Laconia, n.h.
Sadly for the Engineers, the outcome had been a foregone conclusion for quite some time. Second-seeded Epping prevailed, 5-1, scoring all but the game’s final goal and taking nine of its 11 corner kicks.
Just reaching the semis, however, was a huge accomplishment for third-seeded Woodsville, which graduated 10 seniors and nine starters after reaching that stage last year. The Engineers (14-4-0) will graduate five seniors, three of them starters, from their current roster.
“We may never have had a team that came as far from start to finish as this one did,” said Engineers coach Mike Ackerman, who concluded his 40th season and plans to return for his 41st. “We have a bunch of JV kids from last year who started this year. Only a couple of them even played in last year’s semifinal.”
Things might have been different had Woodsville scoring star Antonio Houde not been denied at the left post by Epping goalkeeper Jackson Rivers during the 10th minute. Houde stutter-stepped his way to an open lane in the middle of the penalty area and unleashed a low laser, but Rivers dove, fully extended, somehow deflecting the ball with an outstretched hand.
Later in the first half, the Epping senior also stuffed the Engineers’ Adam Cataldo, this time on the goal line. Rivers was knocked backward into the net, and Cataldo went flying over him. Somehow the ball didn’t follow them across the stripe.
“He’s a big-time keeper,” said an admiring Ackerman. “He made a couple of key saves, and his team got pumped up.”
Epping (15-2-0) tallied during the third, 34th, 37th and 39th minutes of the first half and the eighth minute of the second stanza. The Blue Devils, who won the teams’ regular-season meeting by a 6-3 score, continually exploited Woodsville’s right side, drawing goalkeeper Cooper Davidson off his line and firing the ball past him.
“They won the 50-50 balls, and they went hard to them with big, stocky kids in the middle,” Ackerman said. “Sometimes it was like we didn’t want to get bumped around.”
Said Woodsville midfielder Sam Pushee: “Once they stuck a couple in, the momentum definitely swung their way.”
Asked what made the difference, Pushee cited a team-wide case of nerves and the plastic rug under his cleats.
“The ball skips a lot more on the (artificial) turf,” he said. “Our defense didn’t really know how to handle it in the back. Things happen a lot faster, and we’re used to practicing on grass.”
Woodsville played harder and better during the second half, but by that time, Epping was substituting liberally and too far ahead.
“They were better than we expected,” Pushee said. “Props to them.”
Woodsville’s goal came from junior midfielder Garrett Olsen, who redirected home a low cross from Houde with eight minutes remaining. Epping took 10 of the game’s 16 shots and will face top-seeded and undefeated Littleton in the division finals.
Tris Wykes can be reached at twykes@vnews.com or 603-727-3227.