Bartellas steals victory for Feildians over Mount Pearl

Feildians: 3 vs  Mount Pearl: 1

Bartellas was simply "Brilliant" 

When it comes to goalkeeping, I have seen some great goal-tending performances this season. John Douglas was superb in the Laurentians tie against Holy Cross in May. The young keeper Thomas Pieroway stole a victory for the NL Canada Games team who defeated Holy Cross by a 2-0 victory. However, none were any better than the brilliant performance put on by the  Feildian goalkeeper Michael Bartellas as he led his team to a 3 -1 victory in Molson Challenge Cup league play.

Feildiians strike early

Before I could barely get through  the KGV  gate, the Feildians Kevin Connelly had scored the opening goal  with less than a minute played. After Mount Pearl realized that the game had started,

they took control. They ran the Feildians ragged. At the 5 minute mark, steady veteran Ryan Caines scored, his third goal of the season, tying the match at 1-1. Caines goal  refueled Mount Pearl and  then it was Mount Pearl's other striker Justin Pickford who took control of the match. Pickford began showing some great signs of his old self when he and John Hawco were the two most dominating strikers in Challenge Cup. However Mount Pearl efforts were continuously denied.  Denying Mount Pearl on their opportunities was a combination two things; number one was the brilliant performance of Bartellas on saving a number of scoring opportunities on Pickford and company, while number two would be the keepers best friend, his goal posts and crossbar. Pickford himself cracked two off the metal structure.

Those are the breaks

Sometimes it is better to be lucky that it is to be good  and Feildians certainly became the beneficiary of this cliche.  While Feildians continued to press in the second half, Mount Pearl began to nap defensively and as a result Mount Pearl paid.dearly.At the 54 minute mark,  Zack Hynes caught the defense out of position. He attacked from the middle, then broke in on the right wing, shot and scored on a bewildered Mount Pearl goalie Luke Olmstead. Ten minutes later, Feildians newcomer Josh Murphy was left alone at the 30 yard line when he decided to shoot, and his shot caught Olmstead off his line and all he could do was retrieve the ball from the back of the net.

Goalie must play in order to perform

 This season Bartellas has gotten the opportunity to play full time in net and he has answered the bell. In order to perform at a high level, a goalie needs to play regularly.  They need to get into a rhythm and gain confidence in themselves. Again, how do they do this ? They need to play game in and game out !