Pats stun Saints with late goal, PK win

By Jacob Marrocco
Posted 11/8/16

Every playoff run has its signature win. Its victory that instilled enough confidence in a team to last the entire postseason. Pilgrim boys' soccer may have had its signature win on Saturday night. Twice, the No.

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Pats stun Saints with late goal, PK win

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Every playoff run has its signature win. Its victory that instilled enough confidence in a team to last the entire postseason.

Pilgrim boys’ soccer may have had its signature win on Saturday night. Twice, the No. 5 Pats were down to their final shot attempt and managed to upend No. 4 St Ray’s on its home turf, 3-2.

“There’s a lot of character and there’s good leadership from the captains,” Pilgrim head coach Bill Carroll said. “They just won’t quit. They worked their tails off and they’ll never quit on you.”

The Saints took a 2-1 lead in the second half behind a dazzling goal off the boot of the state’s leading scorer, Derek Delahoz. He registered the only two scores in the only other meeting between the two sides this year, and it looked like he would be the deciding factor again.

With just minutes to go, Pilgrim freshman Aaron Ramos fired a laser into the box that rang off the right post. It would have been a metaphor for the game had it been Pilgrim’s last try at an equalizer, as the Pats had their chances to level the score.

Pilgrim was given new life with 20 seconds to go. Ramos was tripped near the 25-yard line, causing the Pats to scramble for a last-minute free kick before their season expired. Ramos ripped a shot that bounced off goalkeeper Patrick Bullen, rebounding out to an unmarked Matt Woods for the game-tying goal.

“That’s all Niall [Blackadar] there, my friend Niall,” Woods said. “If he didn’t put pressure on the goal, that wouldn’t have been there for me. So that’s all to my teammates right there.”

The Saints were sent into a state of shock, and the game was sent into overtime.

The best chance for either side during extra time came from Pilgrim’s Evan O’Connor, who already had one goal to his name. O’Connor cut the edge past the Saints’ defense early in the first OT period, but Bullen scurried to the top of the box to make a sensational save.

Delahoz was contained through a combination of physical play from Karael Mistivar, who rarely let the star senior spin past him, and Woods’ near-perfect sweeping. Any time a ball got over the head of Mistivar, Woods was there to clean up the chance before Delahoz could fly by the defense.

“Deny him the ball, whenever they get it to him, he’s dangerous,” Carroll said of Delahoz. “He’s a great player, but we had [Mistivar] stick to him like glue and Matt cleans up behind him. It was a plan that worked pretty well, but it’s pretty tough to keep that kid down.”

“We knew his speed, we knew his potential of what he could do to us and that he could be deadly,” Woods said. “I just tried to limit him as much as possible, and get in his head and let him be who he is. He is a deadly player and we definitely knew that in respect to him coming into the game.”

The Pilgrim defense made Delahoz vanish during overtime, allowing the game to be decided by penalty kicks.

Sebastian Romero and Blackadar exchanged successful conversions to begin. Edgardo Cardona, who had already beaten keeper Max Caracuzzo once on the night, slipped another shot to the left post for the 2-1 lead. Danny Peixinho sent his ensuing shot just above the crossbar, allowing the Saints to take command.

The two went back and forth for the next two rounds. Saint Ray’s saw goals from Max Rodriguez-Cepparo and Delahoz, while Ramos and Collen Murphy answered the bell for Pilgrim.

Bullen stepped out for the Saints’ fifth penalty kick. If he beat his counterpart, the Saints would move on. He tried to beat Caracuzzo high, but his shot went through the uprights of the field goal posts to once again give Pilgrim renewed hope.

Dominic DeNuccio beat Bullen to his right, forcing sudden-death penalties.

Cano Morales and Woods both found twine in the sixth round, but the seventh would see the first official save. Aaron Flynn tried to beat Caracuzzo to his right once again, but the sophomore guessed right and gave Pilgrim the chance to walk off.

“It’s so good, there’s nothing that’s comparative to it,” Caracuzzo said of making the penalty-kick save. “A game like this, the whole team’s working. That’s the best feeling in the world.”

Caracuzzo made nine saves during regulation and overtime. He also had to manage a few feats that didn't end up in the stat book, like rising above Delahoz on jump balls to prevent any headers from ending up in the net.

“Just can’t let them get in your head,” Caracuzzo said.

It was up to Dawson Enright, who snuck his shot by Bullen to send the Pats into a frenzy and the Division III semifinals.

“I knew where I was going to go,” Enright said with an ear-to-ear smile. “I go to the same place every time. Best feeling of my life.”

The Pats get top-seeded Davies at Cumberland High School on Wednesday night at 5:30 p.m. Pilgrim is familiar with the Patriots, as their only loss so far this year came against Pilgrim early in the season.

Woods and O’Connor both received yellow cards during the St. Ray’s game, though, so they will have to be careful to avoid missing time with another infraction.

“I’m proud of them,” Carroll said of his squad. “I told the kids in practice, we can beat any team in this league. The team that’s going to beat us is ourselves. That’s the only team we’re going to lose to. They’re capable of beating anyone, they’re capable of losing to anyone. We have had some flat days, and I try to get them in the proper mentality for the playoffs. Just two more games to go and that’s it.”

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