OCEAN CITY — The Ocean City High School boys soccer team shut out visiting Hammonton on Thursday afternoon with scores from four separate players.
The Blue Devils are now 0-6-1, but weren’t playing like a winless team, challenging the Red Raiders for control much of the game but having a difficult time breaching the Ocean City defenses for clear shots on goal.
Raider goalie Eddie Fuller made three saves, while Hammonton’s Harrison Kiss was forced to make seven saves while allowing four goals.
Ocean City’s Sam Benson and Tyler Seeberger scored in the first half to make it 2-0 and Chase Bowman, assisted by John Vogt, and Tighe Olek added two more in the second half for the 4-0 final. Olek scored his on a scramble after a corner kick, able to jump up and kick the ball away from a Hammonton defender who was trying to clear it.
The Red Raiders improved to 5-3 on the season.
Ocean City coach Kevin Nuss acknowledged the Blue Devils were a better team than their record indicated, but said the way the Red Raiders played helped against them with the ball. When Hammonton pressed, he said, it created some transitional moments for his team.
“I think it was just a good match of styles and today we were on top, but that’s a very good team,” Nuss said.
It was windy on the turf at the Tennessee Avenue field, but the coach said that didn’t factor in much. He said it was a bit of a challenge when going for longer passes, but played into his team’s hands when wanting to keep the ball on the floor and move it quickly.
Nuss cited the play of Greg Guyon and Joe Goodman being able to pull Hammonton players where he wanted them. He said when playing to a shutout, credit also went to the goalkeeper and back forward. The win, he said, “was really a team effort.”
Referring to the win with four different players scoring goals, Nuss said the team’s approach “is kind of plug and play.”
He said there are a lot of good players who are able to come off the bench and keep the game tempo up.
“Not just having a Chase Bowman or Joe Goodman (scoring) is obviously a good thing where we’re able to score from anybody and over the year we’ve had a number of different goal scorers.”
Stats show eight different players recording goals over the team’s first eight games, including Goodman, Gabe Meron, Ethan Pearson and Luke Terruso.
Asked if he’s happy with where his team is at so far this season, Nuss responded, “I’m never happy and the guys know it.
“I think we’ve done great for me coming in in August and for the first time working with the guys and trying to instill a certain style of play,” said the coach, who took over the program this fall. “We’ve had some growing pains, but they’ve been a great group of guys that have taken everything I’ve asked and tried to implement it.
“Obviously, it’s been a little inconsistent in our performances, which has led to inconsistency in our results, but for us, it’s about playing the last game of the season,” he said.
“We’re continuing to add every step along the way to try to get to that goal and along the way we’re learning and improving. That’s all I can ask.”
Ocean City will host Mainland Regional at 4 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 1, at the Tennessee Avenue field to try to beat one of the three teams that beat them this season. When the Raiders and Mustangs met in the season opener Sept. 8, Mainland prevailed 2-1. The Mustangs have the same record as the Raiders at 5-3.
– STORY and PHOTOS by DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
