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Acton-Boxborough 2-0 Westford
35' Kashin (Rentschler)
55' Goldman
Lineup: Smith, C. Li, Bloomstone, D. Meagher, Cadogan, Davis, Rentschler, Kashin, Karkantis, Conwill, Kollm
Subs Used: T. Meagher, Lush, Goldman, Tripathi, Condron, Paolino
On a night when the seniors honored their parents a couple of sophomores propelled the Colonials to a hard fought 2-0 victory. Max Kashin scored his first varsity goal with only 5 minutes to go in the first half. The sequence started from Niko Karkantis on the right side of midfield. He received a pass that shifted the Westford defense and then cut inside. His next touch sprung a streaking Andy Rentschler on the left flank. Rentschler's initial cross was blocked on the edge of the area. Rentschler followed his cross inside to force the Westford defense to bungle their clearance. The pressure paid off as Rentschler touched the ball back for Kashin on the left side of goal from 25 yards out. Kashin's right footed volley was struck with full force over the keeper into the upper corner of the right side of the goal for the 1-0 lead and a most memorable goal. AB would take the 1-0 lead into the break brimming with confidence.
The end of the half was a sharp contrast from the start of the game as the Colonials were on the back foot for the first 25 minutes. The pace was faster than many of the players were used to and the tackles were flying in from all angles. The young Colonials needed to grow up in a hurry if they were going to compete in the game for 80 minutes. The Gray Ghosts had much of the possession but they rarely got in behind a stingy AB defense consisting of Chris Li, Dillon Meagher, Jeremy Bloomstone, Tim Cadogan, Oliver Davis and Tom Meagher. Westford threatened the AB goal once in the half when a Westford forward beat the AB defense on the right side of goal just inside the box. They force the Westford player into a wide and poor angle. Acton-Boxborough goalkeeper, Mitchell Smith, had the angled shot covered as it rolled just past the far post.
In any game there is always an ebb and flow where one team has the advantage and other times when the other team has the advantage. The strong play of AB's back line allowed them to stay in the game despite the heavy pressure. As the Colonials figured out how to deal with the physical play and the pace of the game they started to turn the momentum in their favor. Kashin made the most of the limited chances to cap off the momentum shift in style.
Heading into the second half the Colonials knew they could compete with one of the strongest teams in the Dual County League. They extended their lead 15 minutes into the second period through an opportunistic goal from Alex Goldman. Unlike Kashin's technically challenging strike Goldman's goal was one of grit and determination. A corner kick from the left side was driven across the six yard box where it was met by Dillon Meagher at the back post. His downward header was blocked by a slew of players. The ball squirted out of the scrum to Goldman who slotted the ball past the keeper from close range.
With Westford on the ropes, Acton-Boxborough tried to put the game out of reach. Karkantis was again the orchestrator, cutting inside from his right midfield position. He again played a perfectly weighted cross field ball to release Nolan Condron in the left side channel. Condron took an aggressive first touch and leathered a thunderous blast that just nicked the top side of the crossbar. With only 4 minutes to go Eliot Conwill came close to the elusive 3rd goal. Davis played a free kick just inside the attacking half deep towards the back post. Karkantis was at it again, redirecting the ball back across the face of goal for Conwill who was at full stretch to reach the cross. The ball was just a bit too high and skimmed off his head out for a corner.
As the final whistle sounded it was clear that the Colonials displayed just how powerful a united team can be.
Next Match: Lincoln-Sudbury
Saturday 9/26
7:00 Kickoff
Leary Field | |
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