Boys soccer: Monmouth and Oak Hill battle to scoreless draw

WALES — Oak Hill’s Cooper Spencer had a golden chance in Tuesday’s boys soccer game against Monmouth Academy.

The senior forward had an open net to shoot at in the final minute of double overtime, but he pushed his shot wide of the left post. It was the last scoring chance of the game in a 0-0 tie between the Raiders and Mustangs.

“If we can rewind time, nine out of 10 times that ball gets tucked into the net,” Oak Hill coach Bill Worth said. “Fatigue played a factor at the end, and it was somewhat a deep angle; we will let that (slide) too. We do play them again towards the end of the season — we hope for a different finish.”

Oak Hill (1-0-1) had the first scoring chance of the first overtime when the ball went to the box, but the Raiders were ruled offsides before the shot.

The Raiders don’t have a recent history of success against Monmouth (1-0-1), but Mustangs coach Joe Fletcher said Oak Hill is one of the better teams in the Mountain Valley Conference this season.

“Hats off to Oak Hill,” Fletcher, in his 13th season leading the Mustangs, said. “That’s the first (win or tie) they had against Monmouth Academy in my tenure. We knew they improved; we were prepared for it. They were unfortunate not to win that, but we had all kinds of chances.”

Monmouth appeared to score 13 minutes into the second half when Pat Strout sent a direct kick toward Oak Hill’s goal, but a Monmouth player pushed off an Oak Hill player before shooting the ball into the goal.

The Raiders started to pressure Monmouth keeper Ezekiel Delorme (five saves), but he stopped Oak Hill’s two chances in the middle of the half.

Ethan Lemont had Oak Hill’s best scoring chance of regulation 30 minutes into the second half, but Delmore made a diving save to keep the game scoreless. Shortly after, the Raiders had another chance in the box, but the ball went wide and out of bounds.

Worth said the Raiders tend to be a second-half team.

“What I have found with our team is when they get more tired, the play gets better because they aren’t running as much and they let the ball do the work,” Worth said. “They pass the ball more, and they play more relaxed and not as frantic.”

Strout had a direct kick a few minutes later, but Oak Hill goalie Cade Fessenden (18 saves) made a diving stop at the left post.

1ST-HALF CHANCES

The bulk of the Mustangs’ scoring chances, meanwhile, came in the first half. Brandon Smith had the first seven minutes into the first half, but his shot went wide of the net.

“We will figure out how to score,” Fletcher said. “Defensively, we haven’t given up a goal.”

Strout sent a line-drive shot toward the goal 28 minutes in, but it was again stopped by a diving Fessenden.

“We had our chances, but we didn’t capitalize on them,” Strout said. “We are going to fix some things.”

Strout said Monmouth needs to play as one unit at all times and work on communication.

Fessenden also made a punch save in the final seconds of the first half.

“I just wanted to get it out,” Fessenden said. “I just wanted the half to be over.

He made 12 saves in the opening half.

“Cade, always between the pipes does a great job,” Worth said. “He’s level-headed, and he covers the vast distance of the net when it’s critical.”

Oak Hill fired only one shot on goal in the first 40 minutes.

Monmouth fullback Luke Harmon said practice Wednesday is going to include a lot of hard work.

“I can tell you one thing — tomorrow, we aren’t going to have an easy practice,” Harmon said. “It’s going to be a dog practice: we are pulling tires out, and it’s going to be like a commander-style practice where we sprint and do pushups.”