Boys' soccer: Eagles give Raiders the boot in PKs

WALES — Even when he guessed wrong, things turned out all right for Lincoln Academy goalkeeper Kyle Scherer.

Daryn Slover

Daryn Slover/Sun Journal Oak Hill High School's Cody Fortier (3) heads the ball past Lincoln Academy's Michael Vanderploeg (10) and Nate Riley during the first half on Wednesday.

Daryn Slover

Daryn Slover/Sun Journal Oak Hill High School's Zach Lennett, left, boots the ball past Lincoln Academy's Jian Giglia during the first half on Wednesday.

The junior backstop guessed wrong but recovered in time to stop Cody Fortier in the second round of penalty kicks and his teammates took care of the rest as the No. 5 Eagles upended No. 4 Oak Hill 5-4 on Wednesday in the teams' Western Class B quarterfinal match.

"I guessed wrong, but I saw him open up his hips and turn his foot," Scherer said. "Luckily he shot it close enough I was able to stop it."

"He's come up real big for us all year and I don't know that he's gotten the recognition we think he deserves," Lincoln coach K.J. Anastasio said. "He's played great, he's stepped up as a junior, this is his second year playing goalie. He came up big when he had to."

The stop came on the heels of Oak Hill keeper Glenn Allen's own diving save. After Tom Masters beat Allen on the Eagles' next attempt, Jake Samson's offering for Oak Hill sailed high and wide. The team's traded goals after that, with Jeff Cheney potting the clincher for Lincoln Academy (10-5-0).

"These are two evenly-matched teams. We have been for a long time," Oak Hill coach Joe Fletcher said. "We've played them tough and they've played us tough."

Two physical teams with skilled players, the squads knew from the beginning that the Raiders' small home field would ignite plenty of battles for loose balls. Both goalies could create offensive opportunities for their respective clubs just by booting the ball from their own 18.

"It's a small field, you've got big, fast, quick kids and you know that there's going to be a lot of contact," Anastasio said. "We were prepared for it; they were prepared for it. It was a battle, a real physical battle."

And a high-scoring battle.

The Eagles jumped out to a 3-1 lead in the first half on goals by Ethan Wajer, Andrew Feltis and Brandon Bonney. Bryan Soucy scored one for the Raiders early on a penalty kick, and Jake Samson pulled Oak Hill back to within one with 5:59 to play in the first half.

"We showed a lot of character to get back into the game like we did," Fletcher said.

The Raiders (11-4-0) capped the comeback in the second half. Soucy again hit on a penalty kick to tie the match, and Fortier finished a corner kick sequence with 15:02 remaining to give his squad its first lead — that lasted all of 1:14.

"I almost think we scored to soon," Fletcher said. "They had a chance to come right back."

Pat Mullin again knotted things up with a header from five yards out on a cross from Jian Giglia.

After eight combined goals in the first 80 minutes, neither team could penetrate the defense for a tally in the two 15-minute overtime sessions. Oak Hill had the upper hand in extra time, outshooting Lincoln 8-3, but couldn't put one by Scherer.

The Eagles will next face No. 1 Falmouth this weekend in the Western Class B semifinal round.

Stay informed — Get the news delivered for free in your inbox.

I'm interested in ...

In order to make comments, you must verify your account.

In order to comment on SunJournal.com, you must use your real name and include the town in which you live in your profile. A member of our staff will call you to verify this information. To join in, fill out your user profile completely and check the box "please verify my status." We'll get back to you within one business day to verify your account.

Login or create an account here.

Our policy prohibits comments that are:

  • Defamatory, abusive, obscene, racist, or otherwise hateful
  • Excessively foul and/or vulgar
  • Inappropriately sexual
  • Baseless personal attacks or otherwise threatening
  • Contain illegal material, or material that infringes on the rights of others
  • Commercial postings attempting to sell a product/item
If you violate this policy, your comment will be removed and your account may be banned.

Advertisement

Advertisement