Foxborough Boys Soccer Comes up Short Against Oliver Ames

It looked like the Warriors were about to get on a roll. Coming off of a big wins against Franklin and King Philip, the Warriors’ next assignment was against the Oliver Ames Tigers. A win by Foxboro would put the Warriors into a tie for second in the Davenport Division with Oliver Ames and pressure on division leader Canton. It was not meant to be on this day as the Tigers got by Foxboro with a comfortable 2-0 win.

From the start Oliver Ames looked to challenge the Warriors. Spending most of their time in front of the Foxboro net, the Tigers used opportunity after opportunity to try to get the ball in the net. Success finally came in the 33rd minute after Oliver Ames challenged Warrior goalie Nick Adair at the right side of the top of the 18-yard box. A slight hesitation was all the Tiger needed, as Adam Karas was able to get the ball to Conner McCormick for the opening goal

“The Goalie’s going to make a split second decision and unfortunately it didn’t work out that time. I’d rather be aggressive than hold back,” said Foxboro coach Pat Nash.

Trying to find the equalizer was easier said than done. The Warriors tried to get the ball into play but couldn’t find a way to score.

“The first half we came out flat.  First time this year we had come up flat like that," said Nash. “We just couldn’t find back of the net today.”

Standing in the way of a Warriors’ goal was Oliver Ames goalkeeper Dave McKinnon. The Tigers’ keeper was aggressive all day, even playing beyond the goal to disrupt the Warriors’ play.

“We try to have him on the 18. He’s a pretty big dude so we try to have him win the ball,” said Oliver Ames coach John Barata.

The Tigers second goal came during the 53rd minute from Andrew Szeto. Shooting from the left, Sezto nailed the ball to the top right corner of the Foxboro net. Putting the ball where no one can get it, the Tigers took a 2-0 lead.

Foxboro would find themselves with a few more opportunities, but a strong Oliver Ames defense was too much as the Tigers walked away with the win.

“We worked hard. Overall we did a very good job in the backline,” said Barata

With the win, the Tigers are now 4-1-2 with 10 points in the standings while the Warriors are 3-4-0 with 6 points.

Next up for the Warriors will be a matchup with the rival Mansfield Hornets.  It will be the first of two straight games against the Hornets. Game 1 will take place on Wednesday September 28th at 3:00pm at Mansfield High School while game 2 will take place on Monday October 3rd at 3:30pm at the Booth Playground in Foxboro. The Tigers will play a rare Saturday night game against the league leading Canton Bulldogs. Game time is set for 7pm on Saturday October 1st at Canton High School.