June 30, 2012
FINALLY, SOME HOME COOKING
Knights win 1st home game of season

MASPETH, N.Y. -- The Brooklyn Knights recorded their first home win of the Premier Development League season, registering a 2-1 victory over the Baltimore Bohemians at the Met Oval on Friday night.

The win lifted the Knights' record to 4-6-1 and 13 points, while the Bohemians dropped to 3-5-3 and 12 points.

Forward Raphael Abreu connected for a brace during a three-minute span in the second half as the Knights were also buoyed with some outstanding defensive play in the final 45 minutes.

"I am very happy for the guys," Knights coach Andreas Lindberg said. "They have been working very hard throughout the entire season. We have been close a couple of times so I am very happy for the guys that we could finally get the win at home."

The Bohemians took the lead on a goal by forward Kingsley Onwuka in the 28th minute as stroked a ball over the outstretched arms of goalkeeper Stefan Manz.

In the second half, the Knights tightened up defensively, not allowing a shot, and went on attack.

Brooklyn’s first goal was a rug burner off the foot of Abreu in the 68th minute mark. Only three minutes later Abreu followed with a second score in the 71st minute, on a brilliant centering pass by Jose Batista near that end line that was fired home for a 2-1 Brooklyn lead and Abreu's fourth of the season.

With Knights captain and leader Stefan Dimitrov not available while serving a suspension, Brooklyn has needed role players to fill the void. The Knights also played their best defense of the season during the second half.

"I feel good," Lindberg said. "We have five more games and we have a great ability to score goals. We score two, three, four goals in a lot of games, which is great and defensively if we can play the way we did in the second half tonight, then these last five games can be a lot of fun for us.”

In extratime forward Dwayne Reid suffered an injury as he was accidentally taken down from behind while in pursuit of a loose ball. After falling to the ground, Reid needed to be carried off the field and initial reports indicated that the injury may threaten Reid’s season. 

"Obviously he has been a super important player for us with his speed and he's tenacious in always creating chances on his own," Lindberg said. "If he can't play it is going to be a major loss for us, but we are just going to have to adjust."

The Knights will travel to Albright College in Reading, Pa. to square off against the third-place Reading United AC on Sunday. Reading took the first encounter, 3-2.