LAUDERHILL, Fla. – Enzo Martinez missed a penalty in the 80th minute of the second game of the 2012 MLS Combine as adiPure and adiZero drew 0-0.
Martinez (North Carolina) – a Generation adidas signing who was the best player on the pitch for long stretches – skied his spot kick before the final whistle, as neither side could find the back of the net thanks in part to the strong goalkeeping of Ryan Meara (Fordham) for adiZero and Chris Blais (South Florida) of adiPure.
Early chances fell the way of adiPure. Sam Garza (UC Santa Barbara) found an unmarked Arthur Ivo (SMU) outside the 18-yard box in the 14th minute, but after a touch, Ivo curled a shot that Meara punched away.
It didn’t take long after that for adiZero to threaten, nearly scoring four minutes later. An adiZero corner kick was headed out as far as Martinez, who took a one-time volley that deflected off an adiPure defender and hit the crossbar.
Each side continued to probe back and forth, looking to break the deadlock in the first half. AdiPure went close again in the 26th minute, when Garza played a nice one-two in the box with Ivo and blasted a right-footed shot off the post.
Ivo continued to make his presence felt in the adiPure midfield, and he had yet another chance in the 37th minute, going on a long, box-to-box run only to fire high of the frame.
Scoring opportunities were few and far between in the second half. In the 48th minute, forward Dom Dwyer (South Florida) combined well with his adiZero teammate Evans Frimpong (Delaware) to give Frimpong space in the box, but center back Austin Berry (Louisville) closed the ground quickly to block Frimpong’s shot.
AdiZero went close again in the 64th minute. Slick one-touch passing outside of adiPure’s box opened up space for Martinez to take a low, right-footed curling shot with the outside of his foot that Blais pushed away for a corner kick.
In the 80th minute, Warren Creavalle (Central Florida) drew a penalty kick when Diogo de Almeida (SMU) fouled him in the area. Martinez stepped to the spot for adiZero, but blasted the penalty over the goal, drawing a final whistle from the referee.
HIGHLIGHTS: adiPure 0, adiZero 0
