Frigid Flashes fight to a draw with Richland|Prep soccer
Published 12:00 am Wednesday, November 19, 2008
RICHLAND — Richland spent so much time just missing its shots on Tuesday night, that it seemed inevitable one of them would finally go in.
One did, and with barely a minute to spare.
Johnathan Faler scored the Rangers’ only goal with 4 1/2 minutes left to salvage a 1-1 tie with St. Aloysius on a frustrating shooting night for both teams. St. Al and Richland each missed a number of shots just a few feet high or wide, and St. Al’s Adam Thornton hit the post with another.
Thornton scored St. Al’s goal on a breakaway with eight minutes left in the first half.
“Everybody had an off night,” Faler said. “We’re just proud to have walked out with a tie. We played a good team tonight.”
Richland (1-2-1) misfired on two shots from inside the box in the first half, but the teams saved most of their close calls for the second.
After his goal late in the first half put the Flashes (1-2-1) ahead 1-0, Thornton twice missed chances to add to the lead early in the second half.
He hit the far post on a shot from the left side at the 2-minute mark, then pushed another shot wide right two minutes later. Ten minutes after that, he missed just wide again.
Richland, meanwhile, had trouble getting the ball into the net even when its shots were on target. St. Al keeper Michael Stuart made a great diving save in the seventh minute, and punched away another shot in the 25th.
He also withstood a steady barrage of indirect kicks from near the top of the box — Richland was awarded three in the final 20 minutes — and made five saves.
“We can’t help the calls from the refs. They had a lot of kicks. We must have stopped eight indirect kicks,” St. Al coach Will Vollor said, exaggerating the number a bit. “Michael Stuart played miraculously.”
Richland turned up the pressure in the last 10 minutes and finally found the net when Faler, who had missed wide on a free kick a couple of minutes earlier, gathered in a pass near the top right corner of the box and placed a shot low to the left side.
Neither team was able to muster a quality scoring chance in the last five minutes, and both seemed satisfied with a hard-fought tie.
“I thought we had a good game. Everyone had a little bad touch. It happens,” Thornton said.
(G) Richland 3, St. Al 0
Meghan Whiting scored two goals and Sabrina Whatley had one as Richland (1-2) picked up its first win of the season with a shutout of St. Al (2-2). Richland scored one goal in the first half and two in the game’s last 20 minutes to pull away.
*
Contact Ernest Bowker at ebowker@vicksburgpost.com.