[R] Cleveland vs Baltiomore 5/4

Friday, May 4, 2007
ANNAPOLIS, MD -- The Cleveland City Stars again played spoiler for their opponent's home opener. Around 500 fans came out to the beautiful Navy Marine Corps Memorial Stadium to support Crystal Palace Baltimore, another new expansion team in the USL Second Division, as they hosted the Cleveland City Stars. They undoubtedly left disappointed as the Stars shut them out 4-0.

"This is the second week in a row we have gone on the road to face a team hosting their home opener. The fans have great expectations and create a difficult atmosphere for the visiting squad. In both matches we were able to soak up the pressure and turn it to our advantage," noted Martin Rennie, CCS Head Coach. "We have one more game on the road before we return to Cleveland for our own opener on May 19th. We are all eager to present the team to our home crowd," he added.

Crystal Palace came out quickly and struck first with a shot from Bryan Harkin in the 2nd minute of play. A confident Caleb Patterson made the save and denied Crystal Palace Baltimore the early lead.

Ten minutes later Ian Leibbrandt charged into the midfield on a breakaway and sent a beautiful through ball to Chris Lemons who finished into the top left corner of the goal. It proved to be the game winner, but was just the beginning of the action.

Crystal Palace tried to answer a minute later, but Patterson again proved equal to the task.

Ian Leibbrandt was in the mix of things all night and in the 17th minute he converted on a cross from John DeVae to put the Stars up 2-0.

In the 35th minute Leibbrandt and DeVae almost repeated their heroics but the keeper was able to disrupt the attack and make the save. Two minutes later Patterson single fisted a shot by Sergio Flores over the crossbar.

In the second half, the City Stars put the game away on an incredible display of aerial prowess by Dana McGregor, heading a perfect cross from Luke Williams into the goal to give the Stars a 3-0 lead.

Although Crystal Palace Baltimore had several other opportunities including shots on goal in the 75th and 78th minutes and a shot off the post from Robert Fucci, Caleb Patterson maintained a clean sheet and earned the Stars their first shut out of the season.

The Stars remained relentless, continuing to bombard the goal. One potential score was even called back because of offside. Glen Duerr and Adam Moffat came off the bench in the second half and combined to score the final goal in the 91st minute.

"Everyone did their part tonight and we were able to finish strong. For the last 30 minutes they pushed everyone forward and made us work hard in the backfield. We were able to come together as a team and use the counter attack to our advantage," explained Chris Lemons, who played a key role for the Stars in the midfield.

The Stars will ride back to Cleveland with more than just a win, however. They also received several bags filled with donations of shoes, jerseys and soccer balls for the children of Haiti, which were collected at the game tonight. The people of Baltimore really stepped up to provide for kids in a country where shoes are rarely seen and a soccer ball is a treasured possession.

The hospitality of the City of Baltimore went beyond the soccer field and will reach all the way to Haiti this summer, as the Cleveland City Stars Reserve team travels there to distribute the donated items and host free soccer clinics for the kids.

All Cleveland Fans will also get their opportunity to participate and support the Stars efforts in Haiti at the home game on May 26th as the Stars present their own Haiti Night.

Next Saturday, the Stars will return once again to Cincinnati to face the Kings in their third match of the season. Kickoff will be at 7:30 PM at the Town & Country Sports Complex in Wilder, KY.

Please contact Fanclub@clevelandcitystars.com, if you are interested in traveling with the Stars to watch the match and support the team.



Summary:
CLE: Chris Lemons (Ian Leibbrandt) 12
CLE: Ian Leibbrandt (John DeVae) 18
CLE: Dana McGregor (Luke Williams) 58
CLE: Adam Moffat (Glenn Duerr) 90

Cautions
CLE: Derek Potteiger 55, Ian Leibbrandt 69
CPB: Todd Hicks 23, Mateus dos Anjos 56, Lewwis Spence 62, Robert Fucci 64

Referees: Jeff Gontarek, Brian Coleman, Dean Fairweather, Robert Fereday