St. Thomas @ Oyster River
August 30, 2013

The Saints opened their season against rival Oyster River.  Both teams were fresh off a grueling preseason that consisted of scrimmages against most of the same division 1 teams.  With some basic scouting knowledge from those coaches both teams knew what to expect - another knock down drag out rivalry game.

Last years regular season meeting between these two teams at Oyster River was a long fought battle.  St. Thomas was down 1-0 but managed to come back with two goals to win.
(In the last 5 seasons, 4 of 10 games between the teams have gone into overtime.  All have been by a one goal difference.)

St. Thomas took the field with Mason Krieger in goal.  The defense of Guy Kassas, Scott Lamoureux, Andrew Savage and Matt Baker.  Both Savage and Baker were making their varsity debut.  The Midfield consisted of Aaron Dubois, Tommy Griffiths and Bryan King in the center and Liam Sweeney and Xavier Quinn on the outside.  Eric Eames was the forward attack.

Quinn got injured about 5 minutes in on a slide takle so Peter Ferrin made his varsity debut at outside midfield.   Beau Patteson and Andrew Marino also saw time at outside midfield.  The first half was a battle with St. Thomas gaining the upper hand in shots on goal 7 to 3 and corner kicks 5-0.  The Saints hit the post 3 times, (Patteson, Griffiths and Dubois) but were unable to get one into the back of the net.  Halftime saw a 0-0 score.  In the second half the teams both came out looking to break the scoring drought.  St. Thomas hit the cross bar again on a great long shot.  Jared Ham saw time as outside midfield and Ian Boudrow saw time spelling the defense.  Theo Pesiridis went in at forward.  The saints got two more corner kicks to the bobcats 1.  At 53:33 Oyster River was able to score, as the fosters article said when a St. Thomas denfender "fell down".

The Saints came right back at 57:54 when Dubois took a high shot that the bobcat keeper just got his fingertips on before it fell into the back of the net.

Two minutes later Oyster River took a shot that was blocked by Kassas, but the ball hit his arm across his chest and the Referee called him for a hand ball in the box.  It looked like an easy chance for the Bobcats to get the lead when Krieger came up with a great diving save to push the ball wide.

St. Thomas carried that momentum and pressured the Oyster River defense for the next 10 mintues.  King and Kassas both hit cross bars on great shots.  King also took a direct free kick from 25 yards out that went over the wall and curved for the far post when the Bobcat keeper came up with a great diving save to tip it wide.

With 6:49 left on the game clock Oyster River Forward Aidan Conrad scored what would be the winning goal.
St. Thomas continued to pressure but could not get the equalizer.

St. Thomas shots on goal 12 to the Bobcats 7.  Saints keeper Krieger made 4 saves including the penalty kick.  Oyster River Keeper made 6 saves and the goal posts were hit 5 times.  The Saints had 7 corner kicks to the Bobcats 1.

St. Thomas hosts Lebanon in their home opener on Tuesday.
(The Foster's article is reprinted after the photos)

Photos from Kristyen Sweeney

 

 

Story from Fosters:

Conrad's clincher: OR Senior scores late to edge St. Thomas

by Mike Whaley - Foster's Daily Democrat -  Saturday August 31, 2013

DURHAM — If anyone was due to score a goal, it was Aidan Conrad.  The Oyster River High School senior forward hit a post and had a penalty kick stopped, but didn’t let those missed opportunities keep him down. He scored the game-winning goal in the 74th minute to lift the Bobcats past rival St. Thomas Aquinas, 2-1, in Friday’s Division II boys soccer opener for both teams.

OR’s Pat Mulhern played a through ball to a charging Conrad to the right at the top of the 18 where he was suddenly wide open.

“I had a ton of time and I just looked up and saw he was giving me near post,” Conrad said. “I just slid it in. ... I feel liked I missed it just about every way possible today. I let him save it (on the PK), I hit the post. I took my time. At halftime our assistant coach said to just be composed. I was very happy and very relieved.”

Conrad’s goal capped a wild second half in which all three of the game’s goals were scored after a scoreless first 40 minutes.  “It’s nice to be on the right side,” said OR coach Charlie Crull. “We were 1-5 in rivalry games last year. And they were always one-goal games. We were on the wrong side of this feeling a lot of times. I don’t think there was necessarily a better team on the field today. I think it was just a matter of bearing down and having composure.” 

OR took a 1-0 lead in the 53rd minute when Griffin Luczek chased down a ball, split between two St. Thomas defenders who fell down. He pushed the ball ahead, one-on-one on STA keeper Mason Kriger and beat him to the left corner for the 1-0 lead.

The Saints came back four minutes later to tie the game at 1-1 when Guy Kassas (Note from Coach: Aaron Dubois scored but Fosters credited Guy Kassas) drove a left-footed shot from the right of the 18 and Oyster River goalie Jon Dutka (11 saves) leapt and made the initial save on the high shot. He could not control the ball cleanly and it fell loose past him and rolled in for the equalizer.

OR had a golden opportunity to go up 2-1 in the 63rd minute when a hand ball was called on St. Thomas. Conrad took the penalty kick, but his shot to the right corner was stopped by Krieger (three saves).

Kassas nearly put STA up when his shot from just outside the 18 hit the left post.

“We played pretty well, just a couple of missed calls and a couple of defensive lapses,” said STA defender Aaron Dubois.

St. Thomas carried play in the first half, earning a 5-0 advantage in corner kicks (7-1 for the game). Bryan King hit a crossbar and Eric Eames also had a cross that pin-balled around in front of the goal and Tommy Griffiths ended up putting a shot on goal that Dutka saved.

“We outplayed them. We were ready,” said STA coach Scott Suleski. “We were on top of our game. We just weren’t lucky enough. ... We didn’t let down. We didn’t give up. I see good things for the future. That’ll come. We just have to work on quality finishing.”

Early in the second half, Eames had a mini-break at the top of the 18, but his shot, with Dutka charging, went wide left.

“At halftime we just said we need to want it more,” Conrad said. “Everyone came out together. We said we’re going to win this game, we’re not going to let them take it. They definitely had their chances. But we had our chances too and we put them away and that’s what matters.”

St. Thomas is back in action Tuesday at home against Lebanon, while OR visits Portsmouth Wednesday.

        Foster's photos by Mike Whaley
Aaron Dubois and Adain Conrad          Scott Lamoureux heads the ball away
battle for control of the ball.                  from OR Bryce Shultz.

 

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