real Austin’s strikers could be when one of them took a ball across goal off of his chest and put a sidecycle around Mario Burstein and just past the outreached hands of Greg Hengeli.  It was an impressive display of individual skill.  After the goal, FC Denver had roughly a 65% to 35% advantage in possession.  George Marchant was a work horse, playing tenacious defense and then sparking many of the offensive movements. Tyler Wilson and Jesse Woodworth combined well with Brady Yarletts to swing the ball from side to side, and find outside mids and defenders with large amounts of room to exploit.  One beneficiary of the extra space was Curtis Greenley who abused the outside marking back for FC Austin, before getting off a cross that found Michael Ogletree lurking on the far post.  Ogletree was able to head the ball down off the cross, but could not sneak it below the crossbar.  The next close chance by FC Denver came late in the first half and will forever be shrouded in controversy.  Tyler Imbrogno was able to get on the end of a slotted ball and find himself 1v1 with the FC Real Austin keeper.  Imbrogno’s shot was partially blocked by the keeper but the ball continued to roll toward the empty net.  Eyewitness accounts from people actually on the goal line, saw the ball roll all the way past the line, but unfortunately the assistant referee who was still at the 6 yard box when an FC Real Austin player kicked the ball out of the goal, ruled that ball had not actually crossed the line.  It was a tough break for FC Denver as their dominating style of play was starting to wear down FC Austin.

After the break, FC Real Austin came out fast looking to put in an insurance goal, as they knew FC Denver was imposing their style of play on the game and that after 3 games in two days at altitude, their legs would be tired at the end of 90 minutes.  Despite some good opportunities, the FC Denver defense and Hengeli remained solid and withstood the initial 10 minute press by Real Austin after the break.  The possession and work rate by FC Denver was phenomenal in the second half, but the squad continued to struggle in the final third of the field.  Some decent opportunities were created, but FC Denver Premier was unable to pull the rabbit out of their hat as they had all season.  As the final whistle blew, it would be fair for FC Denver to consider themselves the unfortunate victims of a cruel game.  One in which they showed that they were the stronger side and are capable of some beautiful soccer, yet still one in which they were unable to find the net.

For now, the squad is on sabbatical.  Next up, Winter indoor off-season training and preparations for the 2012 Silver Mug Soccer Tournament in Vegas in the spring.

Sunday October 9^th, 2011 – Commerce City, CO (Dick’s Sporting Goods Park)

Starting XI: Campbell, Marks, Miller, Burnstein, Harrison, Wilson, Woodworth, Greenley, Firebaugh, Marchant, Bravo

Subs: Best, Bourland, Yarletts, DelPiccolo, Gonzalez, Burns, Imbrogno

The 2011 Fall CASL Division 1 season was the apex of a number of years of hard work within the FC Denver organization.  The group of players that make up the core of the FC Denver Premier squad have played with each other for over a year for the most part.  Additionally, the club structure has allowed the team to add some talented individuals to the fold while offering a chance for players on the fringe to play meaningful soccer with the United squad.  The two groups of players continually push each other, so that over time the overall level of play within the club has risen quite significantly over the past 3 years.  This structure also offers stability to the quality of play, especially for the Premier team, so that as individuals move on from the club the team is still able to perform at a high level.  These past two seasons have been a testament to this as a number of quality players have moved away from the area or have been injured, but FC Denver has continued its streak of championship appearances.  There have been two full years, where FC Denver has had a team in the top division championship.  That is in addition to having two full squads playing first division amateur soccer.  This is just as much a testament to the organization and the leadership shown by Eric Fulton, Danny Valenzuela, Kyle Firebaugh, and Luke Elbin, as it is to the individuals that comprise the Premier and United squads.  With the enthusiasm, vision, and passion that each member of the club displays, one has to wonder how long it will be before we see a championship without FC Denver involved.

