Senior’s golden goal only score in Woodstown win over Pennsville, third game-winner in as many games, Pennsville keeper Rinnier notches 500th save
BOYS SOCCER
Woodstown 1, Pennsville 0 (OT)
Schalick 6, Wildwood 0
Penns Grove 6, Gloucester Catholic 4
Pitman 6, Salem Tech 0
Salem at Glassboro
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
WOODSTOWN — Pennsville goalie Coen Rinnier knows Bryce Ayars really well and the one thing he’d tell you about the Woodstown senior is whatever team he’s playing for he’s always in the right place at the right time.
Ayars was right where he needed to be again Tuesday, perfectly positioned to get one past his club teammate 3:29 into the first overtime for a 1-0 win in a dogfight between Tri-County Conference division leaders that for the longest time seemed destined for a scoreless finish.
Ben Lippincott got the winning play started with a strong corner kick into the box. Blake Bialecki got a left-foot touch on it in heavy traffic and moved it to Ayars, who found enough room to go from left foot to right and shoot it past a stonewalled Rinnier for the winner.
“Every time they put the ball in the box you know that Ayars is dangerous,” Pennsville coach Derek Foglein said. “Today, he got the ball to bounce around seven times and beat us with his feet, which is not what I would’ve had on my bingo card.”
“Obviously, right place, right time and he took advantage of it,” Woodstown coach Darren Huck said.
“He’s always in the right spot,” Rinnier said.
It was Ayars’ third game-winning goal in as many games, ever since being held goalless for the first time this season by Penns Grove. He broke a 1-1 tie with a late winner against Schalick and gave the Wolverines a lead they’d never lose against Pitman.
But this one was his first walk-off, golden goal in the run. He also had the only goal in their season-opening win over Glassboro, but that came in the first half.
“Going up against Coen is always challenging because he’s a well-rounded goalie who makes plays through the air, on the ground, comes out when he needs to,” Ayars said. “We knew it was going to be hard coming in today playing against him, but we got the job done in overtime.”
The Wolverines (6-0-1), No. 1 in the South Jersey Group I power point standings by a healthy margin, enjoyed the majority of possessions in the match, but Pennsville’s defense turned back their advances every time. Still, Huck was confident if they kept plugging away an opportunity was going to come for them to capitalize, and it eventually did in overtime.
Woodstown’s back line was just as stout, never giving the Eagles (6-4) a chance to really challenge Wolverines keeper Trey Markward.
At halftime, Foglein considered dropping back a fifth defender and playing for the tie,. But he reconsidered believing his team was “good enough that we don’t need to hold on for dear life for another 40 minutes” and actually thought they might have been the better team in the second half.
“Every time we come here, play on this field, we’re always our most intense,” Rinnier said. “It’s something about this field. Whenever we come here, we play our hardest. It’s the best I’ve seen us play all year, the hardest intensity I’ve seen all year.”
With all the pressure Woodstown applied throughout the match, Rinnier was credited with 17 saves in regulation. His first save of the game was the 500th of his career, making him only the second Pennsville goalie in the last 15 years to reach that milestone.
“I didn’t even know,” he said. “I just like being in the back here and helping our team, just trying to help us as much as I can.”
Top photo: Woodstown’s Bryce Ayars (20) settles the ball before scoring the game-winning goal in overtime against Pennsville Tuesday.
SCHALICK 6, WILDWOOD 0: Nolan O’Toole scored the first goal of the match and assisted on two other goals before halftime. Connor Jackson scored for the third straight game and Nathan Couch scored his first varsity goal.
PENNS GROVE 6, GLOUCESTER CATHOLIC 4: The Red Devils opened a 6-1 lead under the lights. Zack Payne scored three goals for the Rams in the second half.
PITMAN 6, SALEM TECH 0: Nate Newcomb covered a pass from Trevor Leach four minutes into the match and five others followed for the Panthers.
Riverview Sports News 