By LESLEY GRAHAM
The Ocean City High School boys soccer team defeated the visiting Burlington Township Eagles, 3-0, on Saturday in the first round of the Southwest D Group 3 soccer playoffs.
The win improves Ocean City’s record to 9-1-1, while Burlington closes out the season at 2-10.
The first half saw the Red Raiders jump out to a 1-0 lead on a goal by Ori Levy-Smith off an assist from Nick Chiccarine within the first 8 minutes of play.
Ocean City would control the pace of play, allowing Paul Tjoumakaris, a defender, to get a good look at the net from midfield, making it 2-0 with under 20 minutes to play in the half.
Rounding out the scoring in the first half for Ocean City was Reed Lindsay with an assist from Chiccarine, who tallied his second assist of the game. The Red Raiders would head into halftime with a 3-0 lead.
“The first half was fantastic. We played a very nice brand of soccer in the first half that I was proud of. We actually had more opportunities in the second half, but we were unable to finish,” Ocean City Head Coach Aaron Bogushefsky said.
The second half saw Burlington make some adjustments by overloading the strong side, which kept Ocean City from being able to finish on a few quality looks at the net, with the Eagles goalkeeper coming up with big saves.
Even though the Eagles were down 3-0, they did not give up, fighting hard until the final horn, a sentiment echoed by Bogushefsky.
“You have a team that’s playing for their life. For the seniors, their high school career is over after this point (with a loss), so everyone is do-or-die,” Bogushefsky said.
As the Red Raiders look ahead to their next opponent, the focus remains on themselves and their style of soccer, Bogushefsky noted.
“I like how we are playing at this point in the season. We are trying to play our best soccer of the season right now,” he said.
The Red Raiders will take on Northern Burlington in the quarterfinal round Tuesday at Ocean City. It has not yet been determined whether the game will be played at the high school’s Carey Stadium or the soccer field on Tennessee Avenue. The start time also hasn’t been announced yet.
