Late Goal Give Foxborough Boys' Soccer Win Over Stoughton

Just like the season opener at Foxborough, the Warrior boys' soccer team scored a late second half goal to hand the Black Knights a 2-1 loss in the rematch Tuesday afternoon in Stoughton.

Foxborough defeated Stoughton by the same margin in the season opener in the Davenport Division game.

In the rematch, after Foxborough dominated the first half, taking a 1-0 lead.

Stoughton countered with inspired play to tie the score, only to see the Warriors score the game-winner with just 10 minutes left.

The win was a very big one for Foxboro who now improves to 6-5-0 overall and 5-5-0 in the Davenport Division. A .500 record is what’s needed to qualify for the postseason tournament, putting the Warriors to advance to the playoffs for the first time in nine years.

Stoughton’s frustrating season continues with its seventh one-goal defeat. The Black Knights are now 1-10-1 overall, 1-9-1 in the Hockomock League and 0-5-0 in the Davenport Division.

The win was a very big one for Foxborough, who improved to 6-5-0 overall and 5-5-0 in the Davenport Division. A .500 record is what’s needed to qualify for the postseason tournament, putting the Warriors in the playoffs for the first time in nine years.

Foxborough got off to a quick start with a 9-3 shot advantage (including six shots on goal). Stoughton senior goaltender Michael Vulakh, who again kept the Black Knights in the game, had 13 saves throughout the contest.

Senior captain Sawyer Fleck got the Warriors on the scoreboard in the game’s 11th minute with a hard shot from an assist by junior Aidan Hyland.

Foxborough kept sustained offensive pressure on Stoughton, but the Stoughton defense was equal to the task led by seniors Steve Colling and Zach Finer and kept the deficit at one goal entering halftime.

Stoughton coach Matt Bernstein countered by spreading out the team and using players in different positions to create a more balanced attack. It worked as Stoughton took over control of the game, outshooting Foxborough, 5-1, in the opening 20 minutes of the second half. Gabriel Garcia, a senior, helped to lead the Stoughton offense.

Finer was awarded a free kick only ten yards out from the goal and sent a laser past Foxborough sophomore goaltender Nick Adair (six saves) to tie the score, 1-1, with 30 minutes left.

After the goal Stoughton continued to put the pressure on Adair, but couldn’t finish any other scoring opportunities.

“We now have seven one-goal losses and have only scored eight goals in 13 games. We can’t capitalize on our opportunities,” Bernstein said.

“We put ourselves in a position to win, but we need to execute and score. It’s frustrating and we can take consolation that we’re close and young and our effort is there, but it takes more than that to win in such a tough league.”

Stoughton ran out of chances and maybe out of gas after a game at Catholic Memorial, the day before. Foxboro also counter attacked and switched formations with an extra attacker. The Warriors began to move and distribute the ball faster and soon took over territorially the final 15 minutes of the game.

Fleck (nine goals) once again had a scoring opportunity and once again scored with an assist from senior Brandon Fowler, with only 10 minutes left, to give Foxborough back a lead that it would never relinquish.

“This was a big win for us,” Foxborough coach Patrick Nash said. “It certainly wasn’t pretty, but we played hard and responded to Stoughton’s comeback and now we’ve put ourselves in a good position.”

Foxborough travels to first place Canton for a Friday night contest.