Ryken boys upset DeMatha

Friday, Oct. 26, 2007

The Stags defeated St. Mary’s Ryken by 3-0 shutouts the last three times the two teams had met, including a month ago in Hyattsville. So, the odds were stacked against a Knights squad that had just five wins coming in. But, as ESPN’s Chris Berman says, ‘‘That’s why they play the games.”

St. Mary’s Ryken held strong against DeMatha, which had an 86-game unbeaten streak broken, and pulled off a 3-2 upset.

‘‘We’ve been playing well in spots,” Knights coach Will Lozier said in a telephone interview Wednesday evening, ‘‘and I think the boys were ready to go. We just came out hard, we just competed and the boys didn’t let down one bit.”

Junior midfielder Addison Goodley gave St. Mary’s Ryken the lead midway through the second half and it proved to be the game-winning goal.

‘‘He just didn’t think twice about it,” Lozier said.

It was Goodley’s first goal of the season.

‘‘To score that type of goal gives great confidence for him and our team,” Lozier said.

Sophomore goalie Anthony Verbaro made 10 saves in the win.

‘‘A huge night for him as far as his confidence and he was really able to make the tough save,” Lozier said.

St. Mary’s Ryken (6-13-2, 6-9-2 WCAC) was playing its seventh game this year against a team ranked nationally in the top 20.

‘‘This really instills in them that they can play with the best of teams,” Lozier said.

It doesn’t get any easier for the Knights. They play host to Paul VI today at 3 p.m. in their final regular season game.

‘‘I look for it to be a tough game and we’ll be ready for it,” Lozier said.

Trailing 1-0 against DeMatha, sophomore midfielder Jereme Raley knotted the game for St. Mary’s Ryken by scoring off a rebound. The 1-1 tie held up as the halftime score.

DeMatha took a 2-1 lead in the second half, but the Knights came back as senior midfielder JJ Raley got behind the defense and chipped the ball over the goalie. Later, JJ Raley assisted on the game-winner.

‘‘They proved it tonight that they can play with anybody,” Lozier said.

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