The Dutch Lions win first home game of the season

CONROE, TX- The Houston Dutch Lions FC defeated the Mississippi Brilla FC 4-1 Thursday night at home, winning their first home game all season and greatly pleasing the crowd and increasing their “Lion pride.”

The Dutch Lions ended the first half tied 1-1 with the Mississippi Brilla, leaving both teams holding on to the hope they could be the one to pull out the win. The Brilla scored the first goal of the match in the 17th-minute, setting an attainable tempo for the match; however, for the Dutch Lions, attainable was not acceptable.

The Houston Dutch Lions, not to be outdone, came back in the 31st-minute with a goal thanks to George Kelley, who sneaked a ball right past the Mississippi keeper. Kelley was undoubtably a key player in the match, as he created and often took advantage of numerous opportunities at the face of the goal. Kelley scored another goal for the Dutch Lions in the 69th-minute, putting the hometown heroes in the lead. These two opportunities equated to 8 goals being scored in 6 games by Kelley.

“I was happy, but at the same time I knew we still had to watch out because we still had twenty minutes of play left. After the third goal and the red card, I was more relaxed and had the feeling that it would be a good end,” said head coach Marco Pruis.

Javier Vazquez, forward for the Lions alongside Kelley, scored the remaining two goals of the game in a matter of five minutes; while the clock was nearing 90 minutes, Vazquez finished a loose ball that came out of a Lions corner kick. While Mississippi was focused on clearing the ball, the Lions were even more focused on continuing their scoring streak. Vazquez saw an opportunity in the mess of players to get the ball into the back of the net, and did so with pristine execution. Not too much later, he took a penalty kick that was awarded to Houston due to a foul on the Mississippi goalkeeper, who found it necessary to illegally stop a Lion from completing his run inside the box. Vazquez easily finished the penalty kick just seconds before the final whistle, leaving the Dutch Lions with an impressive 4-1 lead over the Mississippi Brilla.

“I think right now we have got to enjoy it [the win], but tomorrow we have to focus on the next game. We have played this team a couple of times before in Mississippi, and they have a few great players. I think it will be hard because they are going to be eager to make up for what happened today, but we just have to keep cool, play our own game, and play with the same mindset, and we will have a chance to have the same result again,” said Coach Pruis.

The Houston Dutch Lions will face the Mississippi Brilla once again on Saturday, July 11 at 7 pm at the Houston Dutch Lion FC stadium.