The two came together at the former Sunrise Hilton now called Las Palmas Hotel in Sunrise, Florida on Tuesday April 23. Weston maintained good composure controlling the first 15 minutes before Canada broke through on a good scoring opportunity but was saved by goalie Juan Vizcarrondo. Canada stepped up the pressure taking control of the midfield while playing flat in the back which exposed them to long balls from the Fury defense. Weston nearly capitalized on two such occasions but one shot went wide and the defense blocked another bound for the net. "In order to break down their defense because their midfield was pressing hard, "I instructed the boys to play long balls out of the back and attack the flanks" said Coach Alvin James. His tactics paid off 30 minutes into the match, as Manny Gonzalez served a diagonal ball deep into the attacking third and found Ally Hassan on the right flank. Hassan turned on his defender to find teammate Jairon Moreno trailing behind. He played to Moreno who served a ball into the box to the feet of Matt Lugenaris who drilled a shot passed the outstretched keeper to take a 1-0 lead into half time.

 

The second half saw an injection of fresh legs from the bench for Weston but Canada wasted no time as their forward blew by the right back from the kickoff to gain a direct free kick at the top of the box. Canada converted a beautiful free kick over the wall into the top right corner of the goal to tie the score at 1-1. Canada’s class began to show as they began to over dictate the game, especially in midfield and twenty five minutes later Canada played a ground ball across the box to a darting forward who slotted a low shot passed keeper Caleb Loud to go up 2-1. In the dying moments Weston nearly equalized however miscommunications between three Weston players at the top of the box resulted in no such chance.

 

I talking with the Coach Alvin James after the game he said “I was proud of the 1st half but disappointed that they gave up two goals in the second half. Our subs have to do a better job in protecting the lead. All in all it was a decent performance and something to build on. We use these matches as a measuring stick to see where we are in terms of our immediate development and ability. We matched up well against a National Team and any time you come away with a strong showing then the work is paying off. We wish Canada all the best with the upcoming qualifying matches in Jamaica as we ourselves look forward to our Challenge round games for State Cup May 5th and 6th."