NEW LONDON, N.H.- Kearsarge boys varsity soccer has now lost three games by just one goal already this season. The Cougars fell to John Stark 1-0 by allowing a goal two minutes into overtime at Colby-Sawyer’s Sally Shaw Veitch Field on Wednesday.
The Cougars came to play, but unfortunately for them, they couldn’t get the right bounces they needed to get on the scoreboard.
On how his team performed against a tough John Stark squad (now 4-2), Kearsarge head coach Matt Burch said, “I think they played great. I think we were the better looking team on the field and we had a lot of opportunities. This is our second game in OT in a row. They played hard. I’m trying to put that in their minds… that even though we’re down in our record (now 2-4), we’re good enough to play against any team we’re up against.”
Kearsarge was playing like a team that could compete with any team in Division two early in the game. At the 32 minute mark in the first half, the Cougars’ Peter Russell had a chip shot the just nearly missed the right side of the net on a breakaway off the feed from Toby MacLeod. Then, at the 25 minute mark, Aaron Sullivan barely missed wide left on a nice rip from outside the 18. Aidan McCullough also had a nice boot that missed just wide left from the right side.
Kearsarge’s keeper, Seth Rutledge-Davis, made some impressive saves throughout the game. At the 22 minute point in the first frame, he made a nice save charging up on a semi-breakaway, and then when John Stark got the rebound and got a good leg into it, Rutledge-Davis saved the second shot with his head just a couple feet from the shooter. “Anything to stop the ball from going in the net,” said coach Burch.
The Cougars defense was playing well in front of Rutledge-Davis’ all afternoon. Specifically, Brandon Bullis, who is part of an all-senior backline, stood out. “[Bullis] had a great game,” said Burch. “His fitness is really good and he covers a ton of ground in the back. He did a great job on the right side.”
Unfortunately for the Cougars, they had one breakdown on defense at a crucial moment. In the opening moments of overtime, John Stark found the back of the net on a strike from 15 yards out after a ball skipped through to the middle of Kearsarge’s backline.
On the loss, Burch said, “Our defense has played that well just about every game, we just haven’t been able to put the ball in the net. We have a couple injuries [most notably to a striker and a midfielder]. Those guys have work rates and a lot of pace that we’re missing on the field right now.”
Kearsarge is back in action at Manchester West on Friday at 4 p.m. (Kearsarge lost 3-1 in their season-opener to Manchester West). John Stark hosts Lebanon on Friday and will host Stevens on Monday.
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