10 for 10!!

Malibu United finished the Santa Monica Adult Soccer League with a franchise best of 10 wins in 10 games.

The team had the league trophy locked with 3 games remaining in the season, but they wanted to prove their critics wrong and finish the season without a blemish on their record.

The Santorino League was composed of a lot of talented teams, but MUSC were playing exceptionally well with leading goal scorers Gabe Bonetti and Dave Keffer, and shot blocker Ian Benyo keeping the goals for and against at a franchise best.  Right after the midway mark the team took care of business with wins against Slutty Buffalos, McDermott and Los Blancos by a combination of 3 wins with 33 goals for and 6 against. The team was determined to keep their winning streak going. They knew they had to defeat two strong teams if they were to finish the season with a perfect record. First up was their foes Angel City Soccer Club. Malibu were able to get by them by a score of 7-2. Lawrence Whalen, Damon Manak and Dave Keffer each netted a brace, and youngster Devon Myers scored the final goal.

FC Playa Vista contained several youngsters that were quite capable of testing United’s backline. Once again, right after kickoff, United began on the front foot with Luc Bonetti scoring a quick first goal, followed by his brother Gabe banging in a couple of his own. Playa were able to get on the board but never scared the league leaders.

The only thing left to decide was which United player was going to be rewarded with the golden boot. Devon Myers finished third for top goal scorer, his tally would have been higher if he didn’t have school obligations which caused him to miss a few games. Veteran player Dave Keffer finished the season with 16 goals and youngster Gabe Bonetti took home the golden boot with 17 goals in the ten game season.

This proved to be a breakout season for Gabe, with his unselfish play he was also able finish second in the team assist table for the league. Center midfielder Damon Manak led the team in assists collecting 14, his distribution and play making were exceptional throughout the season.

United posted a final score of 9-5 over FC Playa Vista and finished the league with 10 wins, recording a franchise best of 83 goals for and 23 goals against.