NORTH EASTON, Mass. – Sometimes the hardest playoff game is the first one. With a roster that features only one player with any significant state tournament experience, Oliver Ames coach John Barata knew there would be a learning curve for his team and Saturday afternoon’s Div. 2 opener against Shepherd Hill at Muscato Stadium provided a good test.
OA scored twice in the first half to jump on top, but after giving up a goal early in the second half the Tigers had to see out a one-goal lead to secure a 2-1 win and advance. It is a familiar story for OA, which has faced several tough games that have jumpstarted long tournament runs.
“For us getting that first playoff experience was very important, so now we can go,” Barata explained. “We needed this. We needed that moment, that energy, the playoff vibe to be able to come in. Very happy that we got it in.”
The Tigers nearly got off to the perfect start. A ball over the top sprung forward Clide Neau in behind the Shepherd Hill defense in the third minute. Clean through on goal, Neau scuffed his shot and it slid wide of the near post. A few minutes later, a free kick from Michael Haikal picked out Neau in the box but his header went wide as well.
Shepherd Hill nearly took advantage of those missed chances to grab the opening goal. In the 17th minute, Adrien Roach hit a low cross from the left that went straight through the six-yard box before being touched out for a corner. The ball was played in from the corner to the back post where the first header was saved by freshman Drew Hall and Jack Levesque’s follow-up effort was blocked by Haikal.
Neau had another good chance two minutes later on a through ball by Hector Buccio, but he couldn’t pick out the far corner from the left side of the box.
Finally, in the 26th minute, the deadlock was broken and it was Neau that got the first goal. He did well to judge Antonio Fernandes’ long throw as it flew past the center back. This time, when one-on-one with the keeper, Neau was able to get his bearings and deftly hit a chip inside the far post.
Christian Haikal came close to making it 2-0 when he collected a through ball from freshman Casey Milliken in the right channel and tested Shepherd Hill goalie Ryan Davis.
Seven minutes before halftime, the Tigers did double the lead. Milliken went down in the box under a challenge. The Rams defenders were irate when, after a slight hesitation, the official whistled and pointed to the spot. It was unclear whether it was for a foul or possibly a handball, but the visiting team’s protests were waived away and Michael Haikal stepped up to calmly dispatch the spot kick.
There is a cliche in soccer that a 2-0 lead is the most dangerous because it allows a team to feel comfortable. OA was guilty of taking its foot off the gas at the start of the second half and it allowed Shepherd Hill to take some control.
“Their eight seniors came out to play in the second half,” Barata said. “They were like this is our last time, and our inexperienced kids, none of them have played in a real playoff game…so I believe they were nervous. Once it was 2-1, all of sudden you saw a moment of ‘oh my lord, are we good enough, can we do this?’”
Hall had to make a nice catch under pressure after a free kick just eight minutes after the break. That warning wasn’t heeded and the Tigers were slow closing down Gabe Roach at the edge of the box. His strike took a slight deflection before flying past Hall and halving the lead.
Only a minute later, almost directly from the restart, OA came inches from restoring a two-goal advantage. Neau again was able to roll his marker and get free in the left channel. His shot looked to be sneaking into the bottom corner, but Michael Sobocinski was able to slide and clear the shot off the line, off the post, and out. The OA bench was adamant the ball crossed the line but their appeals were ignored.
Milliken had a chance to add to the lead when he got free on the right side, but with teammates open for a cut back he elected to go for goal himself from a tight angle and it was saved. Nau had another shot blocked wide and Haikal had a header from a Milliken corner that was off target.
The Rams came close to equalizing in the 68th minute. Jack Barrows had a shot from the right side that Hall parried. The ball fell to Dan Gronek, but he was unable to push the ball over the line from close range and the Tigers cleared.
“We let them dictate the play at times,” Barata admitted. “When we moved the ball, we were fantastic, but when we went to kick-and-run, which is kind of what they wanted us to do, we had multiple chances but we gave them six good chances today. We were very lucky and Drew stepped up big time in goal to make some of those saves.”
OA had two chances in the final five minutes that would’ve sealed the win.
Haikal sprung freshman Andrew Martins down the right wing and, instead of going to the corner, he forced a good save out of Davis. Then Mathias Taylor, who was excellent in central midfield all game, hit a clearance from well inside his own half that had Davis back-pedaling. The keeper just managed to awkwardly keep the shot out and conceded a corner.
In the end, it was job done for the Tigers and valuable experience for the next round.
Oliver Ames (14-3-2) advanced to the Round of 16 and will travel out west to face No. 6 West Springfield on Wednesday night.