NORTH EASTON, Mass. - Freshmen Joe Morrison and Cam Cass combined for three second half goals as Foxboro rallied for a key divisional road win over Oliver Ames, 3-1.
Oliver Ames went up 1-0 within the first ten minutes of the game but Morrison scored just under five minutes into the second half, again with just over 15 minutes left and Cass scored with just 3:08 remaining.
"The only thing we talked about changing was the 50/50 challenges and going hard, beating them to the ball and wanting it more than them," Foxboro coach Pat Nash said of his halftime speech. "I thought in the second half we executed exactly what we talked about. With a young team its tough to get up for every game but they did a nice job turning it around.
It was a tale of two halves, as the Tigers dominated the opening half with constant pressure and four of the half's five serious scoring chances. After junior Keegan Nutt nearly gave the Tigers the lead in the 5th minute on a shot to the far post, junior Joe Cucinotta was able to break through three minutes later. Senior Brandon Boone played a through ball behind the Foxboro defense and Cucinotta sprinted onto it and got a touch past Foxboro goalie Clay Leopold, who had charged out.
Oliver Ames had two chances in the final 12 minutes as Boone was able to beat a defender in a foot race but Leopold was off his line for the save. With just under nine minutes to play, Chris Romero sent a free kick into the area from 50 yards out and instead of anyone getting a touch to it, it bounced onto frame, but Leopold got a palm to it to push it out.
But in the second half, it was all Foxboro. The Warriors came out with a renewed energy and pressed forward right from the whistle. One tactical change that Foxboro head coach Pat Nash made was switching Devante Teixeira from his normal left midfield spot to a striker and senior Riley Fleck to the outside. The switch paid dividends nearly immediately as Teixeira came away with a steal at midfield, fed senior Brian Bortolotti and then took a pass back into space. He raced into the area and as Oliver Ames goalie Tim Andrew raced out, Teixeira juked to the left and was tripped up, earning a penalty kick.
Morrison stepped up and placed his shot right, which was initially stopped by Andrew, but the ball bounced in off the rebound to make it 1-1.
Just a minute later, Teixeira nearly gave the Warriors a lead as he took another through ball and sprinted in on goal, but Andrew came charging out and made the save.
"Devante does a great job of picking balls off and that gave him the option to do that," Nash said. "[OA] did a nice job taking him in the first half but then we put him up. I thought Riley Fleck played unbelievable on the outside too."
In the 65th minute, Morrison scored what could very well be the goal of the year in the Hockomock League. The freshman gained possession just over midfield near the far touchline. He calmly carried the ball forward and then picked up speed as two defenders closed in. As he continued to go forward, he continued to dribble right past defenders. He cut into the middle just outside the 18, dodged a slide tackle and then calmly slotted the ball into the back of the net.
"I'm not sure I can actually describe that because that was unbelievable," Nash said, "The only thing I can compare it to is Matt Keys from King Philip, who went Division I. I haven't seen a goal in the Hockomock League like that since Matt Keys. It was unbelievable, it was an incredible goal."
"Two freshman, they're playing out of their minds," Nash said. "They don't stop no matter what you throw at them, they're going hard every single time. They don't show their youth, they really make sure if they make a mistake they're right back it. Shawn played out of his mind tonight and Cam did a great job, with the fans on him, what a better game to score a goal."
Oliver Ames was able to get forward at points in the second half but were unable to test Leopold in the second half.
"It's the tale of our season right now," OA head coach John Barata said. "When we come out and we're sharp, we're fine and we can compete with anyone in the league. But then we make a mistake and immaturity kicks in and heads go down. It's something we're growing through, but let's credit Foxboro. They have a fantastic team so for us to come out and compete we're happy, for us to have a good goal, we're happy and to dominate the first half, we're happy.
"We leave here with our heads high but we're hoping to get more mature. We're growing this year and we're going through some ups and down but you can see we can play a bit, it's just a matter of being consistent."
Foxboro improves to 7-3, which moves into first place in the Davenport Division. The Warriors will be back in action on Thursday with a trip to North Attleboro. Oliver Ames (3-3-2) will travel to Mansfield on Thursday for a 6:00 start.
Ryan Lanigan can be contacted at [email protected] and followed on Twitter at @R_Lanigan.