Quantcast
skip navigation

Coon Rapids preserves perfect league record versus Robbinsdale Armstrong

By Dominic Davis, SportsEngine, 09/07/17, 10:00AM CDT

Share

The Cardinals' high-octane offense led to four goals in the second half.


Freshman midfielder Joseph Fineboy (8) runs downfield in the first half. Fineboy scored twice in a 5-0 Andover win. Photo by Carter Jones, SportsEngine

In Robbinsdale Armstrong’s 5-0 win over Coon Rapids, Joseph Fineboy was a main source of success. His movement off the ball, dribbling ability, and his finishing helped lead the way for the home side on Thursday. He looked like he has been starting on the team for years, but he’s only a freshman.

Armstrong head coach Cameron Opel said they knew of Fineboy before he arrived at the school. He was a Minnesota Thunder Academy player coming up. He fit the team well.

“He plays well with our system,” Opel said. “He plays a good quick possession style of play and you don’t always get freshman in the hot there, but he’s the guy who’s making it click best for us.”

The young midfielder scored twice in this game and in Armstrong’s opening game this season displaying how well he can play in the team’s system.

Opel is pleased with how Fineboy started the season. He said he will only get better with more experience.

“We look for him to get bigger and stronger and faster,” Opel said. “Ultimately this season, he seasons to be still figuring out the pace of the varsity game. Long term we are looking for him to continue solid growth.”

The first half could have gone either way. Coon Rapids and Armstrong each only took a couple of shots threatening score line. It was Fineboy who hit net for the only goal in the first.

Armstrong came alive for four goals in the second half. They scored in the first two minutes of the half to go up 2-0. Abel Vaudo gave Michael Arrell a pass across the box for an easy finish.

“We didn’t execute all of [the chances],” Opel said. “First half we got one of them, but second half we found a few holes, and created some opportunities, and we finished a little better.”

Vaudo had two assists in the match. He was crucial to the buildup play finding his teammates in key areas and helping his side maintain possession by escaping defenders.

Coon Rapids head coach Mark Marszalek said he tried to switch up his side’s formation to try to slow down the Armstrong offense.

“It worked for a little bit, but give Armstrong credit where credit is due,” Marszalek said. “They exposed our weaknesses and they pushed the ball hard at us, and we just didn’t handle the pressure very well tonight.”

Nolan Fry and James Agyemang put away the game by scoring the fourth and fifth goals.

Marszalek said his team is young and needs more experience at the varsity. He said they didn’t play to their strengths offensively in the match, but sees his team bouncing back from this loss.

“We have a lot of heart,” Marszalek said. “They’re learning the trial by fire, they’re out there learning as we go.”


Senior midfielder Alex Lynch (42) dribbles up field. Andover defended their home field with a 5-0 win. Photo by Carter Jones, SportsEngine

First Report

Robbinsdale Armstrong defended its home field in a 5-0 victory against Coon Rapids on Thursday.

Joseph Fineboy scored to give Armstrong the lead early in the first half. Bennett Scheib made two saves to keep the lead before halftime.

Robbinsdale Armstrong exploded in the second half. They opened the half by scoring in under two minutes into the half to extend its lead to two. Fineboy added his second of the game to make the score 3-0.

They went on to add two more goals in the last 15 minutes.

Coon Rapids struggled to create chances in the games. When tested, Scheib kept them off the scoreboard. He had four saves in the match.

Photo Gallery

The MN Soccer Hub polls are for entertainment purposes only. 

Spotlight Games

most popular