This past Sunday was Championship Sunday for the CASL Division 1.  El Alamo had overcome some early season disappointment and were fortunate to have Rovers lose their last game, to storm in as underdogs in the championship game.  FC Denver, riding a multi-season winning streak, had to overcome a determined Rush side a week earlier to book their semi-annual trip this match.  Both teams were familiar with each other, as El Alamo featured a number of Chivas Denver players.  As they say, familiarity breeds contempt and El Alamo seemed loath to play against a determined FC Denver Premier side.  The first half saw a number of tough fouls and complaining from the El Alamo squad.  FC Denver did well to shake off the cleat marks and Indian burns dished out by their opponent, to try and play to their ability.  For the most part, it seemed as though El Alamo’s desire was to hoof the ball up to their large and talented (Chivas) striker and have him either body up and turn or lay the ball off to a streaking player out of the middle.  This was a good tactic for their personnel, but they seemed to forget that they were playing against the top defense in the league and the combination of Joel Miller, Tom Marks, Mario Burnstein, Juan Gonzalez, Tyler Wilson, Marco DelPiccolo and Jesse Woodworth did well to limit the opportunities El Alamo had on Ian Campbell in goal.  When called upon though, Campbell was the rock he had been all season.  On the flanks, Curtis Greenley and Chris Harrison were dogged in their efforts to play on both sides of the ball and covered a tremendous amount of space before being replaced by Kyle Burns, Brady Yarletts, and Brandon Best, who all kept up the effort and limited the ability of El Alamo to play down the flanks.   The strike trio of Vitor Bravo, George Marchant, and Kyle Firebaugh, seemed a little out of sorts in the early going, but the addition of Tyler Imbrogno to the mix helped the connection from the midfield to the offense and led to a number of dangerous situations and fouls around the box.  Despite some good free kicks to the head of Joel Miller from Vitor Bravo, and a couple of opportunities to slot through the El Alamo defense, FC Denver Premier found themselves scoreless at the end of the first half.

In the halftime talk, it was stressed that FC Denver Premier had controlled the match for the first 45 minutes, but that a goal early in the second 45 would be essential to putting away their opponents.  To say that FC Denver came out inspired for the second half would be an understatement.  Within the first five minutes off of a corner kick, Vitor Bravo swung in a low hard cross that an El Alamo defender had glance off of his foot after being pressured by Firebaugh.  The ball then spun to the far post of the goal as the keeper could only watch.  The own goal by EL Alamo would prove decisive as from that point on; it was mostly all FC Denver. The play through midfield by FC Denver Premier was fantastic and the combination with the outside mids, lead to a number of good opportunities in front of goal.  The defense continued to play a solid match and did well to clean up some messes made by an over eager midfielder losing the ball in an inopportune area of the field.  Rarely did El Alamo get the ball past the half way line, and when they did, they could not sustain possession.  The soccer that FC Denver played should be an encouraging sign for nationals this coming weekend.  Trailing 1-0, some frustration on the part of El Alamo eventually led to an ejection as their defender made a poor challenge as FC Denver was attacking.  Down to 10 men, El Alamo never really had a chance and FC Denver was more than happy to kill off the game and claim their second championship trophy in two years.

Thank you to all of the club members, wives, girlfriends, parents, children, and fans who made it out on a chilly Sunday afternoon to cheer on the club.  It was a rewarding outcome for many of the players, who have spent a considerable amount of time and effort to build a successful team.

Coach Firebaugh’s thoughts on the match:

I felt really good about the day. Sometimes you just know things are going to go right on a particular day, and I felt that on Sunday. I knew our guys were going to be prepared. I knew that we were hungry for this victory and focused on the task at hand. I was real excited going into the match, and even more excited afterwards.
I thought we dominated El Alamo. I don’t think there was ever a time during that game where I doubted our ability to win, and I don’t think I was ever nervous about them putting up a goal against us. Possession had to be 60/40 at least in our favor. Dangerous chances had to be 5 to 1 in our favor.  When we all show up and do our thing… we can be REAL good.

Man of the Match: Congrats go out to…the entire team. Coach Firebaugh states,  “I’m not even going to pick a Man of the Match this week… I have too many good things to say about everyone. It’s absolutely True what they say – Defense Wins Championships. We undoubtedly have the best Defenders and Goalkeeping in our league. The comfort level that you have as an offensive player on our team is almost too-good-to-be-true at times. We relied on these guys a lot this season and they answered every call. Our midfield is relentless. We have so many options to our style of play because of the guys we have across the middle of the field. Its what makes us dangerous as a team. Our Forward line was so depleted this season. We added a fantastic player to our attack but injuries set us back. Apparently we were dangerous enough and you can see that by looking at our scorelines and who was doing the goalscoring this year. This team is damn good. Our players are so receptive and can take on any role or challenge we give them. They adapt and they succeed. When we have players this committed to being the best in the state, we cannot lose. I could go on for awhile about how I think this team dominates the region, but I will save it for after Nationals.“