“Because we’re champions!”  – I’m on Setanta Sports

Record: 6 wins, 3 ties, 3 losses; 26 goals scored, 20 conceded

Our inaugural season started off with a bang with a 4-1 win over Chesapeake FC.  Ashkan Bahrani scored 2 goals within the first 10 minutes and we cruised to a 4-0 lead, only to give up a late consolation goal.  From that point forward, the season had its peaks and valleys, leading to a 4-2-3 regular season record (a rained out game vs. Bay Area Strikers was not made up), which was good for 4th place out of 6 teams.

In the playoffs, we played Chesapeake FC for the third time and saw them off with a 1-0 victory, courtesy of Steve Glickman.  That game seemed closer than it was as most of the action took place on Chesapeake’s half, but it did take a fine save from Rich Glover to seal the win.

The semi-final, vs. Real Odenton, was a classic.  Goals by Steve Glickman and Fred Van Dyk put us ahead, only to see Odenton pull one back each time.  The game went to over time where there was incident with our goalkeeper, Aaron Tark, and Scott Zakroski of Odenton, who had scored and assisted their goals, were both sent off.  Bill Pan had to fill in as goalie for the remaining minutes of over time as well as the ensuing penalty shoot out.  After the 10th round of penalties, Bill Pan scored his penalty and watched an Odenton defender shoot it over the bar.

The final, vs. BTFOOM, was a much less tense affair, especially after their South African midfielder was sent off for abusive language towards the referree.  BTFOOM had managed to pick off perennial champions Christos FC in their semi-final in overtime, but was unable to duplicate their efforts a second time.  Fred Van Dyk gave the Spurs a 2-0 lead, and while BTFOOM did manage to pull one back, Bill Pan scored on a header that put the game away.

Season Results:

Pro Air Hotspur 4 Chesapeake FC 1
(Ashkan Bahrani 2, Fred Van Dyk, Jason Franton; Marvin Desormeaux)

Pro Air Hotspur 1, Christos FC 1
(Jason Frantom)

Pro Air Hotspur 3, Real Odenton 4
(Mark Kessinger 2, Ashkan Bahrani 1; Pat Crawford 3, Scott Zakroski 1)

Pro Air Hotspur 1, BTFOOM 2
(Paul Freeman) (Red Card: Ashkan Bahrani – foul and abusive language)

Pro Air Hotspur 2, Bay Area Strikers 1
(Bill George, Fred Van Dyk)

Pro Air Hotspur 2, Chesapeake FC 2
(Ashkan Bahrani, Jason Franton; Mike Rohrer, Jake ?)

Pro Air Hotspur 0, Christos 1
Red Card: Bill Pan – Notable fact: played most of game with 10 and, after red card in 75th minute, with 9 men.

Pro Air Hotspur 3, Real Odenton 2
(Ciprian Craineceanu 2, Steve Glickman)

Pro Air Hotspur 4, BTFOOM 3
(Ciprian Craineceanu 2, Mark Kessinger, Fred Van Dyk)

Playoffs:

Pro Air Hotspur 1, Chesapeake FC 0
(Steve Glickman)

Pro Air Hotspur 2, Real Odenton 2 – Pro Air Hotspur wins on PKs 9-8
(Steve Glickman, Fred Van Dyk)
Red Cards (Aaron Tark, Pro Air; Scott Zakroski, Odenton – fighting)

Pro Air Hotspur 3, BTFOOM 1
(Fred Van Dyk 2, Bill Pan)

Topscorers:

Fred Van Dyk – 6
Ashkan Bahrani – 4
Ciprian Craineceanu – 4
Mark Kessinger and Steve Glickman – 3
Jason Frantom – 2
Bill Pan, Bill George, Paul Freeman – 1

Full Squad: Aaron Tark (GK), Kevin Hartman (D), Andrew Baron (D), Brian Guerin (D), Pat McConney (D), Curtis Bartell (D), Chuck Jewell (M), Len Vandegraaf (M), Randy Cacciola (M), David Baker (M), Bill George (M), Ashkan Bahrani (M), Mark Kessinger (M), Jason Frantom (M/F), Steve Glickman (F), Fred Van Dyk (F)
Subs: Rich Glover (GK), Eric “Mboma” Njenga (D), Lamont “Wes” Harvey (D), Bill Pan (D/M), Marco Parra (M), Paul Freeman (M/F), Ciprian Craineceanu (D/F), Chris Walton (F)