A Month of Shutouts Helped Ocean City Boys' Soccer Reach S.J Final

Aaron Bogushefsky never wavered, and neither did his defense.

The Ocean City High School coach never panicked or doubted his defense after a two-game stretch in the middle of September when the Red Raiders gave up seven goals. The losses were part of a three-game losing streak.

Those games turned out to be an anomaly. The Red Raiders defense — led by seniors Garrett Terwilliger, Tristan Johns, A.J. Kline, Connor Hart and goalie Kieran Keyser — was the strength of the team.

They were one of the main reasons why the Red Raiders reached the South Jersey Group III final and finished the season with a 17-4-1 record.

“We lost three in a row and after that we got on a streak and came together,” Terwilliger said. After that, we got three or four wins in a row, and we figured we could beat anybody. I think after the EHT (win), we felt, 'We can beat anybody.'

“In the beginning of the year, we had a slow start. We came out strong and we felt unbeatable, but then we lost a couple of games and it was kind of a wakeup call,” Hart said. “We tightened up and as the games went on up until the South Jersey final we felt we can beat any team.”

How good was the Red Raiders defense this season?

Before the sectional finals, the last goal the Red Raiders gave up came in a 2-2 tie to St. Augustine on Oct. 13, just two days short of a month before the NJSIAA Group III South finals.

“That is a pretty good run,” Bogushefsky said.

Since allowing four goals to Egg Harbor Township on Sept. 21, Ocean City allowed seven goals. Keyser and the defense registered eight straight shutouts before the sectional finals and never allowed more than two goals in a game since Sept. 21.

“We played incredible because we have known each other for a while,” Hart said. “We looked forward to this season for the last couple of years. We all had varsity experience and every game we gave 100 percent. We didn’t play around in the back. We worked hard and tried to win every 50-50 ball.”

The Red Raiders defense turned the team around. The Red Raiders were ousted from the playoffs early last season. This year, it took a rare late goal by Timber Creek and a loss in a penalty kick shootout to eliminate the Red Raiders.

The difference in the defense comes from familiarity with each other, and confidence. Once the wins started piling up, so did the momentum.

“Confidence was a huge thing this year,” Keyser said. “And just improving as players.”

“I think a lot of it was confidence,” Terwilliger said. “It was thinking we can go out there and do it. Also coming into this season we had a lot of confidence. That helped too.”

It seemed like the metamorphosis was overnight, but it was years in the making.

 “Every game they seemed to get better and as a coach I was pleasantly surprised to see them continue to improve,” Bogushefsky said. “They rose to the occasion every game they played. I was coaching at the JV level when they were freshmen and to see they move up to the varsity as sophomores and to see where they first started to where they are now is the most fulfilling thing I have done as a coach.”