Mustangs blank Red Devils in neighborhood matchup
Houston got plenty of offense in a 4-0 win over rival Germantown on March 28 at Farmington.
But it was a defensive play by sophomore keeper Jeremy Albright that finally shook things loose for the Mustangs (5-1).
Houston had just taken a 2-0 lead as senior Eli Price took a pass from freshman Robbie Dee, muscled open a seam in the Red Devils’ eight-man front and popped a hard shot past Germantown senior Tyler Bozman.
But the Devils (1-1), who opted for packed-in defense and counterattacks, got one deep, got a foul and a penalty kick that could have made it a one-goal game.
But Albright foiled that plan, diving left for a save on Germantown captain Brad Newman’s shot.
“I just guessed, and guessed right,” Albright said.
The pressure seemed to lift at that moment for Houston, which tacked on goals by sophomore Oshi Amro (off Robbie Dee’s second assist of the night), and senior captain Charles Blankenship off a feed by senior Tommy Dee.
“Jeremy came up huge in that situation, but we had been doing the work since the first half, and finally started to wear them down,” said Houston coach David Wolff, whose team took a 1-0 halftime lead on a set piece goal by senior Jonathan Gardner off a pass from Blankenship.
“I was proud of the way we kept working, espe- cially our pace in the second half. That’s where we historically do some damage. And the score doesn’t show it, but that’s a much tougher Germantown team than last year.”
Red Devils’ coach Matt Sugg relied on two attackers, including freshman Cody Hardy, to create mayhem, and a largely new backline to deal with Houston’s veteran front.
“We played them tough all night, but couldn’t quite break through on several run,” Sugg said. “And anytime you come up with a save on a PK, that’s a huge turnaround for any team.”
Blankenship will play soccer at Presbyterian (N.C.) next year, while Price is headed to Lee University.
Price said the secondhalf breakthrough was a matter “of us all deciding to come together and pick things up … but that save really got us going. That was huge.”
Wolff was not pleased with his team in the first half for allowing Germantown to nearly break free on several occasions. But he was more than happy with the overall effort by his squad in the District 15-AAA opener.
“We come at you and come at you and eventually you wear down. That’s how we work, and tonight they put in the work in the first half and set themselves up to break things open like they did.”
Sugg said that Bozman lost footing on Price’s hard grounder, that took a tricky spin, and on Amro’s wing shot “which came at a tough angle.