The paradise island of Bermuda almost turned into a nightmare as the game was under threat of being postponed after a week of torrential rain and storms has left the island battered and bruised. With the field under water in the morning it was only through the skill and hard work of the ground staff that the game was able to happen at all.

 

The Bermuda Hogges settled into the game scoring first against the high flying Nor’easters. The Ocean City boys struck back after a Scott Davis shot was saved and fell to the feet of Alec Golini on his debut to score his first goal for the franchise. A lifeline was thrown to the Nor’easters and Markhus Lacroix almost scored before half time but his chance went just wide. At half time the two teams went in to dry their feet from the sodden field at one goal a piece.

 

After the half time interval the Nor’easters winner arrived. Lacroix made up for his first half error after a great run and pass found Alec Golini who found the net for his second of the game. The match petered out as the condition of the field worsened.

 

President Giancarlo Granese told us from Bermuda “It was a difficult time here with the weather being so bad. The storm came before the Nor’easters did. It was just great to get the 3 points and take them back to Ocean City”

 

Tim Oswald reiterated Granese’s thoughts saying “Great road win for us in miserable conditions. The Hogges considered canceling the match due to the extensive amount of rain in the last 24 hours, but we battled through the weather and got 3 points on the road. Many of the reserves that hadn’t been getting big time min came through in the clutch tonight as some starters didn’t make the trip. We went down on an early goal and managed to knot the game up late in the 1st half after a Scott Davis shot and rebound was hammered home by Alec Golini. At halftime, we talked about handling and dealing with adversity better and I challenged the character of the team. They came out and matched my expectations off a great counter and goal in transition as Duke feed Alec a ball in behind the Hogges flat back 4 and he pushed it passed their GK who came off the line to challenge. We had some scary moments late, but John McCarthy’s big save off a set piece settled the 3 points for us. We are definitely happy with where we stand halfway through the season, but there are still 8 big games left to play. Hopefully, we get some sun tomorrow and can cap off a great trip with some time for the guys all to hang out and relax.”