Dialog reporter
WILMINGTON – St. Mark’s got some early pressure and the first goal in its boys soccer game at Charter School of Wilmington on Oct. 18, but the Force responded quickly and showed why they are ranked third in the state in Division I as they took a 3-1 home victory. Kevin Eriksen scored twice for Charter, which improved to x-x.
The Spartans had the first real scoring opportunity in the fourth minute, but Force goalkeeper Ben McQuillin snared a throw-in from Chris Ludman. After that, however, Charter went on the offensive and kept Spartans keeper Tommy Gibb busy all afternoon.
Gibb’s acrobatics began in the fifth minute, as he dove to his right to stop a shot from Eamon O’Connor from the top of the box. He dove left in the next minute to make another save, and he added his third in the seventh minute after a Force throw-in.
The Spartans fought back as the half went on. They had a corner kick, but McQuillin was able to go high to grab a looping header. A steal led to a two-on-one for St. Mark’s, but Charter was able to break the play up. Then, in the 20th minute, Michael Ziomek sent a shot just over the net that hit the crossbar of the football goalposts.
It was the Force’s turn next to flirt with scoring. Anthony Barbieri hit the crossbar above Gibb’s head in the 24th, and a minute later Andrew Amato deked Gibb and sent a shot that hit the far post.
St. Mark’s struck first in the 34th minute. Ludman sent a throw-in toward the net. The ball squirted loose, and Matt Theodorakis was in the right spot to tap it home for the 1-0 lead.
The advantage was short-lived, however. Less than a minute later, Jacob Ogrodnik found himself at the edge of the box to Gibb’s left and sent a shot past the keeper to knot the score. Shortly before halftime, the Force took the lead. O’Connor approached from the keeper’s left, and as Gibb slid in anticipation of a shot, O’Connor fed a cross to Eriksen, who hit the open net.
The Force peppered Gibb with shots as the second half opened, and the keeper did his best to keep the deficit at one. During one sequence, Gibb punched a ball out of the box for one save, dove for another and blocked a third shot with his upper chest and possibly his face.
Eriksen stretched the lead to two on a penalty kick in the 51st minute after he was tackled in the box.
Gibb was credited with 13 saves on 16 Charter shots, while McQuillin finished with three saves. Charter had three corners to the Spartans’ one. St. Mark’s (5-3-3), ranked third in Division II, hosts Middletown on Thursday at 6:15 as the team seeks to end a four-game winless streak. Charter (7-2-1) is home on Thursday against A.I. DuPont at 3:30 p.m.
