Fine Four-m

A-Team beginning to take shape after their slow start

Ivan Rados — The Fourth of July may be an American holiday but Hamilton Croatia’s A-Team had at least four good reasons of their own to celebrate on Monday night. They notched their fourth straight win by a score 4-0 over the Iraq FC Lions. It was also their fourth consecutive shutout, and the team has a 4-0 record since the return of Nediljko Simic. Iraq came into Monday’s match tied for top spot in the H&D Elite Division. Croatia took early control of the game and was awarded a penalty shot 15 minutes into the match after an Iraq defender handled the ball in the box. J.J. Grubisic converted the penalty to give Croatia the early lead. Iraq played aggressively for much of the half committing hard fouls. The dangerous play caught up to them as their #10 received his second yellow after a very hard foul at the 67th minute mark. Croatia continued to apply the pressure and were awarded with a second goal by Grubisic on a beautiful set-up from Dado Lukovic and Ivan Demo. Jerko completed the natural hat-trick on a well struck shot at the 86th minute mark to give Croatia a commanding 3-0 lead. Croatia added a fourth goal a minute later to seal the 4-0 victory. While the offence was firing on all cylinders this game, the goaltending and defending could not be overlooked. Zachary Zeka was between the pipes and recorded his second shutout in as many starts. Although only 18, Zeka has held his own in the Hamilton goal and has proven to be a great compliment to Johnny Cepo, currently the league’s best goaltending tandem. Zeka will be headed to Adrian College (NCAA Div III) this fall on a soccer scholarship. The A-Team will have a chance to leapfrog into first place on Thursday when they take on league leaders Vasco Da Gama. The game is set for Mohawk 3 at 9 PM and fan support is certainly appreciated.