St. Thomas @ Coe Brown
September 17, 2013

Photos from the Coe Brown Game by Nate Norton:

From Foster's  Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Fantastic finish: Coe-Brown boys stun Saints in overtime

By Mike Whaley

NORTHWOOD — A frustrating start turned into a fantastic finish for the Coe-Brown Northwood Academy boys soccer team.

Isaac Nowland knocked in his brother Spencer's rebound 2:35 into overtime to lift the Bears past St. Thomas Aquinas, 5-4, in Division II action Tuesday.

Coe-Brown's finish, its only lead of the game, came after they trailed 2-0 and 3-1, and then 4-3 in the final minute. STA (0-5) went ahead 4-3 with 50 seconds to play on Eric Eames' goal, but the Bears (3-2-1) came back with 20 seconds to go. St. Thomas fouled to the right of the 18, and clearly several St. Thomas players were upset with the call. Isaac Nowland blasted the free kick to the net and Jake Dunkerly knocked it in during a scrum in front for the equalizer.

“We were fortunate to get the ball up front,” said Coe-Brown coach Christian Gompert of the tying goal. “They had dropped everyone back and given up most of the midfield. We played it, got it out to the midfield and got it out wide. I didn't really see the foul, but I know it was a foul. We put ourselves in positions where a foul would be a dangerous kick. When that kick happens, we kind of send everybody in those last couple seconds. We were fortunate to get in there and tie it up.” 

Dunkerly battled in the scrum and actually, after scoring, came out with a leg injury and had to leave the game.

“It was bouncing and he was able to clean it,” Gompert added. “Jake, one of the reasons he's up there is because he's tough. He makes good when the ball is bouncing around in there, so that's really good for us.”

In overtime, STA's Eames had the first opportunity, but his shot was high.

Coe-Brown put pressure on the St. Thomas goal soon after and Spencer Nowland put a hard shot to the left corner from atop the 18 that Mason Krieger stopped, sending the rebound back out. Isaac Nowland followed the play and kicked it back toward the goal where it went in past a sliding defender.

“I knew the goalie was going to punch it out so I ran in,” said Isaac Nowland. “I saw an open space and I could just tip it into the corner.”

Spencer said of his initial shot: “The goalie was a bit to the right and I saw the space, a nice open tunnel that I shot it through.”

The loss left the Saints winless in five games, their worst start under coach Scott Suleski. All five losses are by two goals or fewer and three are one-goal losses.

“Coe-Brown is a good team,” Suleski said. “They kept fighting. We let ourselves get taken out of the game on that (tying) goal, We were worrying about the call. Don't worry about it. Don't foul. Don't give them a shot. We did. Coe-Brown's very good on set pieces.”

St. Thomas came out and went up 2-0 on goals by Matt Baker and Bryan King in the 14th and 28th minute, respectively.

Baker's goal came during a rush from the right side. The Coe-Brown goalie Jake Mele came out of the net and Baker chipped it over him and before he could recover, the ball bounced into the left corner.

King's goal came after a poor goal kick by the Bears, which he controlled just beyond the 18 and then blasted it into the left corner.

Coe-Brown managed to cut the lead in half before the half when Alex Wimsatt came in from the left and in a goal similar to Baker's, chipped the ball over John Williams, the STA goalie, and it nestled into the right corner.

St. Thomas went up 3-1 in the 44th minute when Aaron Dubois blasted a shot from the left of the 18 into the upper right corner. 

Garrett Kunz answered less than two minutes later for the Bears to make it 3-2 and it stayed that way until the final two minutes of the game, when the fireworks really went off.

Jayson Cleveland scored the 3-3 equalizer for Coe-Brown, getting credit for the goal during a mix up in front with 1:50 to play when a defender kicked the ball off Cleveland and it deflected in.

Eames came back a minute later with a pretty rush down the right and fired a hard shot to the near side for the lead.

“We worked hard the whole game and they score that last goal to win it,” said STA's Dubois. “That was tough.”

STA visits ConVal Thursday, while Coe-Brown is at Lebanon Friday. 

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