Ocean City girls, Mainland boys and girls soccer teams are all on hot streaks
OCEAN CITY – In the wind and rain, the Red Raiders boys soccer team shut out Cedar Creek 3-0 Friday afternoon, but the lopsided score wasn’t indicative of the battle on the field for the first 60 minutes of the contest.
While Ocean City controlled possession for most of the game, the Cedar Creek defenders were able to keep the Red Raiders from getting clean shots on net and often stymied them at midfield.
In turn, Ocean City kept the Pirates away from goal, through a spirited effort by Aidan O’Kane and his fellow defenders.
Looking like a potential stalemate, with 18 minute and 15 seconds left in the second half, a Creek defender took out a Red Raider attacker in the box. The referees awarded Ocean City a penalty shot.
Kai Lindsay lined it up and shot down and to the left. Creek goalie Josh DeFilippo, who played aggressively throughout the game in net, often coming out to challenge attackers, dove to the left and fully stretched out, but Lindsay’s shot was just inside the post.
For the first time in the game, one team led.
The Pirates mounted counterattacks, but much of the play remained at the midfield, with Ocean City getting some better chances. With just less than 8 minutes left in the game, Cedar Creek cleared an attack, but Red Raider Jon Leap got to the ball and fed it to Anthony Evans in a play Evans described as “a mess.” Evans got past a pair of defenders and came in alone on the goal, but as DeFilippo charged out to challenge him, Evans put it right past him to score Ocean City’s second goal, giving the Red Raiders a 2-0 lead.
The Pirates looked a bit dispirited after that second goal and Ocean City kept pressing the attack. On an assist from Dan Leiser, Leap, right in front of the goal, was able to score on a rebound off the crossbar for the 3-0 lead with less than three minutes to go.
“I just felt like I got really lucky there,” Leap said. “I stayed composed after it hit the crossbar and just settled it and tapped it in. It was a little lucky, but sometimes it goes your way.”
Leap said it was a strong win coming after a pair of tough games. “It feels good to finally get in the win column. They were definitely a good match. It was good to come away with a win in this one, especially with three goals.”
After starting the season with seven straight wins, the Red Raiders tied Oakcrest 1-1, with Leap scoring Ocean City’s only goal. The team then lost 2-1 to Pleasantville, with Leap again accounting for the only goal. It was Ocean City’s first loss of the season. The boys beat Pleasantville 5-2 in the first game of the season. Leap had two goals and one assist in that match; Evans, Chase Bowman and Paul Tjoumakaris had a goal each.
Ocean City was 7-1-1 to end the week. Cedar Creek fell to 3-6-2.
“They have a really good defense,” Ocean City coach Aaron Bogushefsky said. “I would take a lot of those guys on my team. They’re top-notch. It took a while to break through.”
He noted that weather played a factor in the game. “The first half we were kind of taking it with 20 miles per hour winds blowing one end to the other. All in all, we kind of followed our game plan and trusted one another.
“We got a penalty shot, but earned the other two (goals). I was really happy with the result we got today.”
He said Cedar Creek’s record doesn’t show how capable the team is. “They’re well coached and they have a lot of good things heading their way. They just couldn’t find the back of the net. It was close a couple of times, but we were able to hold them off. I was pretty happy with just the effort of my guys.
“I talked about three things today – effort, energy and execution. I think we got all three today,” Bogushefsky said.
He credited his entire team for the win and noted they are dealing with some injuries, “just like everyone else.”
“There are a lot of players playing through injuries right now and I’m proud that they stepped up – two guys, both named Anthony, Evans and Anthony Videtto struggled even to practice yesterday but played phenomenal games today. Videtto played shut-down defense today and Anthony Evans scored a goal and was a big part of what we did today.”
Ocean City was supposed to host Mainland Wednesday, Oct. 5, but that game was postponed.
Mainland boys rebound
After six straight losses to start the season, the Mainland Mustangs were 3-0-1 over their next four games.
They beat Absegami 3-2, topped Oakcrest 2-1, tied Cedar Creek 0-0 and beat Lower Cape May 4-1, avenging a 2-1 loss early in the season.
Against Absegami, Roody Ducasse, Alex Wise and Bryan Perez each scored a goal, with Wise, Perez and Matt Dilks recording assists.
Wise scored 2 goals in the win over Oakcrest. Against Lower Cape May, Dilks, Ducasse and Perez each scored a goal, as did Ethan Rovins.
O.C. girls undefeated
The Red Raider girls soccer team remained undefeated at 8-0-1 with four straight shutout wins after their 0-0 tie with Mainland.
Ocean City beat Vineland 7-0, Millville 4-0, Atlantic Tech 8-0 and Egg Harbor Township 2-0.
Against Vineland, McKenna Chisholm and Naomi Nnewihe each had 3 goals and Emily Benson added one. Nnewihe had 2 assists; Chisholm and Benson had 1 each and Brooke Liebrand and Makenzie Fortna also had assists. Tori Vliet made 5 saves in goal.
Against Millville, Nnewihe and Chisholm had a goal and assist each, as did Ashley Rhodes; Gabby Cupit added a goal and Benson had an assist. Vliet made 7 saves.
Benson and Zoey Lappin each scored 2 goals against Atlantic Tech, with additional goals by Chisholm, Rhodes, Cupit and Corn McDonnell.
Rhodes had the 2 goals against EHT, Chisholm assisted on both and Vliet made 8 saves to preserve the shutout.
Five straight wins for Mainland girls
After the scoreless draw against Ocean City, the Mustang girls have won 5 straight games, all of them shutouts.
In the 2-0 win over Vineland, Savannah Jones and Maddie Taylor each had a goal and Genevieve Morrson had 6 saves in goal. Hannah Cipkins and Jane Meade each had an assist.
Meade scored the lone goal in the 1-0 win over Millvillle with Jones providing the assist. Morrison had 5 saves.
Against Atlantic Tech, nine Mustangs scored goals: Ava Tenaglia, Isabella Moscola, Lynn McLaughlin, Cipkins, Emma Preissman, Emma Carver, Maddie Taylor and MacKenzie Miller. Meade had 2 assists with 1 each from Tenaglia and Jones.
Tenaglia and Jones had the goals in the 2-0 win versus EHT. Morrison made 4 saves and Emily Paytas and Preissman each had an assist.
In the 3-0 win over Hammonton, Tenaglia, McLaughlin and Lani Ford each had a goal and Tenaglia, Jones and Paytas each had an assist. Morrison made 2 saves for the shutout.
By DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
