NASHUA, NH — Senior Caleb Galineau scored on a penalty kick with less than 45 seconds left to play, giving North a stunning 1-1 tie with Manchester Memorial, Saturday morning at Stellos Stadium.
Galineau’s PK was awarded after Memorial was whistled for a foul in the 18-yard box, just to the right of keeper Braydon Yianakopoulos. The call incensed Memorial Head Coach Jerold White, who felt a North player had instigated contact by pulling the jersey of a Memorial player.
White went out onto the field to ask the referee who made the call if he could “appeal” to the other referee. In the ensuing argument, he was hit with a yellow card.
”I just can’t believe they awarded a (penalty kick) on that,” said White. “The kid grabbed our guy’s shirt. Everyone saw that. This is why people (have problems with) referees.”
For his part, North Head Coach Tom Prentice agreed his player had grabbed a Memorial player’s jersey but said there was shirt pulling and contact on both sides and that foul could have gone either way.
Prentice said offensive players can afford to be more aggressive than defenders inside the 18-yard box.
”If (an offensive player) gets a foul in the box, the other team still has to go the length of the field. We tell our forwards they’re safe once they get into the box,” said Prentice. “Defenders have to be careful because (if they get a foul) it can be a penalty kick.”
Memorial’s lone goal was scored by Yahir Tinajero in the final minute of the first half. After junior Dylan Merchant had been taken down by a North defender in the right corner, Javier Alvarenga curled a perfect free kick to the front of the North net. Tinajero went high and headed the ball past keeper Logan DeLeon for the goal.
In truth, Memorial could have had a two or even three-goal lead at halftime. The Crusaders dominated the first half but couldn’t take advantage of numerous scoring chances.
Alvarenga and senior co-captains Kolby Ducharme and Alexis Pacheco Amill combined to control the midfield and keep North pinned in its own end.
Deleon finished with 12 saves, including a couple of brilliant diving stops to keep his team in the game. North defenders Ryan Mamos and Evan Grenier played well, limiting the quality of Memorial’s scoring chances.
”Logan saved our bacon a couple of times,” said Prentice.
The second half saw North make offensive adjustments, resulting in a better attack and better scoring chances. Instead of trying to pass or dribble their way through Memorial’s “high line” in the midfield, the Titans began looking to attack over the top of it.
Long lead passes were chased down by the speedy North forwards and Memorial defenders were often left scrambling.
Now it was Memorial keeper Braydon Yianakopoulos’ time to shine. He did so with an aggressive style that saw him twice race out of his net and beat North attackers to the ball. Yianakopoulos finished with five saves.
With the tie, North’s record stands at 2-9-3. The Titans would need wins in each of their final two games to have a chance of reaching the D-1 State Tournament.
Memorial is now 5-4-5 and has already clinched a playoff berth.