SB Soccer: ETIAC Semi-Final vs Richmond

 

To be truthful, the Spartans did not start the game well. In the first fifteen minutes, they had trouble finding one another with quality passes, their timing and rhythm were not in sync, their running was sluggish, and they looked plain tired. Given this, they did not stop working hard, nor did they abandon their defensive roles and responsibilities. They locked in mentally and they grinded for the entire first half. Their reward came in the thirtieth minute when, following a right-sided corner kick, Josh and Henry played a superb short corner to break down the Richmond defence, and Henry found a completely wide-open Jordan at the top of the 18-yard box. Jordan took one touch to control the ball, opened his hips and drove the ball into the bottom right-hand corner to put the Spartans ahead by one. This timely goal boosted Spartan spirits, and, following the Knights’ kickoff from centre, Stanstead went to work pressing their guests in their own half in hope they might score another goal before halftime. Despite Stanstead’s good work, the Knights defence held firm, and their goalkeeper played out of his skin to deny a few great Spartans chances. Halftime score: Spartans 1 – Knights 0.  

After some strong words of encouragement from the coaching staff at halftime, the Spartans found their form early in the second half. They shook off the doldrums, kept the game simple and started to display their usually effective passing style of game. This worked to their advantage, as they were able to keep the ball for longer stretches, which meant the Knights spent more time chasing it and having to defend at their own end of the field. Lengthy periods of ball possession allowed Stanstead to open gaps and space between the Knights’ midfield and defensive lines as well as cracks between defenders. These were welcome moments for the Spartans who were only too eager to run through to test the Knights’ goalkeeper. Had it not been for said keeper and his numerous – and I mean numerous – ubelievable saves, the Spartans would easily have scored 10 second-half goals. This is not a stretch. He was that sensational. And, when the scoreline is that close, anything in the game can happen. A slip here, an errant foul or handball there could mean a Knights scoring chance, which they capitalized upon, twice, on their last visit to Stanstead.

Well, senior midfielder Ryder, a returnee who experienced last year’s league and playoff disappointment at the feet of the Knights, was not about to let that happen. As has been his style all season, Ryder’s relentless running and covering in the middle of the field produced numerous opposition turnovers and forced passes into SC pressure. At the 60^th minute, Ryder intercepted a Knights pass about thirty yards from goal, took two touches of the ball to set himself and then let fly a fantastic shot that flew into the top corner of the net. This goal’s effect was immediate. The 2-1 Spartan lead was just, but more obvious were the facts that this was another boost of confidence for the Spartans to see the game out to the final whistle; and for the visiting Knights, the goal deflated their resolve. Where only moments ago they were running and battling for every scrap of the ball, now they looked tired and every run laboured. The final twenty minutes were all Stanstead, and it was Felix’s insurance marker in the 72^nd minute following good pressure in the Richmond end of the field by him and Max that produced the final goal of the game. Gabe, while not overly busy in the Spartans net, displayed great concentration and good foot skills on balls played back to him, collected another clean sheet in leading his team to a solid 3-0 win.

With this victory, the Spartans avoided injuries, card infractions and the banana skin and were now ready and excited to host our old rivals, BCS, for the ETIAC playoff championship game on Friday, October 25 at 4:00pm.