Kisling's Tavern
HANGOVER UNITED
Soccer Club
Baltimore, Maryland USA - Est. 1995

HANGOVER UNITED - MATCH REPORT 2003: MMSL PLAYOFF FINAL

HANGOVER FINISH 2003 OFF IN STYLE, WIN TREBLE WITH 5-1 VICTORY
By David Jones for soccernet.com
21 DECEMBER 2003

CATONSVILLE, MD – Hangover United finished off their remarkable 2003 season with an anti-climactic 5-1 thrashing of former foe Dnipro a.k.a. now Ashland Café. The match taking place on the artificial turf the UMBC Stadium in Catonsville. The blustery afternoon was a chilly affair especially with the setting sun of the late 3:00 PM kickoff. Hangover started off as cold as their surroundings, as they could not seem to get their bearings in the first 15 minutes of the half. Hangover were unable to string any passes together or find anyone in the midfield, so the possession was almost entirely in their own half of the field. Hangover keeper Butch Santucci was called upon to make a couple nice saves early and did so coming up big when needed. But then in the 13th minute Hangover started to mount some pressure and Aron Shea chased down a ball the Ashland defense gave up on. He kept it in play, then put a nice ball to the center of goal where Anthony Mengatti got a foot to the ball and it deflected to the feet of Danny Gerbasi who volleyed with his left foot into the net, stunning the Ashland defenders and giving Hangover the 1-0 lead with a goal against the flow of play up to that point. The tide then turned as Hangover got their confidence back as they figured out the skid and touch of the ball on this foreign surface and began to play the type of game they have all year. With pressure mounting Hangover received a free kick 40 yds out on the right side. Danny Gerbasi stepped up and put a beautiful cross into the box where John Jenkins rose like a leaping salmon to meet the ball and knock it with authority past the Ashland keeper in the 29th minute giving Hangover the 2-0 lead into halftime.  

In the second half, Hangover were in the drivers seat yet again. They knew this Ashland side was on the verge of being deflated of hope and Hangover came out with a quiet confidence. Only 4 minutes into the half Aron Shea found himself in on goal all alone and was brought down from behind in the box and granted a penalty kick. 2002 & 2003 MMSL Golden Boot winner John Jenkins stepped up and buried the ball into the side netting beating the keeper even though he did guess correctly. Hangover were up 3-0 with 40 minutes to play and the route was on, Ashland were finished. Jon Pitonzo played a nice ball through to John Jenkins who had on open breakaway from 35 yds and calmly put it past the closing keeper for his 3rd hat-trick of the post season. In the 67th minute Ashland got behind the Hangover defense and Chris Sicliano tackled the striker in the box, he got the ball but took the man out as well. A penalty was awarded and Hangover keeper Butch Santucci guessed incorrectly and the score was 4-1, but the result was already a forgone conclusion. For good measure in the 74th minute Chris Hastings put Jon Pitonzo in on goal by himself and Pitz stopped and flicked the ball past the keeper to the near post making it 5-1. The final whistle came Hangover United had completed an undefeated season and won the coveted TREBLE (regular season champs, DiMarco Cup champs, playoff champs).

At the post match press conference at Kislings player/manager Chris King said, “This really has been a dream season... it felt good to finish it off in style. It would have been a shame to come all this way and not win this, so we were NOT gunna let that happen.” He added “There was a sense of relief and accomplishment because we knew we deserved this. We all are going to enjoy this. It has been a long time in the making and we looking forward to taking this show into Division I. Now there is only one thing left to do and that is get very drunk!!!” King said with a smile.

Hangover now are officially the TREBLE winners of MMSL 2003 winning the Regular Season, DiMarco Cup & Division II Playoffs (a feat that has not been accomplished in the MMSL Div II before). Hangover finished with some amazing statistics. Cumulatively they finished with an undefeated record of 14 wins, 0 loses and 1 draw, with 64 goals for and only 15 against. MMSL Golden Boot winner John Jenkins finished with an amazing 28 goals and 15 assists. Hats off to this entire squad for amazing effort all year… well done HANGOVER UNITED.

MAN OF THE MATCH: John Jenkins (hat-trick-hero), THE WHOLE TEAM (Hon Mention)
GOAL OF THE MATCH: John Jenkins #2 (header)
FOUL OF THE MATCH: Chris Sicliano (tackle in the box)

MMSL NEXT MATCH: STAY TUNED FOR HANGOVER UNITED SPRING LEAGUE ACTION!!!!