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Brigade battle to scoreless tie
PDL club start season with three straight ties
| Saturday, May 10 2008 11:03 PM
Last Updated: Monday, May 12 2008 8:25 AM
The Bakersfield Brigade failed to capitalize on numerous scoring opportunities in its home opener Saturday night at Bakersfield Christian High School. But a strong defensive effort allowed the Brigade to draw 0-0 with the Los Angeles Legends.
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It was the third tie in three games for the Brigade (0-0-3) this season.
"It's a little disappointing," said Brigade coach Francisco Gomez. "We come away with a point but any time we're at home we want to get all three points. We had opportunities to score. It was a pretty even match. We've just got to put them away."
The Brigade took seven shots in the Premier Development League contest including two by forward Mario Fernandez that narrowly missed ending up in the back of the net.
"We were just unfortunate," Gomez said. "We had a couple of good quality opportunities with Mario up top getting clear a couple of times but just on his wrong foot. It's heartbreaking especially tonight when the boys played their hearts out."
Los Angeles (1-0-1) took five shots but only one required a save by Bakersfield goalkeeper Eric Franco.
"The key to the shutout pretty much is that we have a veteran back line," Franco said "My two center-backs Steve (Arias) and Jason (Ashurst) have a lot of experience and they help out the young stars on the outside."
Neither team could mount a sustained offensive challenge early in the match. The first shot on goal of the game came didn't come until the 21st minute when Fernandez's attempt straight in from 10 yards away sailed over the crossbar.
Fernandez had another solid scoring opportunity 20 minutes later but again missed high after a spectacular pass by midfielder Jose Garcia opened up the scoring chance.
The Legends best first half scoring opportunity came in the 39th minute as Cito Soriano made a quick move past a Brigade defender before blasting shot with his left foot at Franco that narrowly missed wide.
Even former MLS star Eric Wynalda couldn't get the Brigade on the scoreboard. He took two shots before being replaced by Jay Gore in the 81st minute.
"We've been playing well," Franco said. "We're getting the passes, we're getting those opportunities. We've just got to finish."