Sports are littered with cliches. They fuel the game among athletes, coaches, parents – seldom a reporter a time or two.
For Merrimack Valley’s preliminary-round match against Kingswood in the Division II boys soccer tournament, however, every one of those cliches came to fruition.
It wasn’t over until the clock hit the last of its remaining zeroes. Each team had to fight through some form of adversity. Both teams played with plenty of heart. But there could only be one winner.
Which is why No. 7 MV will hang on to those words as it remains home until next August after visiting No. 10 Kingswood defeated the Pride, 2-1, after a match that ended in penalty kicks.
The Pride (7-6-4) had every opportunity Wednesday night to put the match away and turn their focus to the next round. It started in the second half as they trailed, 1-0, after the Knights scored within the first 10 minutes of the game.
From that moment on, MV began generating chances for itself starting with its defense.
Its defensive unit consistently stole possessions away from Kingswood by blocking passing lanes and disrupting any attempt at getting within 10 yards of the goal. In turn, those defenders sent the ball out to the midfielders who were patiently waiting out on the wings.
That’s where the frustrations and missed opportunities began to creep in. The Pride’s midfielders sent crossing passes to their forwards, and the Kingswood defense would stiffen up at the right time to prevent any shot toward the net.
MV found its one exception to these chances, but it was early in the second half. A pass from senior defender Maverick Thivierge near midfield made its way to a group of players from both teams. Souleymare Bangare found himself at the right place as he sent in a shot that snapped into the lower left corner of the goal.
From there, the Pride’s opportunities only looked better and better, but with nothing to show. Brady Turgeon crossed in a nice pass to a running Ryker Kimball but the ball was just too ahead of the senior. Junior defender Andrew Baldwin managed to split two defenders on a free kick and put the ball back into an offensive possession for the Pride, but there was nothing else to show on the scoreboard.
Eventually, those opportunities and time ran out in regulation, and the first 10-minute period of overtime began.
Desperation shots from both MV and Kingswood occurred, neither of which found the back of the goal. Not just in one overtime, not in another 10-minute period as well.
Penalty kicks became the deciding factor. MV’s representatives in order from first to last featured Lucas Godoi, Mikey Mullen, Gavin Wheeler, Turgeon and Jackson Mercer.
Mullen, Wheeler and Mercer all made their shots, each going to the left. Godoi and Turgeon were stopped by the hands of Kingswood keeper Caleb Russo.
The Knights were able to score one more goal than the Pride, and thus moved on.
“We’re not one to make excuses — after they got that 1-0 goal, we found our fire to push back,” Thivierge said. “It’s nerve-wracking to see it go to PKs, especially when we dominated after (their) goal.”
Thivierge and the other five MV seniors now head off wondering what would’ve been had one more of those chances converted.
For players returning, it only adds to the offseason training.
“It makes it a big deal to motivate us come back next year and continue our journey,” Wheeler said.