Friends Shuts Out Boys’ Latin in Soccer

For Friends School boys varsity soccer coach John Docherty, the Quakers home-field 4-0 shutout over Boys’ Latin on Monday was a well-earned team win. For Lakers coach Don Rickels, it was a teachable moment.

“I think the way we played, it was a deserved result,” Docherty said in a post-game interview.  “It was a squad effort today.”

Rickels, who has been stressing the importance of on-field communication and finishing scoring opportunities to his young team, said the Lakers will learn from the outcome.

“They’ll take this, and they’ll learn from it and they’ll move on,” he said. “And we will be a better team tomorrow than we are today.”

It took the Quakers less than five minutes to get on the scoreboard, and less than nine to stretch the lead to two.

Friends junior James Spevak put his left foot to a loose ball and launched it past Laker keeper Kolby Caplin and into the right side of the net just 4:46 into the match. Four minutes later, Cedric Charlier, another junior, pounced on a deflection from a Mike Sweet shot and drove it home for the early 2-0 lead.

Yet that lead did not feel safe for Friends—the Lakers had several offensive surges in the first half and two excellent scoring opportunities in the second half. The first second half chance came midway through the period when Shack Stanwick had a one-on-one shot against Quaker goalie Will Frost, but the shot was not powerful enough to beat Frost. The second came with just under nine minutes left when Frost made an outstanding save, barely deflecting an arching shot over the top of the goal.

“If it goes in the back of the net, it’s panic stations for us,” Docherty said.

Then, with 4:59 left, Nabil Odulate converted a Quaker penalty kick to seal the Friends win. The kick was set up on a penalty assessed to Laker keeper Caplin, who charged a loose ball, was unable to control it and instead fouled Charlier.  The Lakers keeper was assessed a yellow card and had to leave the game for the penalty shot.  Odulate pushed the shot to the right while back-up Laker keeper Parker Yablon dove left.  Charlier netted the final goal less than 30 seconds later when he took a pass from Michael Klausner and beat a charging Yablon, who remained in the game for the Lakers.

Charlier who scored twice and set up a third by drawing the foul, credited his teammates for his success.

“I was in the right place at the right time,” he said.  “It was my teammates – they got the ball out to me and luckily I was able to put it home.”

Quaker coach Docherty cited the midfield play as key to the Friends victory.

“If we dominate the midfield with a strong center, we control the match,” he said.  “And that’s what won it for us today.”

Rickels, the Laker coach, said an earlier, season-ending knee injury to key Laker midfielder Brian Becker was a factor.

“We lost our holding defensive center midfield,” Rickels said.  “So we had to put someone in there who does not know the position yet and we left them unguarded many times in the center of the midfield.”

Yet Rickels would not use that—or an injury to striker Maxx Lowenstein in the team’s previous game—as an excuse.

“We are a very deep team and we should be able to absorb that type of hit,” he said.

“The (Friends) goalie played tremendous and we, simply as finishers, did not finish the opportunities we had today.  And the opportunities they had, they finished terrifically – they played great,” he said.

The win ups the Quaker record in Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association B conference play to 4-2.  Boys’ Latin dropped to 5-2 in the same conference.