AUBURN – Brian Erickson was given a tough assignment Thursday.

The senior halfback had the task of shadowing high-scoring Cony forward Ben Bozeman. All Bozeman had done this season was score 17 goals coming into Cony’s match at Edward Little. Erickson moved back to fullback and was told he needed to sacrifice offense for defense.

Mission accomplished.

Erickson frustrated Bozeman from start to finish, and the two teams settled for a 0-0 tie.

“I have a lot of kids that could (mark Bozeman) for a while,” said Edward Little coach Dave Morin. “But he could do it for the whole game. We gave him a specific job. He knew what he had to do. (Bozeman) had scored more goals than our entire team this season.”

Whenever Bozeman went left, his shadow stayed with him. Everytime he settled a pass there was no room to operate. By the midway point of the first half, he began to physically and verbally display his frustration. By the second half, he struggled to dribble free to spot up for a shot. The few times he did get a boot on the ball, the shot was taken going away from the goal and off balance.

“I just wanted to stay on his feet and be physical,” said Erickson. “He’s a threat and you have to be aware of him all the time. I knew when he started speaking out to his teammates, I had him. Then I wanted to frustrate him more.”

With Bozeman neutralized, the scoring chances were few for the Rams (9-3-1). Ben Moore had the best chance in the first overtime session on a breakaway attempt, but Edward Little keeper B.J. Levasseau (14 saves) charged out to smother the shot from eight yards out. Earlier it was Eric Lui gaining free access to the net for a crossing pass, but his header sailed wide right.

“We had the header and the breakaway in overtime,” said Cony coach Nate Benoit. “We weren’t able to finish our chances.”

The Red Eddies (6-6-2) had several opportunities in the first half but came up empty. Their best one came with just over 11 minutes remaining. Andrew Campbell slipped behind the Ram defense only to have keeper Matt Dennett (12 saves) come out to make a spectacular save by catching the ball from short range. Twice in the first half Dan Pontbriand had shots sail over the crossbar.

“We went hard to the ball in the first half,” said Morin. “We should have had a goal or two.”

Edward Little’s best scoring attempt in the second half came with 10:53 remaining in regulation. Shea Flynn raced down the left wing and fired a low liner toward the near-side post, but Dennett made a diving catch.

“When you have two teams that preach defense like we do,” said Benoit, “you’re going to have the occasional 0-0 tie.”