ConVal boys soccer drops finale in OT

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There is little question that the ConVal boys soccer team is a battle tested group.

Having 13 of your 16 regular season games decided by two goals or fewer will do that. But heading into Saturday’s season finale at home against John Stark, the only major concern for the Cougars has been the team’s ability to finish.

The defense and goal tending have been rock solid this year, holding each opponent to two goals or fewer, but its those games, like Saturday’s 2-1 loss in overtime, that could haunt ConVal in its playoff run. Advancing in the postseason comes down to making good on the scoring chances when they arise.

Saturday was the kind of game in which everything went in ConVal’s favor except for the most important factor.

“I was happy with everything except the scoreboard,” said coach Jon Hall.

With 13 corner kicks and countless other opportunities in front of the Generals net, the Cougars had enough chances to put the game out of reach very early on. There was no reason for the game to go into overtime. And to only come away with one goal in almost 90 minutes of soccer is a little disheartening.

“If you don’t put the ball in the net nothing matters. We put ourselves in another overtime game and when you get there, strange things can happen,” said Hall. “I feel really good about the way we’ve played. We just need to finish.”

Campbell French scored the Cougars’s lone goal in the first half off a free kick. John Stark responded four minutes later with the equalizer.

Most of the play took place in the ConVal offensive end. They just could not capitalize. Headers went wide, shots sailed over the crossbar and the littlest touches were just bouncing the wrong way.

But in no way does this mean that the Cougars are finished before the postseason begins. The team just needs to play a little bit better in front of the net.

With Saturday’s contest going into overtime, it marked the fifth time that 80 minutes was not enough to decide a ConVal game. Of the five overtime games, two resulted in a tie, while the other three made up half of the team’s losses on the season.

“We certainly have the experience of being in tight games,” said Hall. “We just have to have the mental toughness to finish.”

The Cougars finished the year with an 8-6-2 record overall and will be the eighth seed in Thursday’s tournament opener. ConVal will host Portsmouth, a team they defeated 3-2 on Oct. 5, for a chance to play top-ranked Hollis/Brookline, which received a first-round bye, in the quarterfinals. And the Cougars are quite familiar with the No. 1 seeded team in D-II having already played the Cavaliers twice. One of those games ended in a 2-1 overtime loss and the other a 1-0 defeat.

While the defense has held all 16 opponents to two goals or less, in 12 of those games the offense has been limited to the same. And in two of the other contests where the ConVal offense shined, it came against lower divisional squads.

“A lot of our losses have had a similar theme,” Hall said.

This group understands what it takes to win. They know how to play in close games. All they have to do is go out and prove it for four more games. Had the Cougars pulled off the victory on Saturday, they would have finished in seventh place overall in D-II. Instead, with the loss, they are eighth and go into the playoffs having lost two of their last three instead of on a two-game winning streak.

At the midway point of the season, ConVal stood at 3-4-1. But they bounced back with a scoreless tie against then top-ranked Lebanon and rattled off four straight wins before the second loss to Hollis/Brookline.

Saturday was a game the Cougars deserved to win, but didn’t need it to get into the playoffs. The Generals did and the victory put them into the 14th and final seed in Division II, edging out Manchester West.

But from here on out, there are no redoes or next games. Starting Thursday, it is win or go home and for the 10 seniors on the roster, there is no way they want their final season to end like last year’s did in a 1-0 overtime loss in the first round.

“It’s a four-game season,” said Hall. “There are no second chances.”