SCARBOROUGH – Despite numerous scoring chances, Scarborough’s boys’ soccer team was struggling to break a 1-1 tie against Greely and its dogged keeper, Elijah Leverett, in a Western Class A semifinal Saturday afternoon.

Then the Red Storm caught the break they were looking for.

A play that started with a free kick about 40 yards from Greely’s goal resulted in a scramble in the box and an own goal with about 14 minutes remaining — and the second-seeded Red Storm (14-0-2) went on to a 2-1 victory over third-seeded Greely (11-5).

The goal came in the midst of a second half in which Scarborough’s offense pressured the Greely goal but couldn’t convert. The Red Storm outshot Greely 8-1 in the second half and 15-5 for the game.

“We were getting lots of chances. We knew we’d convert one of them,” said Mader.

On the winning goal, Wyatt Omsberg took the free kick and sent the ball to Trevor Sparda on the left side. Sparda crossed it and Mader moved toward the ball, along with Leverett. But the ball glanced off a Greely player and caromed into the goal before any of the Rangers could clear it away.

“They did have better chances. We were on our heels a lot in the second half, and you do tend to give up goals when that happens. But this is a tough loss,” said Mike Andreasen, Greely’s coach for 21 years.

Scarborough’s Dan Ornstein started the scoring by converting the Red Storm’s first shot on goal, nine minutes into the match.

Greely’s Jacob Nason tied it with 10:25 left in the first half, knocking in a rebound.

Leverett came up big in the late stages of the first half, especially with a diving punch that cleared the ball away.

But the second half was punctuated by Scarborough chances, and eventually the winning goal. 

Staff Writer Deirdre Fleming can be contacted at 791-6452 or at:

dfleming@pressherald.com

Twitter: FlemingPph

 

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