Northern boys soccer takes down Raiders

Friday, Oct. 10, 2008

But, this year, the Patriots finally got revenge on the Raiders, traveling to Leonardtown and leaving with a hard fought 1-0 win.

The win leaves Northern (9-2, 8-1 SMAC) in the SMAC driver's seat with only one conference loss, while Leonardtown (6-3-2, 6-2-1) suffered its second conference loss of the season.

"We're thrilled," Northern head coach John Rossi said. "Leonardtown has had our number for a couple of years now. It feels really good to finally come down here and beat them on their home field."

Rossi said beating Leonardtown meant he could lift the proverbial monkey off his back, a fact especially important for his seniors who were winless against the Raiders.

"We knew it was going to be a tough battle," Rossi said. "They've been playing well all year long. We're starting to play together. It's a great win."

The lone goal of the game came from Northern's Eric Clark with 23 minutes 43 seconds left in the first half. Until Clark's goal, the game was fairly even, with each team threatening to score and each defense performing spectacularly. But Clark somehow sped past the Raiders defenders, scoring a beautiful, tough shot from the left side of the field to give Northern the 1-0 lead.

"I just kinda took it down and hit it," Clark said. "I've been doing the left footed shot lately just because I end up going that way. I guess the practice is helping out."

Leonardtown had several chances to score throughout the game, but fell just short each time.

Head coach Matt Reber said he thought his team lacked the intensity necessary to win until the final minutes of the second half when its back was against the wall.

"I don't think we played as well as we normally do," Reber said. "I don't like to candy-coat it at all. I think the effort was there, I think the effort is always there. I think if we could capture the fire that we had the last 15 or 20 minutes of the game from the opening whistle, things might have changed."

Reber said he thought the game was competitive throughout the evening as each team was evenly matched.

But the Raiders' continued lack of scoring and one unfortunate letdown with Clark led to Leonardtown's demise.

"I just know that he has blazing speed," Reber said of Clark. "He played out of the back, but he goes forward with speed, him and No. 21, Matthew Cross. But the defense got caught flat footed on that. It was a goal scored on us because of our lack of intensity."

Scoring has been a problem of late for the Raiders, but Reber was quick to point out that his team still has a stellar defense and is overall a great team capable of going deep in the playoffs. He also said intensity has been a problem, a burden he put on his own shoulders.

"We've got a good team, we just have to figure it out," Reber said. "Every team is pumped to play us. It's a challenge. Right now, my challenge is to get these guys pumped and obviously tonight, I didn't do it."

For Northern, the win leaves the Patriots with a great chance to win the SMAC title.

With only three games to go and only one loss, the chance at a conference title wasn't lost on the Northern coaching staff or players as the Northern bench ended the game with chants of ‘SMAC.'

"This is the first time that we had a chance to beat them and it was up to us," Clark said. "[In previous years], we always had to rely on someone else to beat Leonardtown and this year is the first year that we got them."

kpourmand@somdnews.com