Atlanta SC opened their tenure at St. Francis High School with an entertaining contest against their crosstown rival Georgia Revolution. Despite playing more than thirty minutes down a man to the opposition, Atlanta rallied to claim an exciting 5-3 victory and earn their first points of the new campaign.

Midfielder David Medeiros sprung a chance for the home side when he won an individual battle and fed LB Mitch Garcia. The Avondale, AZ product lofted a pass to Thierry Jules before the big forward found Paulo Alves. That is where the Brazialian spun and found Medeiros streaking towards the goal. Revolution netminder Matthew Sharman came forward to make the save, but Medeiros’ shot in the 22nd minute trickled past for the opening goal of the night.

That opened a ping-pong-esque sequence of back and forth scoring opportunities. Next, it was Eduardo Gomes helping the Revolution tie the match in the 28th minute before Atlanta struck again. Garcia intercepted a pass and found captain Sheriff Suma streaking up the left side. He pinpointed a long pass into the box to the head of Jules. The lanky forward headed the pass beyond the diving Sharman to regain Atlanta’s one-goal advantage in the 35th minute. The flurry came to a head in the final moments of the opening half. A long throw-in forced a defensive mishap for the hosts and former Atlanta forward Deon McCauley struck, tying the match at two after 45 minutes of play.

The second half introduced a new level of chippy play to the match. The visiting Revolution began to press Atlanta and the pressure forced fouls and multiple yellow cards. The stress came to a head when an Atlanta player earned a second yellow in the 57th minute and took the home side down to ten men. The momentum built by Georgia grew exponentially, but GK Bryce Billington and the defense stood tall.

It was an opportunistic chance against the run of play that sparked the home team in the 71st minute. A series of clever touches saw Medeiros finding newcomer Frantz “Rooby” Dalusma before the Haitian native quickly fed Prince Saydee on the right side. The Manchester, UK native launched a long shot on Sharman, who dove to collect the ball. Instead, the knuckling shot skipped under the goalkeeper and gave Atlanta a 3-2 lead.

Desperate to equalize on the scoreboard despite being up a man, the Revolution made multiple substitutions and began to mount a challenge. After back-to-back-toback set pieces for the visitors, it was a quick ball into the box that was redirected by Jamar Oakley that gave the Revolution the game-tying tally in the 76th minute.

Atlanta’s defense bunkered to hold on for the thrilling final fourteen minutes, as the Revolution continued to mount quality chances. It was another counter attack from Atlanta the put the visiting defenders in a tough situation. For the second week in a row, midfielder Paulo Alves drew a foul in the box and earned a penalty kick for his team. It was Rooby that took the ball at the spot, and the promising prospect buried the kick to regain Atlanta’s lead in the 78th minute. They would not relinquish it again.

The final opportunity for a last-second equalizer saw the Revolution bring everyone they could into the box for a set piece in the 94th minute. That included the goalkeeper Matthew Sharman. Once the set piece was cleared, it left Saydee with the ball and an open field ahead of him. Using his speed to keep defenders at bay, Prince slapped the ball into an open net to earn the brace and secure the 5-3 victory.

The new face, “Rooby” Dalusma, was not just new to ATLSC fans. “This was my first time with the team,” he noted after the match. He arrived in Atlanta Saturday morning before partaking in pregame warm-ups and meeting teammates. Dalusma was originally scheduled to start, but he saw a chance to observe his teammates before jumping into the fray. “I asked Coach to put me on the bench and see how the boys play before coming in.”

Despite being new to the club, Rooby reflected the same goals the rest of the team envisions. “Our mentality is to win the championship this year. Whatever we have to do to bring the trophy back, we’ll do.”

Thierry Jules saw the game as a struggle the whole way through, noting that “it was a hard game. We played our hearts out. Even down a man, we found a way to pull out a win. I’m really happy.”

After the red card put Atlanta down to ten men, Jules noted “Coach told us to relax. Usually when you’re down a man, everyone gets hectic. We just had to relax and play our game, stay aggressive, and try to score.”

Unprompted, he added “we weren’t losing tonight.”