GRANBY — Smith Academy made the midfield nearly impenetrable for the Granby boys soccer team.
Instead of trying to continually go through, the Rams went around. Granby widened its attack late in the first half Friday, and that led to the game winner.
Sophomore Benjamin Berger carried the ball up the right side of the field on a counter attack. He noticed midfield Johnathan Santiago making a run in the middle of two Falcons defenders. There was no one marking Liam Brown on the opposite side.
“I thought ‘send it in,’” Berger said. “Liam was in the right spot to put it in.”
Brown laced the shot on the ground with his first touch, sneaking the ball into the goal just past Smith Academy Ryan Belina, who reached it with a foot but couldn’t push the shot wide in the 28th minute.
“I thought he (Belina) would get (the cross), but he missed it so I just put it away,” Brown said.
The goal, Brown’s 10th this season, proved the winner in a 1-0 Schmid League victory. The Rams remained undefeated with their third shutout of the season. It was just their second contest decided by a goal, and the only one that has finished with a 1-0 scoreline. Those kinds of games can teach a team lessons about how to play in a pressure-packed environment.
Granby coach Todd Dorman emphasizes “critical minutes” with the Rams, the times near the end of halves when a goal can flip or cement an outcome.
“We tried to impress on them at the beginning of the game that this isn’t a team that we’re just going to be able score a bunch of goals,” Dorman said. “They had the composure at that time, and they need to be under that pressure. Smith gave us all the pressure we could handle.”
Especially in the first half. The Falcons (3-2, 3-2 Schmid) held most of the early possession. Riley Intrator menaced the Rams (6-0, 6-0) back line in his black protective mask, working for openings and a shot. He just had to do too much of it himself, and Granby’s defense collapsed whenever he found a crease.
“Riley is a player that puts a lot of pressure on defenses, and tying to find somebody who can get comfortable with him, to be more of a combo — we just need more combo, more team offense,” Smith Academy coach Jason Duncan said. “We’re still figuring things out.”
The Rams found a solution first and held on in a gritty second half. Granby’s small field tightened with Smith Academy pressing for an equalizer and the Rams cautiously seeking a second while not wanting to risk giving up too good a chance.
Berger scalded a shot toward the upper right corner with 10 minutes left, but Belina dove and turned it over the bar to keep the scoreline 1-0. It was the most acrobatic and essential of Belina’s five saves.
“That was the critical save that kept them in the game,” Dorman said. “He elevated a ball that gets by many keepers and played it perfectly. We were fortunate to hold onto that lead.”
Smith Academy turned to Intrator over the final 10 minutes seeking an equalizer, and he nearly delivered. The Falcons found their target man with a through ball on the left side after he shook his defender. Intrator took the shot quickly, and low, but Granby goalie Daniel Gauvin came off his line and slid to take the ball away. He made five saves to keep the clean sheet.
“Goalies are only truly tested one or two times a game,” Dorman said. “Both goalies made the saves they needed to keep the game so tight.”
Playing so tight a game on the road against their league leaders will only benefit the young Falcons, who started their third different lineup combination in the past five games.
Smith Academy only has four seniors and rosters nine underclassmen (including eighth grader Cajun Benson).
“[Granby’s] a good squad, I thought we played them toe to toe,” Duncan said. “They capitalized on their scoring opportunity. That’s the difference right there.”
Kyle Grabowski can be reached at kgrabowski@gazettenet.com. Follow him on Twitter @kylegrbwsk.