UTICA CITY SEALS OVERTIME WIN SUNDAY
Utica, NY - Utica City FC Hosted The Florida Tropics for the 4th matchup this season on Sunday, with a 0-3 record against the tropics this season. The Tropics, being 2nd in the league and 1st in the East division, went into the game with 17 wins and 2 losses. The City came to play in front of an energized home crowd, and stole a game from the Tropics, winning 5-4 in Overtime.
In a 1st quarter of defensive battles and saves, Both teams were scoreless in the first 15.
After a fairly equal 1st quarter, Utica seemed to dominate the 2nd despite letting one in early. Victor Parreiras sniped one in to give the Tropics a 1-0 lead. That was where the scoring stopped for Florida, and started for Utica.
Five minutes into the 2nd, Segura found himself 1v1 in transition off a pass up field from Jake Schindler. Segura took advantage of the opportunity and fired a rocket to the upper net, Which tied the game at 1.
Two minutes later, Utica had the momentum as Ben Ramin put in a floater over the goalie to put Utica up 2-1 with 8:25 left in the 2nd. Joey Tavernese counted for the assist.
After getting outshot in the 1st 7-6, Utica had 9 shots on goal and held Florida to 3 shots the entire 2nd quarter. At the end of the 1st half, Utica led 2-1 with the momentum carrying.
In a 3rd quarter, Parreires put in a second goal, this time off of a penalty kill, to tie the game up. At the end of 3, the score was all tied up 2-2.
At the beginning of the 4th, Drew Ruggles put in a goal 25 seconds into the quarter.
With 12 minutes left in the 4th, Utica decided to strike back, scoring on a penalty play of their own. Scored by Jake Schindler, his goal tied the game back up with vigor, 3-3.
Seconds later, Ronaldinho struck again, putting in a shot off the backboard and into the net. 4-3 Utica City.
Down to the last 2 minutes of the 4th, Zack Reget of the Tropics crushed the arena, tying up the game at 4 with 6 attackers on. This is how regulation would end, with a 4-4 tie game going into overtime.
Not even a minute into the overtime, Joey Tavernese sealed the game, rocketing a pass from Schindler into the left side of the net, winning the game 5-4 in overtime.
Utica City moves to 8-14 with the win, and has two massive home games next week. They host Tacoma Saturday at 7 P.M. and Chihuahua on Sunday at 2 P.M. Tickets are available for both games at uticacityfc.com/tickets.