JV Tournament - St. Thomas Aquinas JV Boys Soccer vs. Souhegan
Coach Suleski arrived at the field at 8:50 am and saw only sea gulls.
Of course once they saw the St. Thomas players start to arrive they left the area.
It was a chilly fall day with overcast skies and a light breeze - a perfect day for soccer. Well it could have been a bit warmer.
Players arrived and started to loosen up. Richard Howard would not be playing as he is out for the season with the injury he sustained in the Oyster River game last Wednesday.
Chris Rignoli showed up late with Brian Sullivan. Sullivan stayed over the Rignoli house last night in order to get Chris to the field on time, but they were still 23 minutes late.
Even though they were cold, the players were in great spirits for the coming game.
Game Captains Gabe Perreault and Andy Stone went out and won the toss. The Saints chose end of field and Souhegan would kick off.
Last time these two teams met Souhegan ended up winning 2-0 and shutting out the Saints for their first time.
St. Thomas took the field with Pat O'Brien and Faisal Gurwala at strikers. Midfield was Adam Bermingham, Jason Suleski, Jamie Phontharaksa, and Chris Rignoli. Jon Campolo played stopper, Andy Stone and Max Olsen played fullback and Gabe Perreault was back as sweeper. Collin McBride was in net for the Saints.
The game started off with a battle for control of midfield. Neither team got a shot on goal in the first 10 minutes. There were runs that tested defenses, but both teams held. The game started to get more physical as each team fought for control.
The Saints defense was really holding strong. McBride was aggressive and coming off his line to scoop up a lot of lead passes. Any Souhegan player who managed to get by Olsen, Campolo or Stone didn't get by Perreault.
Brian Collins went in at fullback. Brian Sullivan and Justin Gilbert went in as outside midfielders. Tom Carroll and Kevin Schneider went in at strikers and Matt Roginski went in as Stopper.
Play was back and forth as each team mounted attacks and fought off quick counter attacks.
The half ended with the score 0-0. St. Thomas had out shot Souhegan 6-4, but the Saints had been called for more fouls 7-5.
St Thomas went behind the concession stand to block the wind for half time. Tim Green was there to support the team and offer some words of encouragement during the half time. Coach told the player to forget the referees and the getting even and settle down and work the ball. I won't repeat what Tim said in his mock Irish accent.
The Saints kicked off in the second half. O'Brien and Gurwala were at striker. Bermingham, Suleski Phontharaksa and Rignoli were at midfield. Campolo, Collins, Olsen and Perreault took up their positions on defense. McBride was between the pipes.
Carroll and Schneider went in as strikers with Roginski alternating at stopper. Sullivan, Guilbert and Stone swapped in at midfield.
As the seconds ticked away the game became even more physical with each team trying to score that elusive goal. St. Thomas was called offside 6 times in the second half as they got caught trying to rush the Souhegan net to get a shot off.
The game ended in a 0-0 tie, so the teams would play two five minute periods of Golden Goal overtime.
St. Thomas had out shot Souhegan 6-1 in the second half and Souhegan had out fouled the Saints 7-5.
Souhegan kicked off for overtime and the Saints quickly took control.
During the overtime Bermingham got hurt by the far side touch line. He crawled off the field and Gilbert went in for him and play resumed.
Just went you thought the game couldn't get any more intense or exciting, the last few minutes of overtime were riveting. The Saints managed to get three shots on net that the Souhegan keeper was able to save.
The 10 minutes of overtime ended and the game was still tied 0-0.
St. Thomas had out shot Souhegan 15 - 5 in the game. The foul count was almost even with Souhegan up 13-12. This was the most fouls called on St. Thomas all year.
The referees had the players remain on the field and the tie would be broken by "Shots from the mark".
St. Thomas would be represented by McBride in net and the shooting order would be Phontharaksa, Sullivan, Perreault, Olsen and Suleski. The second five was picked in case it was still tied.
There was a lot of pressure on McBride in this situation, but he did fine for the Saints.
When Perreault came to shoot the referee signaled and Perreault shot and scored, but the referee said no goal, he hadn't blown the whistle. Perreault would have to shoot again. With even more pressure on him, he made the second shot look even easier as he put it into the corner of the net.
Souhegan ended up winning by a goal to take the game and put themselves in the championship game. St. Thomas would be in the consolation game. Oyster River had lost to Hollis Brookline so the Saints would get a rematch with their rivals.
This was a great game played by the entire team. It was a shut out for McBride in net as no goals were scored against him during play. It is a tough way to lose a game by "Shots from the mark", I'd have almost rather have played more overtime, but there had to be a winner for the tournament.