Horvath Lifts U-15 Attack to Win Over London

The U-15 Chatham Attack were on the road on Saturday afternoon in London taking on the London Athletic Spartans. They were looking to rebound from their last game, a 4 – 2 road loss in London against United. The conditions at game time would be a factor as it was a hot steamy day and the field itself was hard and lumpy, making for a scrappy, sloppy game. Ball control was tricky at times and Chatham would have to adapt quickly.

Chatham controlled the play from the onset against the undermanned London side, but could not get a goal before the Athletics were at full strength part way through the half. The bouncy ball made it difficult to get any quality shots on net. However Chatham continued to work hard and pressure the shifty Athletic team which led to a foul shot being awarded to Chatham just outside the 18 yard box. Zachary Horvath cranked a low hard shot around the wall and the Athletic goalie did his best to get behind the ball, but the overpowering shot led to a rebound that Johnny Montgomery pounced on an chipped over the down and out London goalie. Up 1- 0 at the half, Chatham would look to build on their lead and put the game away early before fatigue became an issue.

However, London had other plans as a turnover at midfield cause an partial breakaway forcing Chatham to take down a player in the box resulting in a penalty shot. With the game tied at 1 , Chatham would have to dig deep to regain momentum and pull out a win. Chatham responded early when Chris Bechard was sent in on goal and got away an off balance low hard left footed shot at the London net. The London goalie got only enough of the ball to deflect it away from goal, but Zack Horvath was there to jump on the lose ball and cut in a shot from a nearly impossible angle. Chatham would now bear down defensively with a 2 – 1 lead and Attack goalie Josh Graham did the rest as once again he turned aside shot after shot from the Spartan players. The 2 – 1 win keeps Chatham in 3rd place with only 2 games remaining on their season. Chatham does play the London Athletic Spartans again on Saturday in the quarter final round of the challenge cup.