SEAN HOGAN keeps the ball out of the Warrior goal after a Woburn corner kick. (Brian Cusack Photo)
By MARC GAGNE
WAKEFIELD — Back on their home turf after splitting two away games (a decisive 5-0 victory against Malden and a 3-1 defeat in their game against Arlington), the Wakefield boys’ varsity soccer team was ready to get back to work against a tough Woburn team on Wednesday.
A back-and-forth game eventually ended in a 1-1 tie as the Warriors moved to 2-1-1 on the season.
Some action came soon after the game started when captain Ethan Margolis attempted to head the ball into the net after a Wakefield free kick, but the ball just missed wide.
Another offensive chance for Wakefield occurred when Jack Millward passed to Margolis, but the shot was saved by the Woburn goalie.
Impressive defensive plays were made early on by JJ Faulkner and Frankie Leone, who cleared the ball from the Wakefield goal. Also, a Woburn corner kick was defended well and cleared by Brian Purcell.
Next came more offense for Wakefield. Millward dribbled the ball past a number of Woburn defenders on the left side of the field then made a beautiful pass right in front of the Woburn goal to captain Lucas Kehoe who headed the ball right above the Woburn goalie’s hands, putting Wakefield up 1-0.
As the game wore on, there were a few more intense defensive situations when Woburn shots narrowly missed the Wakefield net, including a time when a Woburn player made a pass right in front of the Wakefield net that was blocked by Leone and cleared by Faulkner. Wakefield players put Woburn defenders on the attack too, however, with corner kicks, crosses, and shots by Purcell, Matthew Keefe and Reid Festel.
THE WARRIORS huddle up before their 1-1 tie against Woburn on Wednesday. Wakefield travels to Wilmington today. (Brian Cusack Photo)
Both teams went back and forth for the rest of the first half with missed shots from Woburn players, free kicks for both teams and nice shots by Wakefield players Festel, Darragh Casey, and Elias Anjim.
At the start of the second half, Woburn had a corner kick that was grabbed out of the air by Wakefield goalie, Sean Hogan. After a penalty on Woburn, Hogan took a free kick that went right to Anjim, who passed to Margolis for a header shot that was defended well by the Woburn goalie. Woburn had another close call when Leone stole the ball near the Woburn goal and shot, but the Woburn goalie made a nice save.
An amazing, diving save with one hand was made by Hogan when a Woburn player dribbled up the left side of the field and shot to the right side of the Wakefield goal.
However, Woburn was able to tie the game 1-1 shortly after this.
Hogan put up a strong fight by saving two Woburn shots before the third shot sailed into the Wakefield net with 25 minutes left in the second half.
Soon after, a Woburn free kick was saved by Hogan and punted to Margolis, who raced down to the Woburn goal, but his shot was blocked by a Woburn player.
More chances for Wakefield occurred on a corner kick header by Festel and shots from Margolis and Max Partyka, but none got past the Woburn goalie. A Woburn foul on Festel resulted in a free kick taken by Margolis that was just saved by the Woburn goalie.
More saves were made by Hogan late in the game, and Wakefield had final chances with shots from Leone and Casey, but the game ended in a 1-1 tie.
When asked about what the team did well in this game, head coach Matt Angelo said Woburn is always a tough team but Wakefield established their physical presence well and showed how dangerous they are.
According to coach Angelo, Woburn has “one of the more dangerous attacks in the league” and the Warrior back line was able to keep the ball on the offensive end by winning the 50/50s and winning the balls in the air to give the Wakefield offense more time in the attacking zone.
To improve as a team, coach Angelo said, “The team needs to play consistent soccer for 80 minutes instead of having 10-15 minute spurts and let-downs.”
The Warriors host Wilmington today, 4:15 p.m. back at the Galvin’s Walton Field.
