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SAC TAMES TIGERS

3 OCTOBER 2009

ST. CATHERINE'S, ON: The St. Andrew’s College Saints travelled to St. Catherine’s today to take on the Ridley College Tigers. The Tigers, celebrating their Homecoming, ran hard from the opening whistle and created several chances. Nonetheless, it was your Saints that dominated the run of play though poor final passes and questionable finishing kept them from making a breakthrough. The Ridley ‘keeper was particularly active, collecting several challenging balls under pressure from the Saints’s forwards. Ridley went in front 25 minutes into the game: a long ball kicked up the field towards a forward in an offside position dropped unchallenged. While the SAC backline stopped play expecting the offside, a Ridley player ran through and collected before breaking in on Evan Kalentzis and beating him with a strong finish. This seemed to briefly spur on the Saints and they immediately redoubled the pressure on the Ridley backline. Unfortunately, the Tigers held strong and went into the break leading by one.

The second half was a different game. After a brief half-time pep talk, your Saints entered the field with something to prove. Craig Davis improved his movement and became a focal point of the attack, drawing defenders out of position and creating space for his teammates. Kalentzis had to be sharp to stop a stinging free kick by the Tigers’s big central midfielder. The resulting rebound should have found the net, but landed harmlessly in the parking lot. Your Saints made their breakthrough only minutes later. Sustained pressure, intelligent running, and simple play had the Tigers running for cover. Kevin Zacharuk collected a rebound at the top of the 18 and calmly lofted the ball over the oncoming ‘keeper’s head. The team’s relief at watching the ball drop into the corner of the net was palpable. With Ridley reeling, your Saints turned the screw: Ander Lanzagorta tried several long-range drives only to be blocked at each opportunity. Zacharuk was dangerous every time he touched the ball, and Mac Baker found an energy reserve that drove him up the sideline on a foray into enemy territory. After beating the defender, Baker was chopped down in the box, though the referee – wrongly – turned a blind eye to the offense and allowed play to continue. With only minutes remaining, Davis turned the game on its head: after collecting the ball near the half, he ran straight towards goal. Three quick stepovers left the centre-back off balance and Davis sent an unstoppable rocket into the bottom right hand corner, and ensured that SAC returned to Aurora with three important points.

Next Game: Wednesday at home, versus St. Michael’s College School.