Eagles Boys' Soccer Scores Late In Win Over Woodbury

For a period of about two minutes, a flat soccer ball was in use during the high school boys’ soccer game between and Woodbury. The ball made a thud as it bounced around a field that wasn’t in much better condition than the ball itself.

Big patches of mud and dirt, sparse blades of grass and a pitch with more bumps than a mogul run at a ski resort made for a sloppy game between the two Colonial Conference foes. So it was fitting that the game-winning goal resulted from a less-than beautiful play.

After 71 scoreless minutes, West Deptford defender Dan Devine took advantage of a ball bouncing all over the box, firing it home for the first goal in what became a 2-0 West Deptford win.

“I emphasize to the guys that not every (goal) has to be pretty, they all count,” said West Deptford head coach Ryan Dougherty. “Danny did a great job of waiting until the ball was coming back down, stayed over it and hit the ball right into the side netting, which was huge for us.”

Devine found himself in the right place at the right time after the ball was knocked around between a host of players.

“In the scrum, the ball was just bouncing all over the place,” said Devine. “I don’t even know who passed me the ball, I just saw it and went up and shot it.”

The goal ignited the Eagles, who put the game away less than a minute later when Tim Krott fired in a shot that was redirected into the net by leading scorer Kyle Redrow. Kevin Brockway needed just two saves to post the shutout.

“This was a scrappy Woodbury team and I was proud of the guys, the way they put the game away in the last 10 minutes,” Dougherty said.

The Eagles (10-5-2) spent much of the game frustrated, as they were unable to score for over an hour of play, despite keeping possession in the Woodbury end the vast majority of that time. The lack of scoring was due to the team’s inability to string together passes, possibly due to the field conditions.

“This field is really small and not wide, so every time I tried to get a through-ball, it was just a little too far,” said midfielder Evan Fahey. “I feel like we were just playing kick-and-run like them and just kicking the ball straight in the air. We were just skipping the whole midfield.”

“It’s always difficult passing and trapping on this field,” added Devine.

Dougherty said the close game was not completely unexpected, since the Eagles have struggled against Woodbury (7-10) on the road in previous seasons. He also believes playing a tough road game could benefit his team with the playoffs set to begin next week.

“We knew coming into this that this is a tough field for us,” Dougherty said. “A lot of the guys were sophomores when we played here two years ago and got out of here with a 2-1 win late in the game. Traditionally, we do not play well here, but you have to play the conditions. With the playoffs coming up, obviously every game is not going to be a home game, so we are going to have to win on the road.”