Garst makes most of two chances to kick SHG past Williamsville

WILLIAMSVILLE — Thomas Garst stood tall for the Sacred Heart-Griffin boys soccer team in the title match of the Four Corners Classic on Saturday.

And that’s not just because he was the tallest player at Paul Jenkins Field.

Garst, a senior, scored the first two goals in SHG’s 3-0 win over Williamsville as the Cyclones (7-0) took home the winner’s plaque.

Garst provides lead for SHG

Each team had one good scoring chance to that point.

Williamsville’s Reid Bodine hit the post in the far-left corner, and the ball was cleared by the SHG defense in the fifth minute. In the 23rd minute, SHG had the numbers and a perfectly placed cross, but Williamsville goalkeeper Garrett Timm snared the ball.

“(Williamsville) started out hot really early,” SHG goalie Cannon Duke said. “(Bodine) got through real quick, and then it got through, hit the post and I was down. I was ready to get back for the deflection, but luckily our defense got it out.”

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A minute after Williamsville’s Sawyer Woods had a free kick following an SHG yellow card, a Bullets defender was whistled for a handball in the box in front of the Cyclones’ net. Garst stepped up and blasted a goal to his right, left of Timm, for a 1-0 SHG lead in the 29th minute.

“I’m just thinking that I have to step up, and I have to provide for my team,” Garst said. “They got me to that point, and we played really well up to that point: We were pressuring them, and it was just something they nominated me to step up for, and I can’t let them down.”

That’s just one of those things that unfortunately happen at inopportune times, Williamsville coach Joe Fandel said.

“It’s unlucky,” Fandel said. “It rolled up (the defender’s) leg into his hand, and it happens. But that’s part of the game. You had the whole second half, and we did not bring the energy today.”

Insurance goals

After halftime, the second 30-minute half began, and SHG continued to use its newfound momentum.

SHG sophomore Thomas Gardner played a ball in from the side to Garst. Garst collected the ball with his head, gathered it again and put it right past Timm inside the near post for a 2-0 lead.

“It was really good pressing from our striker, and I did a good job positioning,” Garst said. “Right place, right time, and Tommy Gardner did a good job putting it under, and I just finished.”

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Garst said he knew both goals were good from the moment the ball left his foot.

“You have that feeling, and I could feel it for both of them,” Garst said.

Fandel felt that the game could’ve played out much differently if Bodine, The State Journal-Register's reigning Small School Boys Soccer Player of the Year , could’ve connected on that one opportunity early.

“That post this week has been a little nemesis of ours,” Fandel said. “We’ve hit it three or four times this week.

“I think that would’ve changed the energy of the game. We kind of plateaued out there after that opportunity.”

Bodine also had another chance when he got inside the box to the right of Duke, but Bodine's tough-angle shot was snared by Duke, who had three saves in the shutout.

Although the Bullets fell to 6-2, Garst said he’s always had a ton of respect for Williamsville.

“They’re always a really tough opponent, and they’re always bringing it,” Garst said. “We know if we don’t strike first, they’re going to, and we have to bring that. We got lucky today, and we got our chances.”

Contact Ryan Mahan: 788-1546, ryan.mahan@sj-r.com , Twitter.com/RyanMahanSJR.

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Garst makes most of two chances to kick SHG past Williamsville