Amherst soccer comes back to tie Liberty

By Laura Clark

Published: April 8, 2008

The Seminole District soccer match between Amherst and Liberty ended in a 1-1 overtime draw on April 7 in Lancer Stadium.
The Minutemen got on the board in the 50th minute. Center midfielder Tyler Gilchrist popped the ball into the box where Eli White connected on a volley, sending a shot into the upper right corner past Lancer keeper Andrew Bray.
The Lancer equalizer came with less than three minutes remaining in regulation. From 35 yards out, John Ascencio sent a free kick into the box, and Jim Newton headed the ball into the goal from the weak side.
The two teams played tight through the 10-minute overtime period, but neither team got open looks at the goal. Liberty’s speedy forwards broke through the Lancer ranks twice but the defenders were able to keep the Minutemen to wide shots from outside the 18-yard box.
“We worked very hard against their flat-back four and tried to penetrate that,” Liberty coach Thomas Fox said. “I give them a lot of credit because they wouldn’t let us through the door.”
“In the past five years I’ve been at Liberty, Amherst and Liberty have been like a Redskins-Cowboys football game,” he said. “It doesn’t matter how good you are or how bad you are, it’s always a slug fest. And it was today.”
Liberty’s physicality caught the Lancers off-guard, coach Tom McBride said. After a scoreless first half, the Minutemen began to dominate the midfield in the second half. The defensive pressure Liberty put on every play forced Amherst out of an offensive rhythm. Unlike early in the game, Lancer passes weren’t connecting, and crosses from the wings were sent behind the defensive line, so forwards had to drop back and try to build again from the center of the field.
After Amherst tied the game, the Lancers picked up their tempo. They started to run an offense again through center midfielder Matt McGinn, who sent balls wide to Ascencio or David Kreuziger.
“I think once we kind of adjusted to (Liberty’s aggressiveness) and realized that we could get some things done, we started going back to the things we do well, which is the short passing game and keeping the ball on the ground,” McBride said.
“It just comes down to making the guys understand it’s all a matter of who wants it the most, and we’ve got to want it the most. Unfortunately tonight they wanted it a little more than we did. We’ve got to work on our aggression and physicality in practice.”
The Lancers are 1-0-1 in the district and 2-0-1 overall. Bray picked up nine saves. For Liberty (1-1-1, 1-2-1), keeper Drew Padgett had six saves.