With the playoffs days away, the Pirates (8-5-3) boy’s soccer team is trying to get into a groove on both sides of the ball. The defense played well on Tuesday, but the offense could not convert on its chances in a 1-0 overtime loss to Rancocas Valley (16-1-2).
“What’s nice is, for the last four years I’ve been the head coach, our four defenders have been our four defenders,” head coach Jay Meile said.
“This year, in my opinion, we have six guys who can consistently play on the back line. They are getting familiar with each other. They’re all on the same page and it makes us a tough team to score on. Defensively, I’m very confident with a kid like Mike Deal in the back of the net. He’s going to keep us in games with our defense.”
The win clinched the BCSL Liberty Division title for the Red Devils. These two teams played to a 1-1 tie back on October 1.
After a very evenly matched first half, with good chances on each side, the Red Devils and Pirates remained scoreless at the break.
The Pirates best chance of the first half came with just under three minutes remaining when Mason Stepnowski threw the ball in towards the net. Pat McCarthy headed it on goal, but keeper Dylan Mohan made one of his 11 saves on the day.
Deal made seven saves in the losing effort.
The second half was much of the same, with the Pirates coming close to scoring a goal a couple of times. After a total of 80 minutes without a goal, the two teams headed into overtime looking for the golden goal.
The Pirates had a clear scoring chance midway through the first overtime period, but could not convert. Scoring has been an issue of late for the Pirates, who have three ties this season; 1-1, 1-1 and 0-0.
“We had opportunities, two or three in the first half, that were pretty good,” Meile said. “The overtime one, Mason struck the ball and Jake Vermes couldn’t put it on the frame. We’re our own worst enemy right now. We’ve got to put the ball on the frame, make the goalie make the save, and not worry about anything besides doing our job.”
Boy’s soccer has been shutout in their last three games, including a 0-0 tie to Burlington Township that ended in penalty kicks in favor of the Falcons in the first round of the Coaches Cup.
The last time the Pirates scored a goal it was a 1-0 victory over Burlington Township prior to that Coaches Cup first-round game against the Falcons.
“It’s just something that we’re aware of, that we’re lacking right now, putting the ball in the back of the net,” Meile said. “It’s our third straight overtime game. Our defense has to play perfect for 100 minutes and it’s a tough position to put the five-six guys in defensively, depending on the lineup.”
With 3:52 on the clock, Matt Hannan headed in the game winner, just over the outstretched arms of a leaping Deal.
“Our last four games, we’ve had one goal,” Meile said. “That’s not gonna do it. We’re gonna have a very short postseason if we can’t find a way to score.”
The Pirates boy’s soccer team returns to action on Thursday, October 29 at 3:45pm with a contest at Palmyra.
[…] “Walking out of R.V. with a 1-1 tie, with an opportunity to win the game, showed us we can play with anybody when we had the right mindset. Even the second time we played them at our place, we didn’t have our full roster, and we took them to overtime in a 1-0 loss.” […]