JV Tournament - St. Thomas Aquinas JV Boys Soccer vs. Oyster River Bobcats.
The Saints were set to play Oyster River in the consolation game.
Game Captains Gabe Perreault and Jason Suleski went out and lost the toss, but the referee allowed the Bobcats to call ball so St. Thomas got to choose field anyway.
As the Saints took the field Jon Campolo's dad brought him a pizza for lunch. Jon had the option of eating a few slices and waiting to go in, but he chose to forgo the food and start in the game. As he hid the pizza box under his bag he threatened his teammates before going on to the pitch.
Justin Guilbert, Jason Suleski, Jamie Phontharaksa, and Chris Rignoli went in at Midfield. The Saints defense was Jon Campolo, Max Olsen, Andy Stone and Chris Rignoli. Patrick O'Brien and Faisal Gurwala started as strikers. Collin McBride was the keeper for the St. Thomas.
Adam Bermingham was unable to play in this game from his injury in the previous one. Bermingham was starving as he didn't get to the concession stand before they ran out of meat ball subs. The smell of the pizza won over the threat of death from Campolo.
Bermingham joking said he was calling all his friends to say goodbye before Campolo came off the field.
O'Brien and Gurwala worked the ball well on the attack. (You'll also notice all the fans wrapped in blankets)
Rignoli works to steal a pass.
McBride punts one away after making the save.
The Saints defense held strong stopping everything the Bobcats threw at it.
Guilbert marks up on a throw-in.
Phontharaksa and Suleski worked well to shut down the midfield of Oyster River.
Brian Sullivan went in at outside midfield. Bryan Collins went in at fullback and Tom Carroll and Kevin Schneider went in as strikers. Matt Roginski went in at stopper. The subs were being done more often so players wouldn't get tired in this second game of the day.
Suleski and Gurwala charge in to get a cross pass.
Roginski came out limping at the 22-minute mark after getting kicked in the knee.
Campolo and Olsen working to shut down an Oyster River attack.
Collins came out after blocking another shot below the belt at the 23-minute mark.
The Bobcat keeper comes out to scoop up a lead pass.
At the 28-minute mark Guilbert took a shot from the left side and pinged it off the cross bar missing scoring by inches. Oyster River cleared out the rebound.
Here Stone was pushed out of bounds over the goal line by a Bobcat player giving St. Thomas a direct kick just outside the box. Stone took the direct kick chipping it into the box. O'Brien was there to head the ball towards the net, but the Oyster River keeper kicked it hard to clear it out. Sullivan jumped in to block the clearing kick and it rebounded hard off of him into the goal. This put the Saints up 1-0 at 30:12.
The Bobcats came back with an attack off the kick off, but the St. Thomas defense held and the offense quickly countered. Stone sent a pass up the touchline to O'Brien. He took a high arching shot from about 25 yards out which sailed in over the Oyster River keeper and down under the cross bar to put the Saints up by 2 at 33:33.
The physical play from the previous game along with this game was taking its toll on the Saints. The excitement of being a head 2-0 was enough to lift up the tired team and carry it through. Everyone reached down deep into energy reserves they didn't know they had.
Collins steps up and steals a ball from a Bobcat outside midfielder.
The half ended with the Saints up 2-0. They had only taken 4 shots on goal compared to the 5 by Oyster River. The low shot count by both teams shows how good the defensive play was.
The Saints took the field for the second half with the game lead.
Perreault at Sweeper, Campolo, Collins and Olsen on defense. Sullivan, Guilbert (Blocked by #23), Gurwala, Suleski, and Rignoli playing the five man midfield. O'Brien as the lone striker.
Oyster River made numerous attacks into the Saints end, but the defense kept holding.
Oyster River was given a direct kick on a foul by St. Thomas just outside the 18-yard line. Suleski, Carroll and Olsen formed the wall.
The Bobcat shot was blocked away by Suleski using his head after a some great vertical effort.
The Saints mark up preparing for a goal kick by Oyster River.
Schneider and Suleski pressure the ball.
The team had switched to a five man midfield to stop up the middle on Oyster River. O'Brien and Schneider took turns at the lone striker position with Phontharaksa, Gilbert and Suleski each making runs from the center. Sullivan, Rignoli Carroll and Stone took turns making runs down the touchline breaking into the Bobcat defense.
Suleski battles with a Bobcat for the ball while Roginski and Sullivan close him in.
Once again St. Thomas marks up for an Oyster River goal kick.
Campolo and Roginski were both having great games at stopper breaking up the Bobcat attack and forcing them outside.
The whole team was playing well together and with the frequent subbing it was good that they were used to each other.
The Bobcats were able to score at the 25-minute mark to bring the score to 2-1.
Play became even more intense and physical as Oyster River worked to tied the game and the Saints battled to keep the lead. They had been forced to play overtime too many times this season and didn't want to again.
The final whistle blew with the Saints up 2-1. They had won the consolation game to secure third place. As we were shaking hands we found out that Souhegan had beat Hollis Brookline by a score of 7-1 to take first place. To think they had to go to Shots form the mark to beat us.
All the fans who came to support us today saw two of the best games played by St. Thomas all season. Everyone played with such heart and desire that it was great to watch. The team really came together and stepped up to show what a great group of players they are.
It was a pleasure to be the coach of this team.
There will be a lot of sore players limping around school on Monday as the rigorous play of the two play off games has taken its toll. They do have a few weeks to rest up before winter sports start.
I hope that no one is hurt seriously, but I know a lot of players were all harboring different pains throughout the day.
Here is a photo of Jason after showering. He took another players head to the bridge of his nose and he'll probably look like a raccoon by Monday.
