The winless Old Town Coyotes showed up to play ball in Orono on Wednesday, beating their rivals 2-0 on a rain-soaked pitch.
The game was largely a deadlock contest in the midfield, but Old Town managed to make some dangerous downfield passes in transition, which senior forward Grayson Thibeault happily took advantage of.
Thibeault turned two through balls into both of the Coyotes’ goals — once with four minutes to go in the first half, and again with ten minutes to go in the second. He converted the latter after running with the ball down to the 18-yard box, cutting back toward the middle of the field, fighting his way through a tackle, and finally regaining his balance right before booting the ball into the net.
“In transitions, I try to run up the wings, and let my teammates find me,” Thibeault said. “We all space out and work well together; we have a lot of team chemistry.”
The win came as a big break for the Coyotes, who sustained one-goal losses to John Bapst and Hermon the last couple of weeks, and had two goals controversially called off against Orono.
Their very first goal was negated in the first half due to an offsides call, and another was waved off right before Thibeault’s second score. The referees believed Orono goalkeeper Eli Swartz had control of a loose ball in the 6-yard box that was kicked in by Old Town.
“It is tough, it could have been 4-0 or 3-0,” Thibeualt said. “But there’s nothing we can do. Don’t complain, just keep working.”
“I’m happy for the boys,” Old Town head coach Mark Graffam said. “They’ve been playing good soccer, but they haven’t had many good breaks. It was a great win for them.”
Graffam also complimented Swartz mid-game after he miraculously saved a Thibeault shot in a one-on-one situation. “Good save, keep,” Graffam hollered, after Swartz knocked away what would have been Old Town’s second goal in the first half.
Swartz thwarted Old Town all game long, racking up nearly 15 saves and swooping in for loose balls left and right. It’s the 6’6” senior’s first season playing soccer.
“You just gotta focus on the ball and be a goldfish; have a two-second memory,” Swartz said.
Old Town and Orono are set to meet again on Wednesday, Oct. 11, this time in Old Town.
“We’re going to work on our maturity,” Orono head coach Waldo Caballero said. “We need composure, and to shoot the ball when we have the opportunity.”
