THETFORD — The visiting Randolph fans were making their voices heard.
After all, their team had just come back from three goals down with 10 minutes left to force overtime. As the Thetford Academy boys soccer team gathered to regroup, the Randolph traveling party began to chant, “We believe in Ghosts!”
It took 100 minutes, but in the second overtime, the Panthers became the Ghost-busters.
Senior midfielder Finn Linehan’s strike from the edge of the 18-yard box struck the underside of the crossbar and sailed into the net, and No. 6 seed Thetford got past the 11th-seeded Ghosts, 5-4, in the VPA Division III opening round on a muddy Wednesday afternoon.
“This was a roller coaster,” first-year Panthers coach Bob Bristol said. “We knew this was going to be really hard. They have more dangerous players up front, which was going to put a lot of pressure on our defense.”
Randolph had jumped out to a three-goal lead and beaten Thetford, 3-1, on the same field in the regular season, but the Panthers (7-6-2) struck first in the playoff rematch on a 15th-minute goal from senior forward Aidan Keane on an assist from Linehan. It appeared that would be the halftime score before the Ghosts’ Henry Rosalbo delivered a beautiful curling strike past junior goalkeeper Justin Robinson with 30 seconds left evened things up.
But Thetford came out firing in the second half. Senior midfielder Nolan Pepe put home a rebound on senior forward Jacob Gilman’s strike in the 46th minute to put the hosts back in front. Seven minutes later, sophomore Hunter Clay’s free kick deflected off a Randolph defender’s head and into the net for an own goal, doubling the Panthers’ lead.
In the 69th minute, Thetford seemingly put the game out of reach. The rebound from sophomore midfielder Uly Junker’s shot caromed to freshman forward Xander Oshoniyi, and the son of Dartmouth College men’s soccer coach Bo Oshoniyi did the rest to make it 4-1.
“You feel like, if we just settle down and play defense the way we should, we should be able to see this through,” Bristol said. “They, of course, knowing it’s lose or out, put more people up front, which we knew would happen.”
Chase Higgins started the comeback for the Ghosts off a corner kick in the 71st minute. Rosalbo scored his second of the game on a counterattack just 38 seconds later to cut Thetford’s lead to one. Then, with 57 seconds on the clock, the Ghosts were awarded a penalty kick for a foul in the box, and Rosalbo completed his hat trick to tie the game.
“Some of our guys, at 4-1, maybe they just thought the game was in hand,” Bristol said. “Suddenly, balls are bouncing around and they’re just smacking around because we weren’t going and getting them.
“I can’t say (the penalty) was the wrong call; I’m not close enough to see. Two guys are slipping by the ball, and it’s unlucky that our guy fell and hit him.”
Neither team threatened much in the first 15-minute overtime, but when Linehan’s shot found netting, the Thetford students instantly stormed the field. As the Panthers ran across the field after the handshake line to acknowledge the crowd, they came sliding in headfirst on the wet, muddy grass.
Thetford moves onto Saturday’s quarterfinals at No. 3 seed Peoples, which handed the Panthers a 4-1 defeat early in the season. But Thetford avenged one regular-season loss on Wednesday, so Bristol’s team will be coming in confident.
“They’re certainly favored, but you never know,” Bristol said. “We’ve learned an awful lot since that game. We found a lot of things that players can do, so we’re very happy to have that opportunity and for the kids to keep playing.”
Benjamin Rosenberg can be reached at brosenberg@vnews.com or 603-727-3302.