KINGSTON, NY – Stockade FC reached their 10th consecutive match unbeaten with Saturday evening's 3-0 defeat of Boston City FC in front of 1,037 supporters at Dietz Stadium.
Alejandro Riquelme started the scoring in the 6th minute with a one-time rocket on the bounce after a stunning 50-yard driven ball from Joao Avila. The goal was Riquelme’s 5th of the NPSL season.
“Riquelme’s play has been fantastic for us this season. He has scored some big goals for us in big moments,” said Technical Director Dan Hoffay.
Play stabilized for the remainder of the first half on a hot evening as both teams struggled to find a rhythm in possession. Stockade FC began to build more quality attacking chances in the second half as they controlled the majority of the possession. Justin Jaime made an immediate impact off the bench when he doubled the lead in the 66th minute of play after Frankie Ljucovic and Pedro Espindola combined to send him through on goal. The Stockade attacking reinforcements continued as Vinny Colantuono found the third 11 minutes later when Conner Rezende found him in space for the beautiful back post finish.
The back line was strong yet again as the goalkeeping duo of Greg Monroe (0 saves) and Ryan Sinnott (1 save) were given very little to do. Paul Makaj and Frankie Ljucovic were phenomenal in the middle of the field as they controlled possession and the pace of play for 90 minutes. Dylan Williams was strong in his return to Stockade FC for the first time since 2016 after spending 3 season abroad.
“Solid performance by our guys tonight. It was great to get an early lead and we felt more in control as the game went on. Big contributions from our reserves again which was great to see. Our defense set the tone throughout the match earning another shutout, said Head Coach Jamal Lis-Simmons”
Stockade FC returns to action this Wednesday, June 26 (7PM), when the Brooklyn Italians visit Dietz Stadium with major playoff implications at stake.
STARRTING XI: Monroe; Robinson, Markovic, Avila, Landicino; Makaj, Ljucovic, Williams; Riquelme, Zobre, Espindola
MAN OF THE MATCH – Frankie Ljucovic (#26): The Gonzaga men’s soccer midfielder was phenomenal in the middle of the field for Stockade FC in his starting debut at Dietz Stadium. Along with Paul Makaj, the duo controlled the pace of play throughout, built possession to create dangerous attacks and limited Boston City’s counter attacking play with strong defensive work in front of the back line.
