Ghosts and Redskins Battle to Tie
By Alex Frazier
For two hours and 10 minutes, Abington knew what it felt like to be alone at the top of the National Conference.
But their elation was short-lived thanks to a gutsy effort by Neshaminy, who fought off a savage Abington attack to tie the Ghosts 2-2 Wednesday evening.
With Pennsbury’s 1-0 defeat of Council Rock North in the afternoon, the Ghosts moved into first place, but the deadlock against Neshaminy dropped them into a tie for third with Rock North.
Still, Abington coach Randy Garber wasn’t dissatisfied with the outcome.
“My hat’s off to the guys that ended up hanging in there and not giving up the winning goal, and at least getting a point out of the night,” he said. “We’ll take it. Neshaminy is as good a team as you’ll find as far as players and as far as being coached. It’s not an automatic win when you play them. They’re one of the best teams in the entire district. It’s just that their record doesn’t show it.”
It appeared as though the Galloping Ghosts were on their way to solidifying their division lead, when all of a sudden a chink appeared in the otherwise stalwart defense.
With 2:48 left in regulation, Neshaminy defender Dan Kennedy sent a long ball from the left side across to Dominik Martinez who was charging the right post. When the Abington defense slid over to the right side of the field, Martinez was all alone on the left.
“I saw it coming,” said Martinez. “Nobody was marking me, so I put my arm out and he got me a nice ball. I just one-timed it in.
“We had to put that goal in. It was coming down to the last seconds.”
Kennedy had one more chance with just 14 seconds left, but Abington keeper Sam Matthews grabbed the hard riser to send the game into overtime.
“We got caught up and forgot about the man on the far post,” said Abington sweeper Greg Hill. “He got behind our whole defensive line and got a good touch on it.
“It’s hard to be in that position that you’re a goal up. You have a lot of pressure on you. We want to defend and stop the other team so much that we get caught back. Our minds are set on that one thing, and we forget the simple things.”
Martinez’s goal gave the Redskins momentum going into the first overtime.
“We got pumped up,” he said. “It was a good feeling.”
Neshaminy outshot the Ghosts 3-0 in that stretch and could have sealed a win. Dan Foley had a great opportunity with Matthews out of goal, but his shot sailed wide. And with 1:06 left, Kyle Soroka banged a direct kick off the crossbar.
Abington recouped in the second overtime. Jiddell Roach sent a perfect ball across the goal to Kevin Woodard who blasted a shot that appeared to ricochet off the right goal post.
Four minutes later, Roach fired a long shot on goal, but Alex Smith was up to the effort.
For the Redskins, the tie was a good result after Abington shut them out on their home turf in the first round.
“We came back tonight looking for a win,” said Martinez. “We put our hearts into it. We didn’t come out with a win, but I feel like we came out on top at the end.”
Neshaminy took the lead at the 29:15 mark of the first half when Rick Domico deflected a cross past Matthews.
Four minutes later, Abington tied it up on one of its trademark set pieces. Defender Ian MacMillan’s strong arms lofted a throw-in from the right side to Ian Malis, who leaped from a crowd to head the ball into the top right 90.
The Ghosts had three chances of their own but couldn’t convert, and ultimately that came back to bite them.
“We touched three balls that we were clear behind the defense right to the goalkeeper, and that was the difference in the game,” said Garber.Four minutes later, Abington put together a nice sequence that ended up tying the game. Dan Lomady sent a pass forward from near midfield to Roach, who sprinted up the left side. He crossed the ball to sweeper Greg Hill, who was charging the right post. The ball deflected off a defender to Hill, who finished it off to give the Ghosts thelead.
“I didn’t even get a good touch on it really,” he said. “It just happened to go in. I said to one of my coaches I didn’t know why I didn’t get back. I play defense. I don’t know why I didn’t get back, but it was my gut feeling to stay in the box.”
It looked like Hill would be the hero once again with his second game winner in three games, but it wasn’t to be.
The National Conference title is still very much up for grabs with some big matchups yet to come in the next two weeks. One of those will occur next Thursday when Pennsbury visits the Ghosts for an afternoon tilt.
Don’t count Neshaminy out just yet, either. If the Redskins don’t challenge for the title, they could certainly play the spoiler role.
“We’re starting to turn it on,” said Martinez. “We have good chemistry now. We have to win every game, or at least tie.”
Abington 2, Neshaminy 2 (2OT)
Goals: Rick Domico (N), Ian Malis (A), Greg Hill (A), Dominik Martinez (N)
Assists: Ian MacMillan (A), Jiddell Roach (A), Dan Kennedy (N)
Shots: Neshaminy 13, Abington 12
Saves: Alex Smith (N) 7, Sam Matthews (A) 6
Corners: Neshaminy 2, Abington 2
Yellow cards: Kyle Soroka (N), Tom Natter (A)
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