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 FRANKLIN – Surviving and even thriving with a man down doesn't require a secret formula. It's all about defensive shape and hard work.
Though a 40-yard half-volley doesn't hurt.
Neil Dombrowski's creative strike 10 minutes into the first extra period provided the winning margin as 10-man Bavarian SC edged the Croatian Eagles 2-1 in the Wisconsin Adult Soccer Association Major League final Sunday at Croatian Park.
The title was the 16th since 1973 for Bavarians (12-4-4), easily the most in the league during that span. They were seeded fourth in the four-team tournament, but kept the top-seeded Eagles (17-3-3) from claiming their sixth championship and thwarted their quest to become the first back-to-back Majors champions since they did so in 2002 and '03.
It seemed Croatians were sure to come out on top following a confrontation 65 minutes in between Poppy Drame of Croatians and Adam Skalecki (Wauwatosa East/UW-Milwaukee) of Bavarians. After the referee conferred with his linesman on the touchline in front of the Croatians bench – where coaches screamed that Skalecki had thrown a punch – Drame was shown a yellow card and Skalecki a red.
“They claim that he punched him, but he didn't,” Bavarians coach Scott Kreitmier said. “It was right in front of all their bench and they were screaming and basically talked the ref into it."
From that moment, the field tilted and Croatians, with veteran Jason Willan pulling the strings, dominated possession and opportunities. What they couldn't do was score, and a list of their missed opportunities might fill the Internet:
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Ilya Ksenidi (West Allis Hale/UW-Green Bay) was set up by Brett Wiesner (Brookfield East) at the near post in the 76th minute, but his effort was deflected out for a corner kick.
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Wiesner then got loose near the corner of the 6-yard box, but his right-footed effort from the left side was wide.
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In the 84th, Wiesner's slaloming run from midfield was halted at the top of the 18, but the ball was deflected to Willan, whose drive slammed the left post.
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In the 88th, Ksenidi's looping header hit the crossbar.
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In the first minute of extra time, Willan's pass sprung Quinnipiac's Philip Surprise (Milwaukee Pius) for a 1v1 with the keeper. The keeper was far off his line but Surprise's chip was hooked wide of the empty net.
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And for good measure, in the 117th minute, Ksenidi again found the crossbar with a looping header.
"Bottom line, to me, is you can't miss those opportunities against a good team, and then when you get into overtime, any mistake … our defender missed it and their guy took a great shot,” said Croatians coach Alex Toth, whose team beat Bavarians 6-0 last fall and 1-0 two weeks ago. “What are you going to do?”
A shot like Dombrowski's can leave a defense feeling helpless, for sure.
Off a goal kick in the 100th minute, Kyle Zenoni (Hartland Arrowhead/UW-Milwaukee) flicked a header toward the forward. Dombrowski saw the keeper far off his line and sideswiped at the bouncing ball from about 40 yards out. It soared perfectly into the net for what stood up as the game-winner.
“I looked up, saw the goalie was a little bit off his line, so I thought I could get it over him,” said Dombrowski, a former West Allis Hale and UW-Milwaukee standout who played with the Portland Timbers in the USL First Division in 2007 and '08.
Dombrowski also assisted on the game's first goal in the 42nd with a corner kick to the far post that was headed back across to the opposite corner on a tough angle by Billy Meier (Racine St. Catherine's/UW-Milwaukee).
Willan knotted the match in the 55th minute when he split three Bavarian defenders and outraced them to a long ball, beating the keeper with the outside of his right foot. That was all the scoring until Dombrowski lobbed in the winner.
“We've got a rivalry with these guys, so every game's hard-fought. No matter who's got the better team or who's got better players, it's always the same,” Kreitmier said. “So when you go down a man, nothing really changes, you just play with a little more grit, you drop an extra guy back and hope for the best.”
Like a 40-yard half-volley over the keeper's head.
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