4/11 Match Weekend Recap

Chicago v Nashville

Lineups: 

CHI: Karim Gawad, Mazen Hesham, Kareem El Torkey

NASH: Moustafa Elsirty, Sanjay Jeeva, Francisco Marcantonio

 

Chicago v Nashville was tightly contested from start to finish. In Period 1, Karim Gawad stole the show, scoring 13 of his team’s 20 points in just 8 minutes. Gawad lifted Chicago to victory in the first period 20-18, as El Torkey and Hesham struggled. 

 

Nashville answered in Period 2. Elsirty had a strong 10 points in 8 minutes, but the real story was Francisco Marcantonio, Nashville’s new signing, holding his own against Kareem El Torkey to close out the second period and win it for Nashville. 

 

The third period was back and forth, and it came down to the last point. Mazen Hesham came alive in this one. With the help of a power play, he scored 9 points in 5 minutes of play. Elsirty continued his strong run of play with 15 points in 12 minutes, and he almost clawed Nashville back from a seemingly insurmountable deficit. But, Karim Gawad held strong and gave Chicago their first ever win in the NSL. 

 

Newport v Greenwich

Lineups:

NEW: Timmy Brownell, Matias Knudsen, Yahya Elnawasany

GRE: Mostafa Asal, Dimitri Steinmann, Greg Marche

 

Newport v Greenwich was as low-scoring and defensive a match as we’ve seen in the NSL. In the first period, we saw long rallies and back-and-forth scoring between Brownell and Marche. The teams were deadlocked, but Matias Knudsen helped build a lead, and Yahya Elnawasany brilliantly maintained it against Mostafa Asal. 

 

In the second, we saw even more attritional squash across the board. Even Matias Knudsen played slow and defensive, sticking with the theme of the period. Greenwich ended up winning 13-11 on the back of a late Greg Marche surge. 

 

The third period was the most fascinating. Newport was up with about seven minutes to go, and Greenwich still had a power play. Elnawasany and Asal proceeded to have a four minute rally that brought the clock down to within four minutes, such that Greenwich couldn’t call their last power play. Newport went on to win comfortably.