UTICA COMPLETES TURNAROUND, DOWNS TEXAS 5-3

Mesquite, TX - Down in the Lone Star State, there was one star who shined brighter than them all. After splitting last weekend's series vs Milwaukee, Utica City FC would need someone to step up to bury the last place Texas Outlaws. That man was Nilton de Andrade, who’s brace helped Utica come back to defeat the winless Outlaws 5-3.

It didn’t take long for Utica to get going from the Mesquite Arena. Vini Dantas opened the scoring with a quick turn and finish at the near post at the 3:21 mark. The MASL All-Star (and former Outlaws player) netted his fourth goal of the season. Both teams then were unable to find the back of the net for the rest of the quarter. Despite 14 combined shots from both teams, the score remained 1-0 headed into the second period.

It was the Outlaws who struck first in the second quarter. Just 19 seconds in, David Stankovic rolled it past Andrew Coughlin to put Texas level. Midway through the second, Coughlin brought down David Ortiz in the box and VcMor Eligwe converted the spot kick, giving the Outlaws their first lead of the match. After a few efforts from both sides, the match went into halftime with a 2-1 lead for the Outlaws.

Texas continued the second half right where it left off, netting the first goal in the third. Billy O’Dwyer took advantage of a mistake by Coughlin to give the Outlaws a 2 goal lead. Mershad Ahmadi answered for Utica, converting on a clever free kick routine. The goal marks Ahmadi’s first MASL score, after netting over 40 goals in his past few MASL2 seasons. Just before 10 minutes had passed in the third, Nilton de Andrade capitalized on a turnover by goalkeeper Jesus Rivera, converting the long range effort to tie the game at 3. The goal marks the third consecutive game with a goal for the Cape Verde native. The game would stay even at 3 apiece headed into the final period.

The 4th quarter started with another goal scoring streak. Kelvin Oliviera gave Utica a 4-3 lead just one minute in, extending his run to 7 straight games with a goal. Andrade then finished off the game with another long distance shot, this time into an empty net. He extended the UCFC lead to 2, a lead that Texas would be unable to fight back from. City held on as the final horn sounded to a 5-3 victory over Texas.

UCFC returns to action on Monday, February 3rd with an 8:00 PM EST kickoff in Dallas against the sidekicks. After the trip to Texas, the boys in blue return to the Adirondack Bank Center on Friday, February 7th to host the Baltimore Blast. Kickoff on Friday is set for 7:05 PM, and tickets can be bought at www.uticacityfc.com/tickets

Article written by Andrew Forster