Ryken continues to rise

Boys soccer team shuts out H-town

Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2006

The Knights, coming off one of their best victories in the history of the program six days prior, came out flat in the opening half against the Hurricanes. But notched a 3-0 victory.

It was the first shutout of the season for St. Mary’s Ryken, which won for the eighth time in 2006 after winning only seven a year ago.

‘‘We came out with a lot more energy in the second half,” said Knights junior striker Nick Coucoules, who scored the game-winner in the opening minutes of the second half. ‘‘First half, we were a little flat coming off the Gonzaga win, so second half we definitely stepped it up and played a lot better.”

Junior defender Zack Angel and junior midfielder Joe Taylor also netted goals, while junior goalie Brett Schmidt made four saves.

‘‘We look a lot more like a soccer team [this year],” Angel said.

The win continued the team’s undefeated record at home.

‘‘We started out from the first leg, the first nine games last year in the conference, we made the halfway turn at 1-7-1, just really struggled and we turned it around and we finished 7-12-6 so I was pleased with last year,” St. Mary’s Ryken coach Will Lozier said. ‘‘I think the expectations were much higher this year; I think there’s a different air about the team. I think this senior class has a much more positive attitude, they’re willing to try new things.”

Even after Monday’s win, the Knights were still talking about their 3-2 victory over Gonzaga — a six-time WCAC champion — on Oct. 3. Junior midfielder JJ Raley scored twice in the encounter with his penalty kick, his 10th goal of the season, sealing the deal late in regulation.

‘‘Anything’s possible in this sport and I think we proved that against Gonzaga,” Lozier said. ‘‘And it wasn’t a fluke 1-0 game, it was a 3-2 game where we had the lead twice and lost it and finally regained it. We were certainly a bit fortunate with the last-minute penalty. ... I was thrilled for the boys. They absolutely earned it. They stepped up to the challenge.”

Sophomore midfielder Chris Skarbelis scored his first goal of the season for St. Mary’s Ryken (8-5, 6-4 WCAC).

‘‘We’ve been wanting to win forever [against Gonzaga],” Angel said. ‘‘Even during practice, we visualized winning, everything that would happen. And it came out that way, so that was big for us.”

Coucoules was unable to play in the game due to a foot injury.

‘‘Huge win,” Coucoules said. ‘‘Never beaten Gonzaga, never really came close to Gonzaga, especially on varsity.”

Due to a postponement Friday against O’Connell, the Knights hadn’t played since the Gonzaga win. The Hurricanes (4-6, 4-3 SMAC) gave the hosts fits in the first 40 minutes, but were chasing from behind almost the entire second half.

‘‘They have the ability,” Huntingtown coach Chris Morgan said of his team. ‘‘It’s just we need to finish, so we didn’t finish and that’s something we need to do.”

It’s the first loss for the Hurricanes by more than one goal all season.

‘‘We played pretty good first half, held it even,” Morgan said. ‘‘Second half, a couple of guys getting hurt during the game, prolonged injuries started bothering them, so we were a little slower second half, not beating them to the ball.”

The two teams went to halftime scoreless. Five minutes into the second half, Coucoules’ turnaround shot went past Huntingtown goalie Andrew Merewitz, who made 11 saves in the contest, to put St. Mary’s Ryken on the board.

‘‘I haven’t scored in a while,” Coucoules said. ‘‘I haven’t scored since, like, the first four games, so it felt good.”

The Knights were first to the ball pretty much the entire second half.

‘‘We were playing more as a team and coming out more strong,” Taylor said. ‘‘First half, we knew we could do it but we just weren’t doing it. Second half, we got the job done.”

Raley missed on two free kick chances from close in. But his teammates put the game out of reach with two goals in the final six minutes.

Sophomore forward Addison Goodley sent a centering pass on goal. Merewitz swiped at the ball and it went over the goal for a corner kick. Freshman midfielder Jereme Raley took the kick and sent the ball into the Huntingtown goalmouth. Merewitz only got a piece of it and Angel knocked the loose ball into the net to make it 2-0 in the 74th minute.

‘‘It was probably most likely a luck goal,” Angel said of his first goal of the season.

Taylor’s shot from about 40 yards went over Merewitz’s head and into the goal in the final minute to end the scoring.

‘‘It was late in the game, so I said, ‘I might as well just play it,’ and just chipped it. Just one of those shots that’s once in a lifetime, really,” Taylor said.

E-mail Paul Watson at pwatson@somdnews.com.