2 Games, 2 Touchdowns: FC Monmouth Continues Hot Start
Written by Chris Dailey
What’s better than scoring seven goals in one game?
Doing it again in the very next game, of course.
FC Monmouth continued its blistering start to the season last night, dismantling First State FC 7-2 for a second straight seven goal performance. The Blue and Gold now open the campaign with back-to-back dominant victories and have quickly emerged as one of The League for Club’s most in-form sides.
A mere seven minutes into the match, club captain Lenny Aviles opened the scoring. From that moment forward, it was all FC Monmouth.
Just three minutes later, Nate Anevski doubled Monmouth’s lead. It was the crafty FDU forward’s opening goal of the year. Last summer, he notched three goals in his debut campaign.
Throughout the next 20 minutes, FC Monmouth controlled the tempo of the game and didn’t allow First State to create any opportunities. Then, fellow captain Eric Sadlocha did Eric Sadlocha things. Sadlocha thunderously headed home a beautiful corner from Jake Homowitz. It’s Sadlocha’s second goal of the season – matching his total from last year.
As the half winded down, Anevski found himself in the center of the action once more. After sneaking into the 18, he fed a nice ball to Pat Shaw who proceeded to quickly turn and rip it for FC Monmouth’s fourth goal. With five minutes left, just as First State thought they could see out the half, Aviles doubled his goal contributions for the day and sent FC Monmouth into the break with a commanding 5-0 lead.
The first 45 was a classic case of FC Monmouth firing on all cylinders while First State FC weren’t up to their typical standard. That all changed in the first five minutes of the second half, as the home side punched in two goals to cut the deficit to three.
However, FC Monmouth were still unforgiving in their attacking pursuits. Pat Shaw and Jack Guerin both scored in the final 20 minutes of the game to cap off the seven goal night.
The start is just about as picture-perfect as head coach Hugh MacDonald would’ve hoped for. Still, he’s not settled with anything this early in the season.
“It’s hard to be critical to the start of our season, we have a talented group that are capable of creating quality chances, fortunately we’ve been putting those chances away so far,” said MacDonald. “We all know we have a lot of work to do in order to be solid in all phases and to understand better the moments of the game. Hopefully our culture sets us apart as adversity hits us in the future.”
The culture MacDonald has built at FC Monmouth is clear. In his second year at the helm, the club is soaring to new heights. The Blue and Gold’s offensive production speaks for itself, but the professional identity of the club is really what makes it unique.
FC Monmouth returns to action on May 21st as they travel to Atlantic City FC. For updates on streaming, team news and more, follow along with FC Monmouth on social media @wearemonmouth.
