WORTON — The Trojans finished stronger than they started Tuesday night, but they were doomed by too many missed scoring chances in a varsity boys soccer match that could have playoff implications.
Colonel Richardson held off host Kent County, 2-1, to improve to 7-2 and tighten its grip on the No. 2 seed in Class 1A East Region I.
The locals lost for the second time in as many matches to slip to 5-5 and third in the region, with two matches remaining.
Perryville is 10-0 and should go in as the East Region I top seed.
Kent County wraps up its regular-season home slate Thursday at 5 p.m. against Snow Hill; it’s Senior Night.
Snow Hill at 6-3 sits atop the East Region II standings.
In Tuesday night’s highly anticipated match, the Colonels never trailed.
They took a 1-0 lead into the break on senior Angel Castros Rios’ goal in the 24th minute, and doubled the advantage in the 45th minute on a score by senior Morgan Demir.
Demir’s goal, which held up to be the game-winner, was a beauty — a cannon-like shot from the right side that found the top shelf at the opposite corner of the net, beyond the reach of Kent County keeper Leyder Cruz.
After that, Cruz made one spectacular save after another, often leaving his feet and coming off the line to thwart the Colonels, while his teammates continued to attack offensively.
In the 60th minute, senior Ethan Clark carried the ball through traffic down the middle of the field and into the box, where somehow senior goalie Cohen Carels was able to gather in Clark’s shot while scrambling on the ground in the midst of a scrum.
Just seconds later, freshman Dylan Peralta shot wide right from close range on an open goal.
In the 61st minute, the Trojans were unable to capitalize on a corner kick.
In the 63rd minute, sophomore Sebastien Cousineau forced Carels to make another save.
There was no call in the 68th minute when Peralta was forcefully knocked down in the box.
Finally, in the 72nd minute, the Trojans solved Carels when Peralta smoothly slid in a pass from Cousineau to end the shutout.
The locals’ last best chance to score the tying goal came in the 78th minute when Clark rung a shot off the top of the right post.
“I felt like it was a good match between two fairly evenly matched teams that just didn’t go our way,” head coach Dennis Hickman told The Evening Enterprise in a telephone interview Wednesday.
“Our guys did well moving the ball, seeing where the openings were, where the passing lanes were,” Hickmann said. “The ball just didn’t go in.”
NOTES: Play was physical and chippy at times, with both sides being issued yellow cards. Ultimately, Kent received a red card and ejection.
Today (Oct. 10) is the last home match of the regular season.
The regular-season finale is Tuesday, Oct. 15 at North Caroline.
Tournament seeding is Oct. 21; the Trojans are in the mix for a home match in the opening round.
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In Tuesday’s junior varsity match, Kent County freshman Ibraham Mejia scored with only 2 seconds remaining to forge a 1-1 draw. He tapped in a crossing pass, with the ball then glancing off the goalie’s legs into the net.