Game Two of the Saints Classic

Game 4: (2-2-0)
13 September vs. Manhattan (1-2) at 6:00 PM (2-0)



Omar Returns from the RedZone to notch an assist.


We entered the second day of the Saints Classic fresh off a good win over Garden City. We met up with Manhattan, which had just upset BV North on Thursday, 2-1.  

We did get Omar back to start at left wing, but Kitts' illness has become more severe than we first anticipated, so we did not have him for the match. Michael Doerfler had a pretty solid day yesterday, but he is also the varsity kicker on the Saints football team (28-7 winners over st. James)—so he is unavailable on those Friday nights of our season.

We inserted Oliver Sarmiento into that right-back slot, and off we went. (The Sarmiento brothers are only the third brothers in Saints Thomas Aquinas' 37 year history to start a varsity game. The other two were the Theis twins back in 1993 and the Crooks' brothers in 2009.)

The first 10 minutes were definitely worth watching, as we crisply moved the ball continually finding Miles feet at the "9," to generate some pretty slick offense.

We ended up scoring less than 3 minutes into the match on one of those Bobby-bombs to Miles' head and on to the back post where Befort awaited. 


About 9 minutes in, Befort almost returned the favor after the give-and-go took him to the baseline for the air cross that Laws took head-on into the keeper's stomach.

For the rest of the half, however, we relaxed with that one-goal lead, and the soccer dropped off a bit. 

Manhattan does have a team that seems to improve with each match this season. They have played well in both of their matches in the Saints Classic.

The second half also produced one deadball goal (a bit controversial), but after the first ten minutes, we did move the ball around the pitch more quickly and with less passes. 


Our endurance and heart will be tested tomorrow in our final match against a dangerous Kapaun squad, as our starters have played a lot of minutes in two days.

We have found .500 again, and our goal is to stay within it the rest of the way. Parker, with Hank's help, logged our second straight shutout, as the squad now has given up .5 goals in four matches.

We have a chance to get Kitts back for tomorrow afternoon's match. Adding some fresh legs would be nice.

We will also welcome back some of the STA greats for our alumni match and cookout after the Kapaun match.

Our Man of the Match, Noah Morgan, had another very good game for us. He has been asked to play every minute of these Classic games, and wow, has he risen to the occasion.



STATS:

First Half: 

Saints: 9 (4) Corners: 4 (Omar 2, Siebert, Laws)

37:14 Befort (Bobby heaves it for the Laws flick to the back post)

Indians: Shots: 3 (0) Corners: 2

Second Half:

Saints: Shots: 5 (4) Corners: 5 (Fuentes 3, Ragan, Lynch)

17:44 Laws (Omar drives the ball for a one-touch on the back post.)

Indians:

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