Stockade players applaud KSFC fans that traveled to see the team in Brooklyn.
By Randy Kim, Kingston Stockade FC General Manager
BROOKLYN, N.Y. -- They say it's not about the result, but more about the journey. But in this case, the journey certainly didn't help with the result.
After arriving at the grounds well over an hour after their scheduled arrival due to extremely heavy traffic during the journey south to the five boroughs, Kingston Stockade FC fell to Brooklyn Italians, 3-0, on Friday night at the Aviator Sports and Entertainment Complex, in just the second match in Stockade club history.
Hampered by very little warmup time, Stockade had trouble finding its footing early on in the match, and shipped two goals by the 20th minute, creating an early deficit that proved too much to overcome.
The squad did show some solid fight-back, however, and mostly played even-up for the final hour of the match (despite giving up a third goal very late in the match). For Stockade, Matel Anasta's pace proved to be extremely disruptive for the home side. Matt Koziol once again put forth a yeoman effort in the middle of the pitch, while displaying skill and craftiness when in possession of the ball. And captain Jamal Lis-Simmons was a selfless ball-hawk in the middle of defense.
But ultimately KSFC was undone by a flat start mixed with a good dose of quality applied by the home side.
The loss comes less than a week after a gutsy 1-1 road draw against Greater Lowell United FC.
Next up for Kingston is the first home match in club history; Stockade hosts Rhode Island Reds on Saturday, May 21 at 2 p.m. ET at Dietz Stadium in Kingston.
This will be followed on Sunday, May 22 with a visit from the same Greater Lowell side that Stockade played in its first-ever match.
Travel delays should be highly unlikely for the home side in either match.