The St. Mary’s boys soccer team (31) defeated Auburn (34) on Friday afternoon at Manning Field, 1-0, in the preliminary round of the Division III tournament.
The Spartans’ Dylan Moroney scored the game-winning goal in PKs, followed by a Jacob Guarino save, and the Spartans survived in a game-of-the-year candidate – embracing one another and storming Guarino in the net.
The first five minutes were a feeling out process – both teams connected on passes to establish possession, but neither side got things near opposing goalkeepers.
The Spartans’ Nick Miller dazzled his way past two defenders with dribbling moves, but had the ball knocked away by a third Rocket. St. Mary’s possession time increased after the 30-minute mark of the first half, with the Spartans staying cautious with the ball and not forcing passes.
Auburn’s Ayslan Boscollo got the first scoring chance of the afternoon, receiving a pass in the slot for a one-timer – his shot went wide left, however, and Spartans’ goalkeeper Guarino remained untested.
The Rockets’ Omar Abu-Lail threatened with his speed every time he got the ball. The Spartans’ defenders remained attentive to Abu-Lail – whether Auburn had possession or not.
St. Mary’s first golden chance came with around 19 minutes remaining in the first half with Kaya Jackson delivering a perfect cross to Derek Garcia in front of the net, but Garcia’s header went high – much to his own frustration.
Nick Miller raced down the left sideline one minute later and sent a cross, but no Spartans were home to cash in. He shined again around the 15-minute mark, stealing the ball away from a Rocket and creating momentary possession for the Spartans.
St. Mary’s started to tilt the turf as the half went on, using its speed and quick passes to keep Auburn defenders backpedaling. Jackson was effective in the offensive zone, often furthering himself from the goal if it meant retaining possession as opposed to forcing an ill-advised play.
With five minutes until halftime, Miller tight-roped his way down the endline and tried a centering pass to a Spartan teammate, but his pass went off the side of the net and out of bounds.
The first half ended scoreless, while the second half began chippy. There were two collisions – one near the endline, and another near the midfield sideline – resulting in some dismay between opposing players.
Auburn’s Anthony Gervasi received a lead pass before slicing through the defense for a chance, but his shot rose above the net and things stayed scoreless through the first 15 minutes of the second half.
Back defenders for both teams were strong from the start. With zone entries racking up and crosses flying, defenders often intercepted and disrupted chances.
There weren’t any strong scoring chances in the second half until the 8-minute mark when both Caleb Iborra and Bryan Cavanaugh had chances in the slot for Auburn, but each of their shots were blocked by Spartans.
Jackson got a turnaround chance with six minutes remaining, and Moroney had an even better opportunity off the blocked rebound, but Moroney’s shot rolled wide left for St. Mary’s.
Regulation time expired and Manning Field was the site of playoff overtime. There were two 10-minute, sudden-death overtime periods.
With jitters forming and heartbeats racing, each side traded possessions. Auburn’s Aidan McGrail and St. Mary’s Jackson each had shots, but neither got past the goalies. Auburn’s Nicholes Jennings had a breakaway in the second overtime, but his shot in stride rang off the right post.
The first and second overtime periods ended – and 100 minutes of soccer later – it was time for penalty kicks. St. Mary’s Head Coach Shane McCarran’s message to his team: remain calm.
“Relax, you’ve gotten this far. We’ve worked on it every practice,” McCarran said.
PKs lasted nine rounds in an ultra-intense, back-and-forth session. St Mary’s Mark Wood, Derek Garcia, Miller, Eider Solis, Brody McCarran, and Cade Cornell all scored.
Moroney was the ninth Spartan to shoot – going bar-down for the go-ahead strike. Guarino made the winning stop and watched the ball dribble out of harm’s way for a Spartan victory in front of the hometown faithful.
“He [Guarino] saves them for a living at practice,” McCarran said. “It’s obviously a lot different when you’ve got a lot of fans in the stands, but they came through tonight.”
With the victory no Spartans will forget, St. Mary’s travels to face Dedham this Sunday at 4 p.m. in the round of 32.
