11/18/2008
(Windsor, CT) - On
Sunday, November 16, Rico Santamaria’s game-winning goal with seven minutes left
broke a 2-2 tie and netted the Tilton Rams their first New England Soccer title
3-2 over Providence Country Day School.
In a see-saw game filled with
drama, Tilton got on the board first as Santamaria took a feed from fellow PG
Will Emerson and slid it past the PCD keeper to put the Rams up 1-0 a little
more than five minutes into the contest. PCD bounced right back, scoring almost
immediately off a corner kick. The Knights from Providence would tack on another
midway through the half to take a 2-1 lead. The rest of the half was controlled
by PCD, but the Tilton backline of Billy Beaton, Kris Brassard, Jason Hwang and
Andy Dustin would bend but not brake. Tilton goalie Matt Wrenn would also prove
to be instrumental in keeping the Rams in the game by making a few point-blank
stops to preserve the one-goal deficit.
The Rams came back from the
half-time break determined not to let their season end in defeat. That desire
paid off 10 minutes into the second stanza as Dana DiPinto netted the equalizer
off an end line drive by Santamaria. With the match level at two the back line
and Brassard asserted their dominance, turning away any attack PCD could mount.
Meanwhile the offensive end continued to find opportunities as Troy Morin, Gus
Lopes, Jon Bejakian and Anatole Draleau ratcheted up the pressure on the
Providence net.
Finally, Gus Lopes would find a streaking Santamaria, who
hammered the ball home from just inside the 18-yard box to put the Rams up
3-2.
The win capped an amazing two weeks and season for the Rams, in
which they won five games all on the road to close out the year. A loss in any
of them would have ended their Championship dreams. In becoming the Champions,
the 7th-seeded Rams defeated the 2nd seed, 3rd seed and then top-seeded
Providence Country Day, the same school that defeated Tilton a year ago in the
Championship match 3-2. The semifinal saw the Rams avenge an earlier season
defeat to Hebron by winning 3-1. Their quarterfinal victory over St. George's
School was perhaps the most dramatic as they won on the 10th round of penalty
kicks after both teams were held scoreless during regulation and overtime. In
the PK competition, Troy Morin knocked home the game winner with Billy Beaton,
Jenner Bryan, Gus Lopes, John Falco and Jon Bejakian also making kicks. Matt
Wrenn turned aside four of the shots he faced in amazing fashion.
Article and photo from the Tilton School website