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Pomfret School
Soccer
Pomfret 2 Roxbury 0
Nov. 16: In the NEPSAC quarterfinals the game was tribute to each member of the team as everyone had a hand in how things went. The team had a spirited practice the day before and took to the field with some inspirational words from the headmaster and from coach Burke. The rain held off until the kickoff and then it started and never let up. The day saw a defense mark out a very dangerous player—Wheeler—Omiunu—on the Roxbury Latin team who was a scoring threat all day. At first we had Harrison Chase on him but as he moved up we put the regulars on him. Tom Trogele just ate him up as he was asked to him by John Cunningham or Chris Alves who was playing for the injured Max King (who crutched his way across the field to be with us) or passed in the other direction to Jack Nicholson who just shut down the wings on his side. The wing halves had to play tough and tight and make the transition from offense and defense to mark the outside off wing and Lucas Gillespie—still fighting some illness—did just that and also schooled in the offensive end. We used him in the middle for Charlie as he tired. When he tired we pulled him out and had Shady Chen spring in there and raise some havoc as well. On the other side, we had Diego Briones who figured big in the scoring column as he pushed the ball up field and assisted on the first goal with a nice cross after a good move along the end line. As he tired, we had Jon Pate come in and play that defensive stopper role that he has come to play so well. We did the same on the other side with Remy Hatfield. It is that kind of depth—those players stepping up—that gives us a chance. They both played exceptionally well. Up front Drew Cobin was playing on top of Charlie Gruner and the width of the field gave them a nice one-two punch. As we released Harrison, it really became a three man overlapping attack that worked some nice combinations in the middle with small ball and went outside. When Roxbury cleared the ball, Tom and Jack stepped up and drove it right back. It was exciting soccer to watch and clearly Pomfret was playing on top of its game.
In the middle of all this was the return of Charlie Gruner. Charlie had been playing with back issues and is still battling them—but he was a monster in the middle today. If Charlie cannot jump, we are sunk and he willed himself forward today. He created chance after chance as he put through balls to each of the forwards. We had JJ Lee up there with a key couple of minutes up top and Chris Grandi who made a great play on a high ball around the 18. Chris went straight up and out jumped the keeper. It rattled him. Drew was also playing in that feeder spot and hit the outside time and time again.
The wet field kept the ball moving and Pomfret was quicker to the ball. The goal came as Diego went end line after a feed from Jack and cleared to Tim who also was an impact player today. Tim came on and struck the ball hard on the ground on the 18—the Roxbury keeper got a hand on it but it was in the goal as Tim had one timed it hard and Pomfret led 1-0. Roxbury turned up the pressure in the second half and Pomfret seemed to be giving up a little too much space. AJ had some nice plays in the first half as he was quick off his line but in the second d half he really played his best soccer of the year. He had two diving saves to his right that were point blank and also fielded a number of balls high in the air as Roxbury was adept at driving dead balls and got good air. It was at moments like that the defense also rose up—literally. John Cunningham was huge in the air today and his physical presence alone was tremendous. Chris Alves is also excellent in the air in the back and each fielded balls and pushed them wide.
As time wound down, Pomfret got a little tight and yet remained calm and kept the feet moving. The trash talk all year from the defense (ask them about 125) in the 6v4 drills rose up as this team has tremendous—justifiable —pride in itself. It takes tremendous discipline not to foul in such instances and Pomfret maintained its composure. It was only with moments left that a clear went off the final dead ball out to Tim Haggerty who went 1-0 on the keeper beat him scoring his 16th goal of the year and the place erupted as the goal was scored with 1 second left.
Pomfret 0 S. Kent 5
Nov. 19: The boys traveled to Salisbury who hosted the semifinal game between #4 seed Pomfret and #1 seed South Kent. South Kent is #1 and undefeated for a reason—they are good. Pomfret came out fired up and ready to play backed by a great group of parents and fans who had made the trip. We certainly had more fans than the South Kent side. South Kent scored a goal ten minutes in and Pomfret came right back with a few chances of its own. If we had been able to shake the South Kent’s side with a goal, I think it would have been a different game. We made some adjustments and tried to execute our own game plan a little better. South Kent scored another goal just before the half and Pomfret again had some flurries of opportunities in tight at the start of the second half. The game slipped away despite all of the energy Pomfret was pouring into the tilt. The final was 5-0.
It was a very tough way for this history-making team to end its season. The team finished 13-2 which is the best winning percentage in 30 plus years, the #4 ranking out of 51 teams in WNEPSSA, #2 in the Class B in WNEPSSA, and the #4 seed in the New England tournament. The team played tenacious defense which recorded a record 8 shutouts. The team scored 44 goals this season. There are many returning players for next years squad that vows to take revenge. The seniors: Captain Jack Nicholson, Chris Alves. AJ Bourdon, Tom Trogele, Will Dana, Drew Cobin, Jon Pate, and Diego Briones.