St. Thomas Aquinas JV Boys Soccer vs. Oyster River 9-17-04
The Saints hosted Oyster River this afternoon under overcast skies as the remains of hurricane Ivan approached from the south. The air was thick with humidity and the rains looked like they would start at any moment. During warm-ups Faisal Gurwala re-injured his leg muscle while taking a shot. He was just about back to 100% from the preseason injury that kept him off the varsity squad.
Game Captains Brian Sullivan and Max Olsen went out and won the toss to begin the game.
The Saints took the field with Pat O'Brien and Kevin Schneider as strikers. Midfielders Chris Rignoli, Andy Stone, Jamie Phontharaska and Brian Sullivan. Jon Campolo at stopper, Max Olsen and Bryan Collins as fullbacks on defense. Gabe Perreault at sweeper and Collin McBride in net.
The game was well controlled by both teams and pressure was applied fiercely on anyone with possession of the ball. Passing had to be quick and precise or it was immediately stolen.
7 minutes after the start Faisal Gurwala and Tom Carroll went in at Strikers. Gurwala wanted in even if he'd only shoot with his left foot. A few minutes later Richard Howard, Justin Guilbert went in as outside midfielders, and Matt Roginski went in at Stopper for St. Thomas.
8:52 into the half Oyster River broke through the St. Thomas defense and scored to take the lead 1-0.
The Saints defense tightened up and Perreault leading Campolo, Olsen and Collins began to shut down the Oyster River runs and through balls.
Phontharaksa, Guilbert, Sullivan and Rignoli began to work the ball through the Oyster River midfield and attack their defense.
Both teams battled back and forth with each team getting off a few shots on net but both keepers played tough.
With just 3 minutes left in the half, Oyster River scored on another break away. With only one referee it was hard to say if offside should have been called or not, but Oyster River was still up 2-0.
St. Thomas wasn't ready to give up though. With just 1 minute left in the half O'Brien pressured the Oyster River Keeper as he played a high ball. As he fumbled the ball, O'Brien touched it out to Phontharaksa who banged it into the open net to end any hope of a shut-out against the Saints.
The half ended with Oyster River up 2-1. This was the first time St. Thomas went to the bench at half time behind on the score. The Saints were only out shot by Oyster River 10-9. Moral was high on the sideline as we could see the score board telling us the St. Thomas Varsity was winning 1-0.
In the second half Stone was moved back to fullback to add some speed against the Oyster River attack.
Campolo, Roginski and Collins all took some turns at midfield to see if they could get some power shots from behind the 18 yard line.
Olsen takes a throw-in as the varsity girls field hockey talks during their half time. You can see how tight field space is when there are Varsity & JV soccer games along with field hockey.
At 11:52 Bryan Collins was cautioned by the referee and sent off the field. Under the new NHIAA rules this year any player receiving a yellow card must sit out the remainder the half. The Referee didn't really explain what the card was given for though.
Howard, Guilbert, Carroll and Schneider helped out at different midfield and striker positions. Everyone seemed to be playing a step up from normal.
Phontharaksa takes a corner kick, only one of three awarded all game to the Saints.
At 27:33 an Oyster River player was cautioned by the Referee and sent off the field. Again it was unclear what the card was for as any explanation was just between the Referee and the player.
As time seemed to slip away St. Thomas picked up the pace working towards the goal.
With only 6 minutes remaining, Sullivan broke down the left wing and beat the Oyster River fullback. When he got to the goal line he made a great cut back move faking out both the fullback and the keeper and jammed the ball in between the keeper and the nearside post to tie up the game 2-2.
Just when you thought the game couldn't get any more intense, both teams picked up the pace trying to win before overtime. Then the rain started to fall. It wasn't coming down hard, but it was a relief from the stagnant heavy air we'd been playing in all game.
With 30 seconds left on the clock Oyster River got off a shot from the left side that crossed the goal and bounced in off the far post to win the game 3-2.
Oyster River only out shot St. Thomas 16-15. It was as close as a game could get without ending in a tie. The teams will meet again in the regular season late in October.
St. Thomas travels to Coe Brown to play the Black Bears on Tuesday.
Photos taken at this game by David "DJ" Lippmeier (Thanks!)