Soccer Comes Back on Woodbridge, Win 2-1

By Kevin Eickman

Milford came back to win against Woodbridge 2-1

This past Thursday against the Woodbridge Raiders at Briggs Stadium, the Milford Buccaneers squared off against a Woodbridge soccer team which came to play. While Milford had some early opportunities, they would fall behind first in the game. Despte the Buccaneers chances, they failed to find the back of the net, just missing on some set pieces and close crossing passes. The result of these shortcomings allowed Woodbridge to play themselves back into the game

“We had some early chances but just could not find the connection we needed to connect for the opening goal.” Milford coach Prince Kemmerlin said.

After Woodbridge started to string some passes together, they found an opportunity on a free-kick late in the first half. While the ball was 35-yards out, it presented a danger to Milford. Danger would turn into damage as Woodbridge senior Kevin Gonzalez-Deleon would curl the strike into the upper left hand corner of the net, which Milford keeper Fernando Flores could not even get close to it. So in the 35 ^th minute, Milford found themselves on the wrong side of a 1-0 score

“That was an incredible strike by Deleon, there was nothing that can be done when a player makes a strike like that.” Kemmerlin said.

After the teams regrouped at halftime, Milford came out with a bit of a more aggressive attitude. With solid passing through the midfield and Bucs senior Dominic Schneck facilitating and defending, it seemed only a matter of time before Milford would find the equalizer

“We stepped up our play in the second half and I could see where they were trying to get their passes through. So, I was more aggressive cutting down their passes, so we were able to attack the goal a bit more.” Schneck said.

The constantly increasing pressure by Milford would pay dividends as Milford would earn a penalty kick in the game’s 59 ^th Minute, as Woodbridge committed a foul inside the penalty box. Milford senior Manny Joseph looked confident from the spot as he assertively stroked the ball into the back of the net for the important equalizer

“It’s all about staying calm, focusing on where you want to put the ball and making sure that you put it there. I got a very good strike on it and the rest took care of itself, it was a big goal because I believe even though we had been playing well, we still had a zero on the board.” Joseph said.

Following the goal Milford turned up the pressure. Now in full attack mode, it would be a connection between Schneck and Joseph which enabled Milford to find the game winner as Joseph found himself on the receiving end of a pass and nothing but goal in front of him. Joseph did not disappoint as he found the back of the net in the in the 68 ^th minute, giving Milford a 2-1 lead which they would not relinquish

“It was just a matter of doing my job. Dom gave me a great service and I just had to do the rest.” Joseph said.

With the win Milford moved to 6-2 on the season with a road game at Delmar set for this Tuesday, set for a 5:30 pm start.