KEENE, NH — Fifth-seeded Keene High scored three unanswered goals in the second half to soar past No. 11 Central, 4-1, in the opening round of the State Division 1 Boys Soccer Tournament, Wednesday afternoon at Scripture Field.
With the win, the Blackbirds avenged a 2-1 loss to the Little Green back on Oct. 15 at Gill Stadium.
As was the case during their regular season matchup, neither team shied away from physicality, with the referees whistling nearly 20 fouls.
Two of Central’s fouls happened in the penalty area, resulting in penalty kicks. Keene’s Will Fauth converted both. The first tied the game just before halftime and the second put the game away.
Central’s players and coaches grew increasingly frustrated with what they perceived as a lack of consistency from the game officials. This led to a player and an assistant coach getting red cards (ejections) late in the game and another player getting a yellow card.
After the game, Central Head Coach Maid Ahmic declined to comment on the officiating, except to say he was “disappointed” on behalf of his players, especially his seniors.
”I’m so proud of our guys, they worked really hard,” said Ahmic. “I have no problem losing to a better team but that’s not what happened today.”
Central (6-7-4) came into the game as the No. 11 seed but went 3-1-1 their final five games and were playing some of their best soccer of the season.
Keene (11-5-1), on the other hand, came limping into the tournament having dropped three of their last four games.
Having played each other just two weeks prior, there was no “feeling out” process on Wednesday. The teams both attacked aggressively, trading scoring chances in the early going.
Benjamin Ruzigama and Landon Vasquez both had point-blank scoring chances, only to be robbed by Keene keeper Blake Schollenberger.
Central was able to draw first blood in the 32nd minute on a brilliant shot by Vasquez. Following a throw-in in the attack zone, Central mid Geovanni Lopez dumped the ball into Vasquez at the top of the box to the left of the net.
With a defender on his back and standing perpendicular to the net, Vasquez fired a semi-bicycle kick and sliced across the goal mouth and just inside the far corner.
But the lead didn’t last long. With just under two minutes to play in the half, Central was whistled for a foul in the box, though the contact appeared incidental.
Fauth converted the penalty kick to tie the game.
Riding the wave of momentum, the second half was all Keene. The Blackbirds took the lead for good less than three minutes into the half, when Christian Hennessy leapt high and knocked a headder past Gomes to make it 2-1.
It stayed that until the 53rd minute, when Bryn Blonshine gave Keene an insurance goal. Less than two minutes later, Fauth netted his second penalty kick of the game to make it 4-1.
