End of Season JV Tournament
St. Thomas Boys J.V. Soccer vs. Oyster River - Game 1
The Saints played Oyster River in the J.V. Tournament. The Game Started at 10:00am on Saturday morning after coming home from Milford on the bus. It was a cold, but sunny morning and as the day progressed it turned out to be perfect soccer weather.
During warm-ups the Saint Thomas players hone their skills by shooting at fellow teammates who sit in the net.
The Saints started Strikers Tyler Joosten and Andrew Gardiner and Midfielders Co-Captain Shane Loh, Adam Bermingham, Jason Suleski, and Chris Rignoli. The St. Thomas defense started with Co-Captain Chris Henderson and Bryan Collins as fullbacks, Byong Jin Choi as stopper and Gabe Perreault as sweeper.
The game started with both teams exchanging possession in midfield and players passed and tackled their way for control of the ball. Each team made runs on the other, but sweepers and keepers did their job and neither team was able to capitalize.
Finally at 17:26 into the game the Saints strikers worked a good combination of passes to break through the Oyster River defense. Gardiner put one into the back of the net on an assist by Joosten to give St. Thomas the lead.
At 23:41 Oyster River took a corner kick that the Saints tried to head out of the area. The ball took a funny bounce and it was an own goal by St. Thomas to tie the game 1-1.
Keeper Tristan Head with drying mud from a few diving saves.
Andrew Emerson and Max Olsen went in at fullback and Pat O'Brien as Striker. Kevin Schneider and Faisal Gurwala subbed in at midfield.
With two minutes to go in the half Oyster River scored off a long throw-in to take the lead 2-1 that lasted until the half ended.
#25 Adam Bermingham sends a ball down the sideline during play
St. Thomas came out playing great soccer in the second half. They out possessed and out shot Oyster River who seemed to be sitting back on their lead.
14:46 into the second half Gardiner scored on a break from a Suleski throw-in to tie the score for the Saints 2-2.
Both Teams fought hard to break the tie and fans got to see some intense soccer played over the next 25-minutes. St. Thomas played the best game of their season shutting down the Oyster River attack and keeping the offensive pressure on.
The game ended in a tie and the teams prepared for two 5 minute periods of golden goal over time.
The Saints played with eagerness and zeal trying to break the stalemate. The first 5-minute overtime period ended and the teams switched sides for another five. With 30 seconds left before going into a shoot-out, Oyster River scored to win the game 3-2.
St. Thomas played a fantastic game and was seconds away from playing in the championship game. Instead they would meet Souhegan in the consolation game in an hour.
Return to J.V. Boys soccer home page
Return to St. Thomas Aquinas home page