Riding the wind

Teams buffeted by stiff wind, but Woodstown scores two early goals, then holds on to beat Clayton

BOYS SOCCER
Woodstown 2, Clayton 1
GIRLS SOCCER
Woodstown 1, Clayton 0

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

CLAYTON — Erich Lipovsky stepped off Woodstown’s team bus at Haupt Field and immediately got smacked in the face by a big gust of wind. He instinctively knew what that meant.

If the Wolverines were lucky enough to have the coin toss go their way they were going to take the wind to start their morning matchup with Clayton.

The toss went their way, they went with the wind in the first half and scored two goals to fuel a 2-1 win that nudged coach Darren Huck a little closer to 300 wins.

“With the wind you don’t have to put too much pace on the ball, you just let the ball work,” junior back Bryce Ayars said. “When you’re playing without the wind it’s harder to push it down because the wind slows down the ball.

“It felt different today because I felt like our mood shifted from having the wind the first half (where) we generated some things. The second half it didn’t really go our way. I’m not saying it’s all the wind’s fault, but I think the wind was a big factor today.”

The Wolverines (10-4) like to play the game along the ground so getting an extra boost from the breeze at the start wasn’t behind the windy wisdom. It was more about what the breeze was going to do to the Clippers’ goalie punts and clearing the ball out of their defensive end, and then what they would do when they had it in the second half.

Woodstown scored both its goal with the wind at its back, but the wind didn’t influence either of the scores. Ayars and Lipovsky both scored on low bullets from in front of the net five apart in the first 15 minutes of the match.

For Ayars, it was his career-tying seventh goal of the year. For Lipovsky, it was his second and proved to be the game-winner.

“I don’t score a lot,” Lipovsky said. “I tend to move the ball forward more and then I don’t end up being in front of the net when the ball comes in, but I saw my opportunity, saw a gap in the defense, and just happened to put it in the right spot.”

“He got us what we needed today – he got us a goal,” Huck said. “He is not our top goal-scorer by any means, but he got what we needed today.”

What concerned Huck more than the wind was the Wolverines inability to finish when they had the chance – and they had plenty of chances. They took 36 shots in the match, but had only the two goals to show for it. Shots that by all accounts needed to find the back the net went wide, right into the keeper or off the cross bar. Ayars, Lipovsky and Nick DiTeodoro all had good chances in the second half.

The missed chances became even more glaring after Jonathan Rehm got the Clippers within 2-1 with a goal five minutes into the second half. 

“I thought we had a couple really good opportunities where we could’ve put the third goal in and built on getting the fourth goal and we didn’t do that today and that was discouraging,” Huck said. “I thought the defense played strong like they usually do … it was just a matter offensively we’ve got to finish.

“We should have put a third goal in and built on getting a fourth goal. We need to be different on Friday. If we don’t do that, Overbrook will sneak out of there with a 1-0 win.”

Girls game

WOODSTOWN 1, CLAYTON 0: Ryann Foote broke a scoreless tie in the second half when she converted an Emma Morgan pass for the game’s only goal. It was her third goal of the game. Ellie Wygand made four saves in posting the shutout. Each of the Wolverines’ last five wins have all been by shutout; they are 5-1-1 in that stretch.