Scots, Dons settle for draw

So, perhaps it was appropriate that the teams battled to a 1-1 draw in Wednesday’s opener.

“Considering our state (of injuries) … I’m pleased (with the draw),” Stambaugh said. “Snatching a point, other than winning all three (that come with a win), that’s the best result.”

Both teams scored their goals in the first half as the second half was played mostly in the midfield, with neither team having any really good looks at taking the lead.

“I hate when we play each other so early,” Markoulakis said, adding he and Stambaugh are good friends. “Overall, it was a decent effort. Not our best.”

The pedestrian second half was a far cry from the opening 40 minutes as the teams took turns pressuring the opposing defenses. Carlmont (0-0-1 PAL Bay, 2-3-1 overall) had the better run of play early and, with Stambaugh employing an offside trap, the Scots had the Aragon front line out of sorts. Aragon was called for offside 12 times — eight coming in the first half alone.

“The first half, the trap was the game plan. I was hoping to get [their] strikers frustrated,” Stambaugh said of his defensive strategy. “It was enough to get them unbalanced.”

Five of those offside calls came in the first 10 minutes for Aragon (0-0-1, 2-1-3), as it seemed every attack was thwarted by a raised flag from the assistant referee on the sideline.

“[The offside trap] was killing us,” Markoulakis said. “[Stambaugh] is the master.”

But Markoulakis did not completely absolve his forwards.

“There is no excuse for the offside player (to be offside),” Markoulakis said.

Once the Dons figured out the timing, however, their offense was off to the races. If not for solid play by the Scots’ backline and a strong effort from goalkeeper Jason Korjeff who finished with seven saves in the first half, the Dons might have won the game going away.

And yet it was the Scots who got on the scoreboard first as Aragon’s nonchalance with the ball in its defensive end resulted in the first goal of the game. The Dons defense held on to the ball too long and it eventually turned into a turnover on which Jon Deridal capitalized. A left fullback who pushed up into the attack, Deridal seemed to be as surprised as anyone when the ball popped into space behind the Aragon defensive line. Deridal alertly pounced on the ball and, with only the goalkeeper to beat, deposited a shot in the back of the net in the ninth minute to give Carlmont a 1-0 lead.

Carlmont had another opportunity three minutes later when the Dons, again, failed to clear the ball in a timely manner, but this time goalkeeper Jesus Lopez was there to make the save.

Lopez finished with six saves for the game.

Midway through the first half, the Dons finally figured out the Scots’ offside trap and it opened up the attack as the Dons would go on to take eight first-half shots, seven of which were on frame.

“I think Carlmont got a little tired and their backline collapsed a little,” Markoulakis said.

Korjeff couldn’t save Sergio Zavala Sanchez’s blast of a shot in the 20th minute, however, as the Dons equalized off a set piece. Awarded a free kick along the left sideline deep in the Carlmont end, Zavala Sanchez swung a cross into the Scots’ penalty box, where defender Zane VanArsedel tried to head the ball clear.

His clearance only managed to get as far as the top of the penalty box before Aragon’s Epigmenio Rodriguez came flying in and headed the ball back into the mixer. Nearly everyone was pushing up out of the penalty box before Rodriguez stepped up and Johan Braanemark alertly ran onto the ball and carried it to the end line.

Just before going out of bounds, Braanemark pulled a pass back across his body to the middle of the suddenly empty penalty box where Zavala Sanchez, who had started the play with the cross, looped around and hammered home his shot from 15 yards out to tie the score at 1.

That goal seemed to energize the Dons, who spent the final 20 minutes of the half putting intense pressure on the Carlmont goal as a Lupe Hernandez bid to give Aragon the lead was pushed aside by Korjeff in the 35th minute.

Carlmont had one more golden scoring chance in the final moments of the first half when VanArsedel slotted a perfect pass through the middle of the Aragon defense to a streaking Dro Avetian, who had a step on his defender and only the goalkeeper to beat.

But Lopez came off his line aggressively to close down the angle and Avetian eventually shot wide.

It was the last, true goal-scoring opportunity for either side.

“The biggest difference between last year and this year is the striking prowess,” Stambaugh said. “The striking is not there (yet this year).”