Lindsay gets hat trick, Levy-Smith scores twice; Mustangs young, rebuilding
LINWOOD — On a dark, drizzly day, two teams headed in different directions took the field Oct. 12 when the 10-3 Red Raiders visited the 2-7 Mustangs in a Cape-Atlantic League boys soccer game.
Ocean City, which has lost twice to St. Augustine Prep (12-2-1) this season and to Oakcrest Friday, continued its solid season against a rebuilding Mainland Regional High School team with a 7-0 victory.
The Red Raiders got 3 goals and an assist from star forward John Lindsay. Outside back Ori Levy-Smith added 2 goals. Aidan O’Kane had a goal and an assist and Lambros Koutsfetsoulis added a goal. Chris Catona, John Leap and Nick Volpe each had an assist.
Ocean City now has outscored opponents 49-17, including a 2-1 loss Oct. 15 at Oakcrest. The Raiders had another game scheduled for Oct. 19 at home against Middle Township, after the Sentinel deadline. OCHS beat Absegami 6-0 on Oct. 14, a game in which Lindsay had another hat trick.
Against Mainland, Lindsay got the scoring going early, volleying a pass from Leap over the head of Mustang goalkeeper Jeff Thomas in the third minute.
Mainland put up a good fight, getting multiple corners and free kicks in the first 20 to 25 minutes or so but never being able to put one away. Sophomore Owen Chew, the smallest of the Mustangs’ undersized squad, stood up strong to Lindsay in central midfield but eventually the forward’s size and physicality were too much for the defense.
Levy-Smith scored the first of his goals at 13:43, knocking in a rebound of a shot off Thomas to make the score 2-0.
The Mustangs had their best chance of the half with about 3 minutes remaining, but the attempt was thwarted and Ocean City was back in action in the attacking third, where O’Kane finished a shot dropped by Thomas with 2:20 remaining.
The Raiders started the second half much like the first, with Koutsfetsoulis chipping Thomas after taking a lobbed pass from fellow midfielder Kai Lindsay at 35:26.
The Mustangs continued to fight, keeping Ocean City off the board until Lindsay scored his second, fighting off a foul and shooting as he went down at 23:53 to make it 5-0 Raiders.
Less than a minute later, Lindsay had the hat trick after picking the pocket of a Mustang player, taking it straight at goal and firing home to make it 6-0 at 23:01.
Levy-Smith finished the scoring at 8:29 after a short pass back from Catona.
Aidan Walsh started in net for the Raiders, making 1 save, and Evan Schweibinz replaced him at halftime. He had 2 saves.
Mainland’s Thomas made 3 saves.
Ocean City coach Aaron Bogushefsky said Linsday means a lot to the team but the senior would be the first to acknowledge his teammates for their part.
“He makes things a lot easier for us; he’s a good player,” Bogushefsky said, noting the senior works hard on and off the ball.
Bogushefsky said Lindsay has one of the highest soccer IQs he has ever seen.
“He is doing things that don’t show up on the stat sheet that are so important to our team,” Bogushefsky said. “Heads-up plays that most players don’t do that he will do that makes a difference in the outcome of the game.”
He said the team has a long way to go to reach its goals.
“It’s good to play a rival but we want to keep getting better. We want to be better tomorrow than we were today, and today I think we were good,” Bogushefsky said, noting Mainland had its share of chances on the day.
“They have some good players that were dangerous at times, especially in the first half,” he said, acknowledging the many set pieces. “Those are the areas in which I would like to improve. It was getting too close too many times. Eventually a team’s going to get one and the longer you go in the season the less opportunities you have to make a mistake. You really have to not give those chances to the other team.”
Lindsay said the two losses to the Prep were a learning experience.
“St. Augustine’s a good team, we have to give them credit,” he said. “Moving forward we know how to play under pressure like that so I really think it helped us more than anything.”
Mainland now has lost seven in a row through Monday, giving up 23 goals and scoring just 4 in that span.
The Mustangs were scheduled to play at Cedar Creek on Oct. 18 and host Hammonton on Oct. 20.
But head coach Alex Weidman said the situation is not as bad as it seems. He pointed out that two of the three losses before the team took a 10-day COVID break in the beginning of October were to perennial powers Ocean City and St. Augustine. Then, after the break, the losses includedo Ocean City and St. Augustine (2-0 Oct. 14) again, as well as a strong Delsea team.
He said losing is part of improving, noting that the team is largely young and inexperienced, aside from several upperclassmen.
“We hadn’t really gotten our butts kicked this year and it’s needed to kind of remind you that if you don’t play hard, play together, you’re going to get beat and beat bad by a good team,” Weidman said.
He said he is proud of his sophomores but needs the junior and seniors to carry some of the load. He said there is a long season ahead and expects the team to improve.
“We will come out on the other side tougher,” he said.
By CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff