St. Thomas Aquinas JV Boys Soccer vs. Bow Falcons 9-10-04
St. Thomas rode the Bolduc bus to Bow High School and their second away match of the season. Even though we took a wrong turn at the Fire Station we still made it to the field with plenty of time to stretch and warm up.
Game Captains Faisal Gurwala and Chris Rignoli went out and won the toss and chose to take the wind at our backs for the first half.
The Saints took the pitch with Faisal Gurwala and Tyler Joosten on the points as strikers. Joosten had come down from the varsity to get some extra playing time. Midfielders Chris Rignoli, Andy Stone, Jamie Phontharaska and Brian Sullivan. Gabe Perreault at sweeper; Max Olsen and Jason Suleski as fullbacks and Jon Campolo at stopper on defense. Collin McBride stood between the posts once again for St. Thomas.
The Falcons took the kick-off and quickly lost control to the Saints. It was an intense and physical game right from the start. Having the wind gave a bit of an advantage to St. Thomas with punts and goal kicks going a bit longer. Both teams pressured the ball well and there was a lot of contact. The referees were both good and controlled the game well. Both coaches were happy to see two referees which is a rarity for a JV game.
The Saints settled in to control the field with strong defense and great midfield ball movement. St. Thomas began to test the Bow Keeper. It wasn't easy though as the Falcons put pressure on the ball and marked up well. Every shot was hard earned.
As the sun started to go down and the wind picked up the temperature started to drop. Coach Suleski didn't want to sub a whole cold crew in, so subs were made in twos and threes to work players into the game. Pat O'Brien and Adam Bermingham entered as Strikers. Then Richard Howard and Justin Guilbert replaced the outside midfielders. Bryan Collins went in at Fullback and Matt Roginski went in at Stopper for St. Thomas.
The Saints were able to keep the ball in the midfield or the Bow half with the help of the wind and some good control passing.
At 23:04 into the game St. Thomas mounted a large push into the Falcon end. Almost every striker and midfielder seemed to be in the box in front of the net. Bermingham chipped a pass into the crowd and Howard was able to put it into the net. The ball dribbled in so slowly and there was such a crowd around the net that it took a while for everyone on the sidelines to realize the goal had been scored.
The Saints now led 1-0.
Kevin Schneider and Tom Carroll entered at outside midfield removing the center midfielders and moving their counter parts in.
When the Falcons did get into the St. Thomas half to mount an attack they faced a fierce defense. When they came down the middle they were stopped by Campolo or Roginski or Perreault. When Bow tried to attack down the sides they were contained by Olsen or Suleski or Collins and surrounded by the outside midfielders.
There was a lot of physical slide tackling going on. Rignoli, Sullivan, Carroll and Schneider all worked well on the outside assisting in the attack or coming back to help with the defense.
The Falcons were subbed in groups of 10 and always had fresh legs out on the pitch to chase down the Saints attack.
Halftime came with the Saints 1-0. However the Falcons would get the wind advantage in the second half.
In the second half St. Thomas kicked off into the wind. The game continued at its physical pace with both teams mounting attacks only to be met by strong defense.
With the help of the wind Bow was able to play more in the Saints half. Strikers started to feel lonely at times. They were doing their job to keep the Falcon defense from coming over midfield, but they wanted the ball.
Joosten, Gurwala, Bermingham and O'Brien all had good runs and attacks throughout the game. The Bow defense was tough and held tight.
Howard, Gilbert, Phontharaksa and Stone all played well working to control the center of the field.
The game ended with the Falcons on the attack. McBride and the St. Thomas defense were fighting to hold on to the one goal lead. It was a change for the Saints having to fight right up until the game ending whistle after the last two games lopsided scores.
The Saints only out shot the Falcons 15-12, most of the Falcon shots were in the second half.
The game ended with St. Thomas 1 and Bow 0.
Collin McBride got his second shut-out that was well earned with 12 saves. A few were game tying goals that he robbed.
The Saints travel to Exeter, NH on Thursday to play the Exeter Reserve Team in a non-league JV only match..