Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Haworth Hat-Trick Advances Fury to Eastern Conference Championship

Ottawa Fury Soccer Club Announces
Tuesday, July 23, 2013
Ottawa, ON - The Ottawa Fury ran away with the PDL Northeast Division Championship Tuesday night powered by a Carl Haworth hat-trick as his side went on to defeat the GPS Portland Phoenix 6-0. Ottawa has advanced to the Eastern Conference Championship where they will meet Reading United in the semifinal Saturday afternoon in Ocean City. 
The opening kick-off was delayed forty-five minutes as Mother Nature wreaked havoc for the second straight Fury home game. After a frantic start from both teams a near own-goal from Phoenix defender Gilbert Manier led to a Fury corner that would result in the games opening goal in the 11th minute as Carl Haworth netted his first of the post-season and 13th of the season. The Fury would take over control following the Haworth strike with Loic Miliani firing over the bar and Artur Piperkov missing out on an opportunity after being brought down in the box, but no call would follow. Eddie Jones did his best to try and find the score sheet in the first half, but his shot from 25 yards squeaked wide of the back post. Ottawa would carry the momentum and the 1-0 lead into halftime. 

It was a dream start to the second half for Ottawa as Carl Haworth was brought down inside the box and would step up to take the penalty and made no mistake putting the Fury ahead 2-0 in the 49th minute. Six minutes later Jacob VanCompernolle who had arguably his best game of the season, made and incredible run down the left side before slotting it across goal to a wide open Haworth who tapped in his second hat-trick of the season. In the 62nd minute Chad Bush, who posted 9 shutouts in the regular season, had to make a tough save to keep the clean sheet in tact with VanCompernolle clearing the rebound. Carrying a 3-0 lead deep into the second half head coach Stephen O'Kane went to his bench and his substitutions paid dividends as Carlo Basso tapped in a well placed cross from Jon Barden in the 81st minute to make it 4-0 for the home side. In the 89th minute the hardworking Eddie Jones was rewarded as he took a feed from Carlo Basso and smashed a shot past Adam Perron who was helpless in the Phoenix goal. Carlo Basso would add a second deep into injury time heading home a free kick from Abe Keller to seal a convincing 6-0 victory for the Fury on a night where they out-shot their opposition 19-3. The win extends the Fury's unbeaten streak to 10-games (9-0-1) where they have outscored their opposition 38-1. On the defensive side of things, Ottawa native Chad Bush recorded his 9th straight shutout and has now gone over 810 minutes without allowing a goal. 

The Fury will now prepare for a Friday morning departure for Ocean City where they will face Reading United (8-1-5) in the Eastern Conference Semifinal Saturday afternoon at 3pm. The winner will meet the winner of Saturday's second semifinal between hosts Ocean City (11-2-1) and Carolina (9-2-3) on Sunday night at 7pm. Follow the Fury's quest for a PDL Championship via the club's Twitter feed @OttawaFurySC


NEXT GAME
PDL Eastern Conference Semifinal
Ottawa Fury vs Reading United (Carey Stadium - Ocean City)
Saturday, July 27 @ 3PM

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