June 30, 2007

Fusion continues to shine on its turf
Ventura County beats San Jose, now 5-0 at home

By David Lassen

Home-field advantage is proving to be no small thing for the Ventura County Fusion.

With Friday night's 2-0 win over the San Jose Frogs at Buena High, the Fusion is now 5-0 at home and 7-2-1 in the Southwest Division of the Premier Development League. With 22 points, Ventura County is tied with San Jose (7-4-1) for second place in the division standings.

"Your home territory should be considered to be a fortress," said coach Graham Smith. "And if we can make our home ground a fortress, then we've defended our lives. And we get a very good crowd here, as well. I think that helps the players raise themselves, and as a consequence, we get a better performance."

Smith's players agreed the strong home support is a major factor in the team's success.

"It all comes from the fans," said Eric Frimpong, who scored the second goal. "The support from Ventura County — it is impressive. You don't want to disappoint them."

Added goalkeeper Bryan Hill: "We take pride in being from Ventura County. We have great fan support. You won't go anyplace else and see the amount of fans that we have."

Friday's win, controlled by Ventura County throughout, reversed an earlier meeting in San Jose, a 2-1 decision that was the first Fusion defeat.

"We felt we needed to re-establish ourselves as a team that is hungry," said goalkeeper Bryan Hill, who posted the shutout in his first start. "We've been kind of lackluster the last few games, and we knew we had something to prove tonight."

That was particularly true given the opponent.

"We were up for this," said Smith. "Although the Frogs are a good side, we owed them this, because we were robbed when we were in San Jose. There can be no other word for it."

The Fusion took a 1-0 lead in the 28th minute on a perfectly placed shot giving Cal State Fullerton's Michael Farfan his first goal of the season. As play continued with Fusion midfielder Varden Adzemian down in the box after a collision with a San Jose player, Farfan lofted a shot from a sharp angle on the left side that went beyond the reach of San Jose goalkeeper Stefan Frei and dropped in just below the crossbar at the far post.

Frimpong, a native of Ghana who is one of three Fusion players from reigning NCAA champion UC Santa Barbara, made it 2-0 in the 56th minute, taking a cross from Mark Draycott at the right of the goal mouth and rolling a shot just inside the near post. It was Frimpong's second goal of the season.

Hill, who took over goalkeeping duties when Frank was injured in Sunday's Fusion loss to the Los Angeles Storm, was tested early, but not often. His stop on Frogs forward Stephen Wondolowski from close range in the second minute proved to be his lone save as he maintained the team's high level of play in goal.

"It's just a matter of keeping it a seamless transition," said Hill. " I knew going in that things happen, injuries happen, so I knew to be mentally ready if I was ever called on."

Friday's game was the first of five in 13 days, and the third in a stretch of eight in 23 days.

Up next for Ventura County is a Sunday afternoon game at Fresno; next at home will be a July 8 game with the San Francisco Seals, one of three home games remaining in the regular season.