BY MATT SCHOOLEY
Who needs all 11 players?
Forced to play down one player for most of its match against Salem, the Goffstown High School boys soccer team held on for a 2-1 road victory on Friday, Sept. 28.
Goffstown’s Tyler Ellis went hard into Salem’s Craig Fitzgerald, earning a yellow card about seven minutes into the contest. Following the play, he was ejected from the game after receiving a red card for language Ellis allegedly used toward the official.
According to Goffstown head coach Randy Lovering, Ellis said, “I got there as fast as I could,” while the referee said Ellis used an expletive in describing the call.
Although Lovering said he understands that red cards do sometimes happen, he also knows his player’s character.
“He really just isn’t that kind of kid, but we had to move on. It was a matter of who was going to step up, and everyone did,” he said. “They were down a player and were still able to control a lot of the play. They stepped up huge.”
The Grizzles kept the game scoreless into halftime, then received a lucky bounce early in the second half when Brad Downing’s deep shot looked like an easy save but bounced off the Salem keeper’s hands and into the net.
A few minutes later, John Reilly played a perfect ball into the box, and Matt Auger Lencki took advantage, heading the ball in for a 2-0 lead.
Salem notched a goal, but Goffstown weathered a few late threats to secure the victory.
Goffstown, which improved to 3-6 with the win, endured a tough early stretch that included four one-goal losses among many games against the state’s top teams.
“We’ve had a really top-heavy schedule so far, and we knew heading into this game that record doesn’t mean everything,” he said. “Hopefully we’ll be able to roll into the tournament. I think (being able to win down a man) will be huge as we play on. We played together really well today.”
Lovering said it will be difficult for his team to forget about this particular victory.
“This was a big win for us, and we’re going to carry it for a few weeks,” he said with a smile. “I’m going to remind them about it.”