Maybe it was the unveiling of the new creme colored kits, or the first appearance at a home game of ‘Hutch” the new mascot, or even a little post World Cup bounce against a club whose name has been known with greatness in past iterations, or maybe that Coach George Gjokaj’s club is starting to gel in the summer heat. But on a beautiful Wednesday night in Mount Vernon, Westchester Soccer Club earned a 3-0 victory over the New York Cosmos.
WSC wasted no time getting on the scoreboard, finding the opening goal early in the match. Dean Guezen found himself near the right side of the six-yard box and cleverly backheeled the ball to Kyle Evans. Evans then delivered a low cross across the face of goal, where Bobby Pierre slid in and finished with the bottom of his foot to give Westchester a 1-0 advantage. WSC continued to create chances throughout the first half but could not find another goal, taking the one-goal lead into halftime.
The majority of the second half remained relatively calm until tensions began to rise in the 67th minute. Both teams were shown a card from there on out, but there was a strong possibility that more could have been handed out. Just over 10 minutes later, Jonathan Jimenez played a short through ball into the box for Evans, who calmly finished into the bottom right corner to double Westchester’s lead.
Later in the 83rd minute, Max Jennings made a nice play to keep the ball in bounds and found Guezen near the penalty spot. Guezen finished the chance just as Evans did earlier, slotting the ball into the bottom right corner to extend Westchester’s lead. The win gave Westchester Soccer Club revenge against the Cosmos after their heartbreaking 3-2 USL Cup loss on May 15. With the victory, Westchester is in 12th place in the Prinx Tires Performance Standings, sitting eight points behind the playoff line.
WSC will hit the road for their next two matches, beginning Saturday, July 25 against AV Alta FC and continuing Saturday, August 1 vs Forward Madison FC. Westchester will then return home on August 15 to host FC Naples at 7 p.m.
