Fontenot hat-trick leads Pelicans’ win
Pensacola FC outscored previously unbeaten Gaffa FC 4-2 Wednesday in Ridgeland, Miss., keeping its perfect start intact and tightening its grip on first place in TLfC’s Gulf Coast Conference.
Sy Fontenot, shown after scoring a goal for the University of West Florida, netted three of Pensacola FC’s four goals in Wednesday’s 4-2 win over Gaffa FC in Ridgeland, Miss.. CREDIT: University of West Florida
PFC claims huge road win
Sy Fontenot’s hat-trick helped Pensacola Futbol Club defeat Gaffa FC 4-2 Wednesday in Ridgeland, Miss., in a key early season match.
The win gave Pensacola (3-0-0, 9 points, +15 goal differential) sole possession of first place in The League for Clubs’ Gulf Coast Conference, at least until Sunday, when the Pelicans will host second-place Tallahassee SC (2-0-0, 6 points, +10).
Gaffa FC (2-1-0, 6 points, +8) dropped to third place after its first loss.
PFC coach Dean Logan was pleased with his team’s poise.
Logan: Tempo, discipline keys to win
“We faced a really good team tonight in Gaffa FC,” he said. “We knew that we had to control the tempo on this game as early as possible, but in doing so we had to be very disciplined.”
Logan said the teams were evenly matched until Fontenot scored in the 15th minute. The winger ran behind the Gaffa defense, received what Logan called “a wonderful penetrative pass” from Axel Gravel, composed himself, and placed the ball to the right of Gaffa keeper Leo Summers.
“Gaffa presented a bit of a challenge for us at times and made it difficult to get that final chance at goal,” Logan said. “They defended their 18-yard box well once we got in behind from wide areas, with Kendrick Hernandez and Sy Fontenot keeping their outside backs busy all night.”
Three’s a charm
The Pelicans have had hat-tricks — three goals by a single player — in each of its first three matches; Bruno Marques scored three and four goals in matches against Sowegans FC and Valdosta FC, respectively.
Logan called Fontenot’s hatter “well-deserved.”
“He was excellent in possession and out of possession for us,” he said.
Fontenot, a Tallahassee native who played at the University of West Florida, scored in the 46th minute and converted a penalty kick in the 70th. Rodrigo Bacci scored the Pelicans’ other goal in the 50th minute from a corner kick.
Cody Barnet (48th) and Alfie Lally (58th) scored for Gaffa FC.
Veteran leadership
Logan applauded starters Bacci, Eduardo Pampolini and Aaron Boateng, and said veteran Michael Lightbourne was key off the bench, especially after Nacho Miranda was sent off after receiving his second yellow card (an automatic red card and ejection) in the 65th minute.
“(Lightbourne) came in and brought the calmness that was needed to prevail,” Logan said. “Overall, (it was a) great performance by the team, and a well deserved win on the road.”
PFC Academy (1-1-1, 4 points, 0 goal differential) also played Wednesday, losing 1-0 to Union 10 FC (1-0-0, 3 points, +1).
Next up
This weekend is rivalry week in the Gulf Coast Conference. On Saturday, its Georgia teams, Valdosta FC (0-3-0, 0 points, -16) and Sowegans SC (1-2-0, 3 points, -7), will play in Leesburg, and Mississippi sides Gaffa FC and Gulf Coast United FC (0-2-0, 0 points, -5) will play in Gulfport.
On Sunday, Tallahassee will visit Pensacola for the first leg of this year’s 850 Cup competition between two of the conference’s Florida teams. Kickoff is at 4 p.m. at Ashton Brosnaham Stadium.
Starting lineups
GAFFA FC — Leo Summers; Jedin Lee, Lawson Harvey, Santi Diosa; Abdul Omar, Jason Ward, Tom Toulson; Alfie Lally, Cody Barnet, Mills Sheridan; Julian Carreira. BENCH — Solomon Naylor, Miguel Quevedo, Zach Sorey, Zion Millow, Gage Sorey
PENSACOLA FC — Cooper Jennings, Aaron Boateng, Axel Gravel, Bruno Marques, Eduardo Pampolini, Nacho Miranda, Joao Ribeiro dos Santos, Sy Fontenot, Kendrick Hernandez, Mohammed Alshabot, Rodrigo Bacci. BENCH — Baylen Young, Carson Hickock, Gabriel Mendoza, Isaac Machado, Kenta Yagi, Michael Lightbourne, Tyrese Andrews