By EVAN REAM
A missed penalty, a bicycle kick goal and a clean finish saw the San Antonio Scorpions lift their first-ever NASL Soccer Bowl trophy in a 2-1 win over the Fort Lauderdale Strikers in front of a modern-era record championship crowd of 7,847 at Toyota Field.
The win capped a remarkable turnaround of the franchise that finished in dead last place in the 2013 Fall NASL season, before the club posted a 16-7-4 record to finish as the No. 2 seed in the 2014 combined season.
One player brought in to help rectify the debacle of 2013 was former Colombian international Rafael Castillo, who provided the biggest highlight of the game, opening the scoring in the 70th minute with a bicycle kick from the top of the box that kissed the inside of the far post and deflected into the back of the net.
The Scorpions were lucky to be ahead as just eight minutes previously, the Strikers were awarded a penalty kick when Mark Anderson was brought down in the box.
Fort Lauderdale’s Martin Nunez stepped up to take the spot kick, but fired it off of the crossbar to keep the game scoreless.
Just four minutes after taking the lead, San Antonio put the game away when Castillo turned provider, sending a perfect ball through to Billy Forbes, who beat two defenders and cleanly finished the ball into the back of the net for a 2-0 lead.
Eleven minutes before the end of the game, the home side received a scare when Strikers’ midfielder – and former San Antonio Scorpion – Walter Ramirez finished off a one-two with Anderson by roofing a shot past San Antonio goalkeeper Josh Saunders.
The Scorpions held on for the win to become the fourth team to lift the Soccer Bowl trophy since the NASL rebooted in 2011.
No. 4 seeded Fort Lauderdale came into the game as the hottest team in the NASL, unbeaten in their past seven games en-route to becoming an unlikely finalist after knocking off No. 1 ranked Minnesota United FC in the first round in a controversial penalty kick victory.
But that hot streak finally ran out against San Antonio, whose re-tooled lineup littered with former MLS players, proved to be too much for the Strikers’ Cinderella story.
The Church of US Soccer would like to officially announce that Don Gather been granted sainthood status (for pulling off the miracle of convincing most Americans that MLS not a ponzi scheme set up by billionaires who hate competition).
Mister Garber is now officially one of our Soccer United Messiahs.
All hail The Don!
Rejoice, align, and obey!
I was so excited, I spelled my name wrong!
ALIGN!!!!!!!
Align, my children! Align!
You cannot enter the gates of World Cup Glory unless you go through me!
Love Don, Love MLS, that is all one needs to do!
So it is written. So it shall be!
ALIGN!
Don, I bequeath you The Three Commandments of MLS:
– Keep down costs by imposing salary cap on franchises we own.
– Make all our money off international friendlies featuring clubs someone else is paying for.
– Piggyback on US Soccer’s TV deals for a little extra gravy.
Protect and promotes these holy words with all your might.
My master The Don hath spoken. All who disagree are hereby “not aligned with our vision” and must be exiled and labeled as heretics. Anything that threatens the monopoly our puppeteers are making billions of dollars off of must be vanquished! Amen.
Sunil Gulati
Head Puppet
US Soccer
I disagree, “Quit Whining.” ANYTHING involving both the US and Soccer IS about MLS because MLS IS AMERICAN SOCCER. Anything else is claptrap, poppycock and propganda.
So I have said, thus so it is.
Please!
This is not REAL soccer!
Where’s the complicated playoff system? The even more complication player aquisition rules? The DPS? Homegrown players?College Drafts? Waited lotteries? Discovery picks? Player allocations? Esee Baharmast?
PLEASE!
I and I alone know what soccer in the US should look like!
I AM THE DON!!!!!!!!!!!
And don’t you DARE suggest young players head to Europe. DON’T. EVEN. THINK. ABOUT. IT.
EXACTLY!!!!
What has Europe ever done except cause two world wars!!!!
What do the Europeans know about soccer!!! PLEASE!
Do they have DISPERSAL DRAFTS!?!?!?
PLEASE!
The biggest problem with NASL is……………….?
Having to listen to the crybabies whine. This has nothing to do with MLS and you STILL find a way to cry.
+ 1
NASL should try and get nationally televised platform asap.
I would have loved to have seen this one…
Congrats to San Antonio!
Hopefully some day soon. I would have loved to have watched this.
It was on espn3. NASL always broadcast 1 game a week on espn3.
Truly one of the best soccer games I have seen or been to this year. San Antonio is title town.
only a scorpion kick could’ve topped things off
Heh…
agreed. that game was very entertaining! back and forth, but SAS took over after that pk. two incredible goals and a great crowd made the game.
i have watched probably 4-5 NASL games this year and they have all been great, and a countless number of MLS games this year. Each time i think that the top of NASL is probably better than the bottom of MLS.