NEWARK — The St. Elizabeth boys soccer team concluded its season on Nov. 2 with a 1-0 loss to Christiana, but the maroon-and-gold Vikings played with the red-and-blue Vikings the entire 80 minutes. Christiana’s Simon Menge scored the game’s only goal in the 70th minute, but St. E’s kept it tight until the final whistle.
It was an encouraging effort by St. Elizabeth. Christiana is a Division I school that finished its season with four wins in its final five games, and the lone loss was by a goal to 12-3 St. Georges.
The first half of the battle of the Vikings was spent primarily in the St. Elizabeth defensive end, but neither team could get on the board. Christiana had most of the scoring chances. St. E’s goalkeeper Justin Bozzo made a nice stop on a shot by Yvaneau Laguerre early on, and the St. Elizabeth defense broke up a potential two-on-one in the 19th minute. Bozzo made a number of other stops in the second 20 minutes of the half, and Christiana sent three shots over the crossbar and an equal number wide.
The best chance for St. Elizabeth in the first half came with about seven minutes remaining when Aidan Canuso sent a shot just wide left after a quick counter by his team.
Bozzo was back at it as the second half got going. His best save of the afternoon came in the 49th minute when he stoned Laguerre from about 10 yards out, throwing his left leg out to keep the game scoreless.
St. Elizabeth found some more offense after intermission. A free kick in the 45th from about 45 yards out was played directly by Christiana keeper Edgar Pelaez. They were offside on a give and go two minutes later. They had another chance in the 68th after a Christiana defender whiffed on a clear, allowing St. E to get a shoton Pelaez.
With overtime looming on a cold, blustery day, Christiana finally solved the St. Elizabeth defense. Laguerre sent a long through ball up the middle to Menge, who sent a low shot out of the reach of Bozzo.
St. E’s turned up the offensive pressure in the final minutes. A throw-in deep in Christiana territory in the 71st went directly to Pelaez. The keeper made a stop on a shot by Jacob Eckhardt a minute later, and a free kick from about 30 yards out went over the net. Their final chance came in the last two minutes. Bozzo took a free kick from midfield and got the ball in front to Zachary Tolvaisa, whose attempt was denied by a fantastic save by Pelaez.
Final statistics were not available late Thursday night. St. Elizabeth finished the season 1-14, while Christiana went 6-9.
All photos by Mike Lang.
