Editor’s note: After winning their playoff opener, the Ocean City boys soccer team was knocked out of the South Jersey Group III playoffs Friday by Toms River South, 1-0. TRS was the fourth seed. Ocean City was the fifth.
OCEAN CITY – After an impressive run in the South Jersey Coaches’ Cup soccer tournament, the Ocean City Red Raiders started off the postseason with a win.
Ocean City opened at home on the Tennessee Avenue field against Timber Creek High School and were met with a slow-paced battle. Eventually, Raider Joey Goodman scored the game’s lone goal as Ocean City went on to win 1-0 on Nov. 4.
The Raiders were locked into a 0-0 stalemate for the first 60 minutes of the game until Goodman was fouled and lined up for a penalty kick. Goodman did not let one of the game’s best scoring opportunities go to waste and scored to break the tie.
“Today feels like a little bit of a hangover-ranked teams,” Ocean City head coach Kevin Nuss said. “Timber Creek is a good team just with some inconsistent results and I think we probably let our guard down a little bit.”
Ocean City was in complete control of the ball for most of the game but uncharacteristically struggled to finish in front of the net. Leading goal scorers Goodman and Chase Bowman had a couple of chances throughout the game, but never seemed in rhythm in the offensive end of the field.
Nuss credited the slow Raider start on offense to Timber Creek’s game plan. “Their style of play is a bit more pragmatic with defending in their half. Allowing us time and space kind of drained the energy out of us where we are a team that likes to play faster with higher energy. The last couple of games we did not have to face a team like this, so it was a little bit of a battle of styles. Eventually we got the goal, and the playoffs are all about surviving and advancing.”
Ocean City’s next game in the South Jersey Group III playoffs will be in the quarterfinals Friday, Nov. 7, at Toms River South High School. The No. 5 seeded Raiders will travel to No. 4 TRS looking to play like they did in the big regular season tournament.
The Raiders’ first game in Coaches’ Cup bracket was on the road against the No. 2 seed Moorestown High School. Ocean City was given the No. 15 seed in the bracket which Nuss said gave the team some fuel as the underdog.
Luke Tjoumakaris struck first for Ocean City and established this game would not be easy for Moorestown. Nate Rivera tied the game up for Moorestown right before halftime. It turned out to be the last score of regulation.
The entire second half was a defensive struggle where the two usually high-powered offenses were held in check and forced overtime. Overtime did not last long however, as Goodman scored off an assist from Bowman for a victory on the road against one of the best teams in the region.
After the overtime upset over Moorestown, the Raiders went on the road again and played Seneca in another tight game. Goodman scored the lone goal for Ocean City, but the game went to overtime with both teams tied at 1-1. Two overtime periods were not enough to decide a winner, so the game moved to a penalty kick shootout and Raider goalie Eddie Fuller sealed the game.
Ocean City made all three of their penalties and watched Fuller turn away Seneca three straight times to advance the Raiders to the semifinals in a 2-1 shootout win Oct. 27.
The Raiders’ run came to an end in the semifinals where they lost 4-2 to the eventual champion of the Coaches’ Cup, Washington Township, on Oct. 29. Bowman scored both Ocean City goals, but the Raiders could not keep the underdog magic up any longer.
“It was definitely something the guys have taken as a badge of honor,” Nuss said on the team’s Coaches’ Cup experience. “We went in as a 15 seed and they took that as a little disrespect to fuel them. They took that into Moorestown and Seneca and getting results was something they attached themselves to. Obviously, the cup run was great and hopefully that prepares us for as we go forward in the playoffs.”
– STORY by WILLIAM TRUITT/For the Sentinel
– PHOTOS by DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
