By David Miles, Sports Correspondent
Eleven days ago the Woodstock boys soccer team escaped Fair Haven 2-1 in double overtime. Coach Tom Avellino watched the game film in full at least three times — and portions of it even more — to prepare for the rematch.
“We saw that Fair Haven’s offense was best when the ball was dead,” said Avellino. “They had 15 free kicks last time. We wanted to limit those and corner kicks too. And we needed to mark No. 5 (Garrett Gonzalez) in those situations.”
The Slaters still had their share of free kicks in the first half, but they did not have a corner kick the entire game. And they really did not even come close to scoring once on the day, as Lucas Godfrey only had to make three saves. Woodstock, meanwhile, tallied twice in each half to pull away for a 4-0 victory and a semifinal contest with Harwood on Tuesday.
Woodstock peppered Sam Eaton with shot after shot last time the two teams played and missed on a number of opportunities by kicking over or wide of the net too often.
“We knew we needed to finish better today,” said co-captain Alex Crompton. He was aware of how many scoring chances they let get away last time. That wouldn’t happen again.
Only eight minutes into the game, Crompton fed Mason Thompson in close, but Eaton was able to turn away Thompson’s shot. Crompton, though, stayed with it and slid the loose ball over to Cullen McCarthy who knocked it past a sprawling Eaton to open the scoring.
Woodstock’s second goal was a thing of beauty. Thompson brought the ball down the left side of the field and sliced between two defenders, a perfect combination of speed and agility. He, too, finished, beating Eaton to the open wide side.
The second half was more of the same with the Wasps limiting the Fair Haven opportunities and remaining efficient with their ball movement. Fifteen minutes after intermission, Curran MacDonald was tripped as he was moving into the open to receive a pass. Woodstock was awarded a free kick and Crompton expertly buried it in the lower left corner of the net.
Crompton wasn’t done either. Four minutes later he slid a good centering pass to Patrick Bald and Bald drove it home for his first goal of the year.
It was only Bald’s fourth game of the year, the junior having suffered a deep thigh bruise that kept him out of action most of the season. Having the talented junior’s fresh legs on the field down the stretch will be a plus for the Wasps.
“Enjoy the journey,” Avellino told his squad after the game, echoing the message he delivered to his state finalist team last year. “Your frame of mind is right where it needs to be. Let’s just be sure we play with composure.”
Woodstock moves on to the semifinal round and will match up with Harwood on Tuesday at 3 p.m. Harwood was the opponent last year in the quarterfinals, a narrow 2-1 win for the Wasps.