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City Islanders 7, Northern Virginia 0
City Islanders Clinch Playoff Berth With 7-0 Rout
(Woodbridge, Virg., July 30, 2005) – The Harrisburg City Islanders clinched a USL Second Division playoff berth for the second straight year with a record-setting 7-0 whitewash of the Northern Virginia Royals on Saturday night at Forest Park Stadium in Woodbridge, Virginia. The win also extended Harrisburg’s franchise-record unbeaten streak to 13 games. Chad Severs recorded six points (two goals, two assists), tying an individual franchise record set just last week by Sumed Ibrahim, and Steve Fisher added a pair of goals for the City Islanders, who set a team mark for goals scored and improved to 10-3-5 (35 points). Harrisburg secured their invitation to the postseason dance with an effort that was mostly meticulous and deliberate – but just as often explosive. Exerting utter defensive dominance in their own half of the field, the City Islanders created turnovers all over the pitch and ran roughshod over the Royals with counterattacks. The domination was so thorough that Dave Kern did not have to make a save in goal. Fisher was the beneficiary of the first of those counters. In the 10th minute, Harrisburg forced a turnover and the ball dribbled to forward Chad Severs. Severs turned and quickly sprayed the ball to Fisher, cutting in from the left wing. The second-year midfielder calmly settled and fired a shot over the left shoulder of Royals keeper Alex Hall for the early lead. The increasingly lethal combination of Severs and Sumed Ibrahim would factor into the next two Harrisburg goals. In the 35th minute, Sumed exploded down the right wing and beat Hall with a thunderous drive from a tight angle – but it bounced out from under the crossbar. Mo Oduor found the ball at his feet but was pulled down by Josh Whitham, drawing a penalty kick. Severs buried it. Five minutes later, another turnover led to the third Harrisburg goal. Sumed picked off a pass and worked a clinical give-and-go with Severs. Once again, Sumed beat Hall with a tight-angle rip – this time, however, it rang off the post and in for a 3-0 edge. Any doubt as to the result was essentially removed in the 51st minute, when Fisher rose above a the Royals defense to head home a Ryan O’Neill corner kick to make it 4-0. But Harrisburg continued to threaten and stave off the occasional Northern Virginia chance at goal. Severs completed his banner night in the 64th minute, taking a Matt Tanzini feed and moving around Hall before sliding the ball home. Jimmy Stone’s first professional goal in the 79th minute (assisted by Matt Crist) and a Bernie Showers notch at the 90-minute mark sealed the historic final score. Notes: The City Islanders have scored 14 goals in their last three games…Harrisburg plays its final two games at home: Saturday, August 6, versus Cincinnati, and Saturday, August 13, against Pittsburgh. Both start times are 7:05 p.m. Harrisburg 3-4=7 |
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