By CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff
RICHLAND — The well-organized St. Augustine Prep boys soccer team proved too much for Ocean City, topping the Red Raiders 3-0 Tuesday, Nov. 3, for their first loss.
“I think there were a lot of good individual efforts here and there but as a collective team effort we need to be better,” head coach Aaron Bogushefsky said.
Junior Aidan Davis scored all three goals for the Hermits.
Seniors Luke Salmon and Sal Curcuru and junior Ethan Torpey each recorded one assist for St. Augustine (8-1-1). Goalkeeper Gavin Brown recorded the shutout with two saves.
Senior Kyle Plenn had 10 saves for Ocean City (6-1) in the loss.
The Hermits led 2-0 at halftime.
The first goal came in the seventh minute. Senior Declan Davis, playing left midfielder, received a pass and cut across the field diagonally. He moved the ball up to Salmon in the middle of the field. Salmon flicked the ball on to Davis, who was one on one with Plenn. The goalie went down to make a save but Davis went around him and buried the shot in the back of the net, making it 1-0 at 6:22.
“They put one in on us and we got kind of shell-shocked,” Bogushefsky said.
Davis’ second goal of the hat trick came in the 19th minute. Curcuru, playing left outside back, kicked a long through-ball to Davis, who had a step on the defense. Defender Sergio Miller got a foot on the ball but Davis fought it loose, took a step and shot and scored at 18:40, making it 2-0 St. Augustine.
Plenn made a fantastic diving two-handed save shortly after the second half began. St. Augustine had a free kick from about 20 yards out. Torpey lined up to take the kick, which was redirected on net forcing Plenn to make the save.
Davis scored his final goal at 52:10 to complete the scoring for St. Augustine.
Bogushefsky called the game the team’s “first major challenge,” noting that the schedule has been limited to local opponents.
He said Plenn came up big for the team, keeping the loss from being more lopsided.
“Everyone wants to blame the goalie when a goal goes in but it has to get by 10 other guys first,” Bogushefsky said. “I don’t put the blame on him for the goals. He made a lot of big saves for us. That’s a good team and they had us reeling for a while. He kept us in it more than it appeared. It could have been much worse.”
Bogushefsky said the Red Raiders also had not played in two weeks due to weather and other factors.
“I knew it was going to be a challenge coming out here to play these guys, who are playing consistently and playing well,” Bogushefsky said. “St. Augustine played a great game. They executed where they needed to. Their touch and movement off the ball was fantastic. However, our response was close but not enough. We had a couple of chances I think we could have put away. We had close things that could have gone better but it just didn’t roll that way.”
Bogushefsky called the loss “frustrating.”
“But I think it’s a good reset for us going into playoff time. I know we’re better than we showed tonight and we will look to go forward from here,” he said. “This was just a tune-up for the playoffs. That is the only thing that we can win and so that’s what I want to win.”
The Red Raiders followed the loss with a 5-0 drubbing of Lower Cape May Regional High School. Five different players tallied goals in the win, with senior Reed Lindsay, junior John Lindsay, Kai Lindsay, junior Ben Steiger and freshman Wayne Hudak each tallying a goal. Reed Lindsay, John Lindsay and junior Ori Levy-Smith each recorded a save. Plenn made 1 save in the shutout.