BY MATT SCHOOLEY

With one more player on the field than its opponent, the Salem boys’ soccer team looked like it would be able to grab its second win in what has been a difficult season so far.

It didn’t work out that way, as the Blue Devils couldn’t take advantage of a Goffstown red card, losing at home on Friday, Sept. 28, 2-1.

Goffstown’s Tyler Ellis took down Craig Fitzgerald seven minutes into the contest. After the play, the referee ejected Ellis for using an expletive in talking about the call. Still, the Grizzlies took a 2-0 lead following a pair of second-half scores.

Mark Baroni cut the Salem deficit in half when he corralled a loose ball in front of the net and powered it home.

But the Blue Devils were unable to take advantage of several scoring opportunities while the seconds ticked down, dropping them to 1-9 on the year.

“When we went into halftime, I told my guys that (Goffstown) was going to come into the second half fired up. To their credit, they didn’t get tired,” said Salem head coach Tony Karibian.

Salem’s flaw is obvious. The Blue Devils have no seniors on the 2007 roster.

“We’re young and we’re inexperienced when it comes to going up against veteran teams,” said Karibian, who said the oldest player on his team just turned 17. “It’s a positive thing in a sense that we’re looking to get better
moving forward over the next few years. But it’s also frustrating at the same time.”

Despite the loss, Karibian saw some positives from his team.

“The main thing was that we competed in tackles and 50/50 balls. We’ve lost games before because of those two things,” he said. “Usually we would have just laid down in a game like today. I think they saw that we could play with them, even if they are bigger and stronger.”

After cutting the deficit to one, Salem put the ball in the net again, but an offside call negated the goal. And in the final minutes of the game, the Blue Devils were unable to connect on a corner kick, missed an opportunity at an open shot and couldn’t capitalize on a foul just outside the box.

But the best opportunity came with a little more than two minutes left as the ball trickled along the goal line with the Goffstown keeper on the ground.

However, no Salem player could get a foot on the ball, and the Grizzlies cleared it to ensure the win.