Thornton Academy’s Zachary Ahmida grabs possession of the ball after Biddeford’s Ibrahim Gassab slipped on the wet grass in the first half of Tuesday’s game against Biddeford. ALEX SPONSELLER/ Journal Tribune
“A grass field, a wet surface, windy, misty, it’s not easy to come to play for any team,” said TA coach Andrew Carlson. “It wasn’t a clean game any place — there were a lot of bad first touches. The guys found a way to win. The guys have done that in their three victories this season. They haven’t been relaxing but they’ve come to play. I was proud the guys.”
The Tigers got on the board early when Mustafa Najm sent a shot to the top of the TA goal. The Trojans responded with a goal from Noah Edborg just 51 seconds later to knot the score at 1-1.
The two clubs continued to battle with little success, until Zachary Thyng knocked in a shot off a keeper rebound with just over 10 to play in the half to give TA the 2-1 lead at the break.
The second half was also a battle, but TA would have a handful of breakaway and corner opportunities down the stretch. Biddeford keeper Josh Nagle came up big for the Tigers, and helped stuff three separate TA breakaways in the final 20 minutes.
“(Nagle) played well today. We probably had about half a dozen legitimate scoring opportunities in the first half and second half when it was one on one with the keeper and he came up big,” said Carlson.
Biddeford coach Larry Burningham was pleased with his team’s second half performance — especially when it came to his goalie.
“We controlled the ball for the most part in the second half but we just couldn’t put the ball on net … (Nagle) really kept us in the game for a long period of time and I felt that that was his breakout game for the season” Burningham said.
Brogan Searle-Belanger was finally able to break through for TA with 9:37 remaining to set the score to 3-1 and secure the win.
“Biddeford is a tough team, they’re always going to play hard, their coach is going to have them organized. They played well tonight — they’re a solid opponent,” said Carlson. “They’ve been in a lot of games and will be in a lot more games, they gave us a challenge and we were fortunate to come out with the win.”
Despite the loss, the Tigers are confident and feel that they are on the upswing. Six of Biddeford’s seven games have been played against projected playoff teams, and the Tigers take on top-seeded Gorham next.
“This is definitely the best Biddeford team in a long time that I’m aware of. It’s gotten better every year,” said Burningham. “Defensively we’re doing pretty well but we’re not creating enough offense. We have Gorham next and that will lead to the second half of the year where we won’t have to face those top four (teams).”
For the second time in as many games, the Trojans have had to erase an early deficit and win against tough opponents. Although Carlson is encouraged by his team’s ability to play from behind, he also hopes to see better play early in matches.
“In both cases we made some mistakes and had to chase the game. On Saturday we had two opportunities early then today we had about two more opportunities,” said Carlson. “If you put those away in a game like this the game goes away and you can relax and play. We have to be better at executing from the get-go.”
The Trojans improve to 3-3 on the year, while Biddeford falls to 1-6.
— Associate Sports Editor Alex Sponseller can be reached at asponseller@journaltribune.com or at 282-1535 ext. 323. Follow the Journal Tribune Sports Department on Twitter @JournalTsports.
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