The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

Before another jam-packed Malcolm Park beach soccer stadium, the Bahamas suffered a 4-2 loss to the United States of America yesterday and ended up in sixth place in the CONCACAF Beach Soccer Championship.

Although they fell short, leading goal scorer Lesly St Fleur said they gave it their best.

“It was a great tournament. It prepares us good, but we still have more work to do,” said St Fleur about the tournament, which prepares the Bahamas to host the FIFA World Cup in April at the same venue.

“The World Cup is going to be a pretty higher level, so we have to be ready.”

As the World Cup looms on the horizon, St Fleur said they hope to come back and put on a good show for the Bahamian fans. He admitted that they have a lot of work to do, but they just have to go back to the drawing board and get ready to compete.

“I felt great for our home fans to cheer us on and I hope that they continue to cheer us on,” he said. “I hope that they come out in the World Cup and continue to support us.”

St Fleur, however, said he felt he could have performed a lot better, although he posted 11 goals and was in the running for the golden boot. “I have plenty work to do, but I will be ready for the World Cup,” he said. “In El Salvador, I had 11 goals and so to come right back here and keep on scoring goals and to help build up the team momentum, it feels good.”

The USA broke the ice at 8:44 in the first period when Oscar Reyes got in a header from the left corner past goalie Torin Ferguson, who got the starting nod for the second straight game.

With 3:37, Nesly Jean tried to get the ball back to Ferguson but Alessandro Canale sneaked up on Jean and caught Ferguson too far out of the goal post to boot in the second goal for the USA.

The USA held on for a 2-0 lead to complete the first period.

In the first two minutes of the second period, the Bahamas blew a couple of golden opportunities to score when both Gary Williams and team captain Gavin Christie drew USA’s goalie Christopher Toth out of the post, but neither were able to score on their consecutive respective touches.

With about four minutes left in the period, Lesly St Fleur got his chance to increase his goal scoring tally for the Bahamas as he had goalie Toth right on his side in front of the net, but his shot was a little too high.

Then with 20.2 seconds left, USA’s captain Lewie Valentine was charged with a hand ball.

On the penalty kick, St Jean put the Bahamas on the scoreboard with his 11th goal in the tournament for a 2-1 deficit as the crowd roared their approval.

And with 2.5 on the clock, St Jean was awarded another penalty kick, but this time it went long as the USA held onto their 2-1 lead to complete the second period.

To start the third, 10:20 into the period, Joseph made an errant pass to Ferguson in front of the goal and Nicolas Perera was on the attack for the shot into the net and a 3-1 lead for the USA.

But on the next play, Christie got the free kick to cut the Bahamas’ deficit to 3-2.

The Bahamas got another break at 7:44 as Valentine got ejected leaving the USA short one player for two minutes.

“It’s beach soccer, it’s played rough,” St Jean said about the physicality of the game. “Sometimes you get out of hand and the judges pick up some things. We just have to be careful in the World Cup.”

However, at 6:50, Jean was hit with a yellow card and the Bahamas failed to cash in on the USA’s inefficiency before they got back to full strength.

All things evened, Toth goggled the ball in front of Christie before he booted in a goal near the half court line for a 4-2 lead for the USA.

With another three minutes left, St Jean got a pass to Christie, whose shot was deflected wild by Toth in the goalpost.

At 1:31, Joseph was hit with a green card.