Northern Tier Sports ReportROME — It took extra time but an Eli Stanton goal off a Tyler Kuhn assist in the second OT pushed NEB past Galeton, 1-0, during NTL boys’ soccer action Thursday.
“We struggled to hold on the ball with control, It wasn’t on first pass or even the second pass most of the time, but before we could get a well executed shot we often ended up with a bad pass or running it out of bounds, or even an over the top ball was too far out and the goalie easily picked up, or even tried to force the ball through to much traffic,” said NEB coach Scott Merritt. “Any way, we chose to do it, the results too often were that the ball was back in Galeton’s hands. They did a great job of transitioning back and completely clogging the center of the box, and their goalie had a good night covering the remaining areas.”
The Panthers did get their act together, but was too late in regulation.
“We did not truly clean up our play until 5-8 minutes left in the game, but since we hadn’t scored we went into OT,” Merritt explained. “The first OT had some good counters and some shots just up or outside or collected by the goalie. Finally, Eli got the ball on a good attack, and put one home for the win.”
Merritt was glad to get a test like this as they prepare for the postseason.
“We made it too hard on ourselves, but I do have to commend Galeton for showing up and wanting it bad,” he said. “They came with effort and enthusiasm all game.”
NEB held a 19-3 edge in shots while Galeton led in corner kicks 4-3.
Gavin Puza made three saves for the clean sheet while Ben Holcomb had 15 saves for the Tigers.
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PHOTOS BY CHRIS MANNING
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