Matthew Mbuta used his head to give Crystal Palace a victory ? literally.
Mbuta battled the heat to spark a second-half outburst with a goal in the 56th minute and later added an assist to give Crystal Palace a 3-0 win over the Wilmington Hammerheads Sunday at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis. The game was moved from Saturday to Sunday due to a scheduling conflict at the stadium.
“This was my first time playing in 95-degree temperatures,” Mbuta said. “It was hot out here. But in the end, it was cool because we made it.”
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The victory clinches sole possession of fifthplace for Crystal Palace (8-6-5, 29 points), which was eliminated from the United Soccer League Second Division playoff race last week. Crystal Palace keeper Brian Rowland collected five saves while notching his seventh shutout of the season.
After a scoreless first half, Crystal Palace came out firing in the second. Mbuta put Crystal Palace ahead for good in the 56th minute when his header beat Wilmington goalkeeper Dan Ruch.
Crystal Palace defender Ibrahim Kante began a restart by lining a 25-yard pass into the Hammerheads? goal box, and Mbuta answered with a diving header for the 1-0 lead.
In the 69th minute, Crystal Palace forward Sergio Florres sent a cross-field pass to Harold Urquijo. Urquijo caught the pass and took a shot on an open net to give Crystal Palace a 2-0 lead.
“I think we played with a little more urgency going forward in the second half,” Crystal Palace co-coach Jim Cherneski said.
Mbuta lofted a pass into the Wilmington goal box in the 76th minute, and Gary Brooks punched in his sixth goal of the year for Crystal Palace?s final strike.
“The keeper let three goals in,” Wilmington coach David Irving said. “It was very poor. You can?t legislate mistakes like that.”
In the 24th minute, Brooks dribbled the ball into the Wilmington attack zone and sent a shot into the goal box, but Ruch was waiting for the diving stop ? one of his five saves.
Wilmington midfielder David Cowley provided the Hammerheads with one of their few offensive threats in the 40th minute. Cowley threaded through three Crystal Palace defenders, but couldn?t beat Rowland with a 12-yard shot.
Wilmington managed only 12 shots, while Crystal Palace exploded for 23 eight days after routing the Bermuda Hogges, 8-1.
“We wanted to prove that last week wasn?t a fluke,” Crystal Palace co-coach Pete Medd said. “We could have had a lot more at the beginning. It was hard to keep up the rhythm the whole game.”
