It has been a rough introduction to the league for Flower City 1872. In the first two games in franchise history, they’ve lost by a total of 12 goals to 1. There are some positives that I will give for the difference between games 1 and 2 though. In their opening game, against FC Buffalo, there was not really anything that I could point to as a positive. The second game had a rough second half, but their first half was far superior to the first game. The biggest change was the goalkeeper’s distribution, which essentially turned the ball over constantly in the first game. It had been remedied, and they were able to have possession of the ball far more. Unfortunately, while that game was close at the half, and they had scored their first goal, they fell apart in the second half.
It was a beautiful night at Williamsville South High School for 1872 to have a rematch against FC Buffalo, with temps In the mid 80s. The sun was setting with a nice breeze for 1872’s first night game, but it was far from an ideal start on the field. FC 1872 took nearly 5 minutes into the game before the ball was eventually cleared from their side of the pitch. That ball crossed the halfway line only for a second though, as it was immediately intercepted and sent down to the 1872 box. There, FC Buffalo’s Carissma Cutrona put a beautiful shot into the top corner from 20 yards out on the 5-minute mark. The goal did seem to spark some life into 1872, as they were finally competitive, and the next few minutes went back and forth. It didn’t last long though, as the 15th minute saw a shot put past the diving hands of our keeper for their second of the night. It kept getting worse. On the 18-minute mark, goalkeeper Madeline Pizzo made a fantastic diving save, unfortunately, the rebound went right to FC Buffalo’s Marcy Barberic who had an easy tap-in to put them up by 3.
The 24th minute saw Flower City 1872 get on the board. A free kick from 30 yards out saw the ball bungled into the box. It bounced around a bit, then Reienah Campbell ushered it in. Being down 3 goals to 1 did not mean a comeback was imminent though, as the 28th minute saw a turnover to FC Buffalo on the goal line for a 4th goal tap-in. The same happened less than two minutes later off a corner kick, where it was given to an FC Buffalo attacker in the box for another easy tap-in. The remainder of the half continued to go FC Buffalo’s way. Flower City 1872 had a few times where they had possession, but nothing near an attempt on goal, and none of the play was anything to remark on.
And with that, I left at half time, as it was 5-1 and I didn’t feel the need to see more of it and have a late drive home. I missed 5 more goals in the second half, so it was the correct decision. From the start, I’d been excited about the prospects of this team and eager to watch them grow. Unfortunately, while games 1 to 2 seemed to be a noticeable growth, this match was an incredible setback. That’s not to take anything away from FC Buffalo and their great performance, but currently Flower City 1872 just isn’t up for it. I will always be eager to return to watching them, but it truly was disheartening. Sadly, there wasn’t anything to point to that they had done right. They were thoroughly outclassed, and need to return to the drawing board, as they struggled to string together a few seconds of play or passes that weren’t immediately turned over.
FC Buffalo goals:
5′ – Carissma Cutrona
15′ – Morgan Kulniszewski
18′ – Marcy Barberic
27′ – Marcy Barberic
29′ – Payton Robertson
50′ – Victoria Colotti
53′ – Carissima Cutrona
54′ – Marcy Barberic
63′ – Marcy Barberic
78′ – Lianna Van Sice
Flower City 1872 goal:
24′ – Reienah Campbell