CFC Azul Earn First Victory

Hamden-based CFC Azul collected its first win in franchise history tonight, and they did it in style. The Azul got revenge on their I-95 rivals defeating the Boston Victory 6-0 at home in what was a rematch of the inaugural game for both franchises on May 5.

In the game earlier this season, the Azul held a 1-0 lead until the 88th minute when the Victory offense finally woke up to tie the game. The Victory fed off of the momentum and scored the game-winning goal in stoppage time to leave the Azul stunned with a 2-1 defeat.

Late collapses had been present for the Azul as they held a lead into stoppage time in the next two matches. Tonight, the Azul made sure to build a lead big enough to not be surpassed in the games final minutes.

"We just stuck to our game plan and in the second half we kept up the pressure," Azul head coach David Kelly said.

Ryan Kinne, who had the only goal of the night last time these two teams met got the crowd roaring early with a free kick goal from 25 yards out in the 4th minute. Kinne doubled the lead six minutes later off of a beautiful cross from the right side by Conor Doyle, which Kinne put past Boston keeper Jordan Bar for the 2-0 lead in the 10th minute. Bar saw 16 shots in the game and made four saves. Azul goalie, Matt Sangeloty made two saves in the game off of five shots earning his first shutout of the season.

CFC's offense continued to click throughout the game especially late in the second half when Markus Naglestad and Mario Di Miceli came in off the bench. Naglestad earned his first PDL points by drilling a penalty kick past Bar in the 64th minute. He then continue to command the offense by assisting on the next three goals which came off the feet of Di Miceli and Sonny Narro. Narro, who was also a second half sub, scored his first goal of the season. Di Miceli scored two goals in the game giving him four points for the season as he saw his first action this year being cleared to play just hours before kickoff. Naglestad meanwhile finished the game with five points.

"We have a ton of attacking options on the team so we are very good moving forward," Kelly said. "It's an uncommon luxury looking down the bench and seeing so many good scorers."

Boston's game-winner against the Azul 20 days ago remains the last goal the team has scored as they have gone 0-3-1 since May 5,struggling to find a scoring threat. Despite losing their leads late, the Azul have headed in the opposite direction with a 1-0-2 record since their inaugural game and have moved into second place in the Northeast Division with five points. Kinne remains the big scorer in the Azul front with four goals on the season but other options have developed as secondary weapons off the bench.

The Azul return to action Saturday night as they take on the Vermont Voltage at 7 p.m. at Pomperaug High School in Southbury.