Oyster River denied fourth straight trip to final
Bobcats fall to top-seed Lebanon
NO. 1 LEBANON 1, NO. 4 OYSTER RIVER 0
NASHUA - Winners of two of the previous three Division II state championships, and three straight championship game appearances, the Oyster River High School boys soccer team certainly has achieved an accomplishment that will be remembered and celebrated for a long time.
No. 4 Oyster River, with a chance to reach its fourth straight Division II state championship game, fell short on Tuesday night with a 1-0 loss to top-seeded Lebanon (16-1-1) in a semifinal at Stellos Stadium. The Bobcats are the only Division II team to make three consecutive state title games since Hanover made six straight from 2005-2010.
The difference in the game was Otto Bourne’s goal in the 50th minute, giving Lebanon the 1-0 lead.
“Unfortunate that this wasn’t the final,” Oyster River head coach Akan Ekanem said. “This truly is, I think, the two best teams that were really going at it. It was good to see, but, hey, the better team won. (Lebanon) is really solid, so it’s well deserved.”
Lebanon, which last won a title in 2021, will play No. 2 Bow on Friday in the state championship.
“Today, we came out here and battled like we knew we would,” Oyster River senior goalie Evan Whalen said. “Some things just didn’t go our way. We played a good game. Someone’s going to get lucky, and it just happened to be them.
Put it by us, and that’s all it is.”
“It took some doing, but the boys did the hard work,” Ekanem said on the effort the team put in throughout the season. “They worked together, they grew together and they got better together. Just great representatives of the program. They were fantastic.”
Whalen said being a Bobcat is being a part of such a legacy, and winning.
“It’s an honor to play (for Oyster River),” Whalen said. “It’s an honor to be a starter, it’s an honor to be a captain and it’s just an honor to be a part of this program. That’s definitely what I’m going to miss - just the legacy and the family that’s built here.”
Whalen's two saves in a matter of seconds
Whalen had eight saves in the game, keeping Oyster River in the game. But, perhaps his two best saves came about 10 minutes into the second half.
About 30 seconds prior to Bourne’s goal to put Lebanon ahead, 1-0, Whalen made two incredible saves in the matter of seconds as Lebanon’s Theo Vassiliou was about 10 or so yards away from the goal.
Vassiliou’s first shot attempt was blocked by Whalen, and Vassiliou got off another shot off the quick ricochet, and again, Whalen was up for the challenge.
“I’m going to be honest, I zoned out,” Whalen said. “I saw the ball go across, and I went down to cut down the angle, and one hit me in the chest, I think. And then, I just tried to follow the other one, it hit me, so that kept it out of the net.”
Ekanem described Whalen’s saves as ‘unreal.’
“That’s why he’s our keeper,” Ekanem said. “That’s the kind of guy we can rely on back there. He’s going to do great in college when he’s playing there as well. Just brilliant.”