FOXBORO, Mass - Tim Peng’s introduction in the second half helped spark the Sharon Eagles (8-7-1) to a comfortable 4-0 win over the Foxboro Warriors (0-16-1) at Booth Field, which earned Sharon a spot in the state tournament
Peng, the senior captain, sat out the entire first half to rest an ankle injury. He was brought in early in the second half and made an immediate impact to break open a tight 1-0 game.
Off a throw-in by sophomore right back Dan Bender, Peng popped up at the edge of the box to fire a shot into the bottom corner. In the 30th minute, Peng created space to get a cross into the box that was headed home by junior Will Ginsberg. Just a minute later, Peng picked out fellow captain Ian Beach for another header that iced the game.
The goal was Beach’s second of the day, after the senior opened the scoring early in the first half. Beach bundled the ball home after it was dropped by the Foxboro keeper.
The Eagles have now qualified for the state tournament in six of the last eight years. Sharon coach Barry Kaye credited the team’s depth for being able to cope with several missing starters.
“What I’m more impressed with is that we had three starters out. We lost our starting goalkeeper with mono, so we have three guys today that stepped up and played well and the guys off the bench stepped up and played well.”
Defensively, the Eagles were rarely threatened by an injury-ravaged Foxboro lineup that was hampered by a short bench. The Warriors first shot on goal came in the closing 10 minutes when senior Aidan Hyland moved up from defense and hit a half-volley straight at the keeper.
Coach Pat Nash was proud of his team for fighting hard right to the end of the game, “We had a lot of young guys in there and from the beginning to the end they’re playing much better. That’s what we’re trying to improve at each day.”
Sharon consistently created chances throughout the game, but the usual finishing was not there for the prolific Eagles. Ginsberg and senior forward Nader Kafel both missed several good chances as Foxboro tries to hold on. Senior Jake Steinberg also had several chances and played in a few good passes, but Sharon struggled to put the game away.
Following the game, Peng deflected ccredit for the win and noted the contributions of the whole squad, “We’ve always said this is a 22-man team and everybody performed today. That’s what we’ve been trying to do since the beginning.”
Sharon have a game at Hingham to close out the regular season, while Foxboro will host Bishop Feehan on Sunday.