RallyNorth.net

Sat, Sep 23, 2017 09:00 AM @ Timberlane

Team	1st	2nd	OT	Final
Salem	2	1	1	4
Timberlane	2	1	0	3

Salem comes back, beats Timberlane in OT thriller

Saturday, September, 23 By By Mac Cerullo

Salem boys soccer has been one of the area's biggest surprises this fall. The Blue Devils came into Saturday's showdown with unbeaten Timberlane with a shining 7-1 record, but many of those wins had come against teams with losing records. So when Salem fell behind 2-0 to Timberlane in the first 10 minutes yesterday, it wouldn't have been unreasonable to question whether the Blue Devils were a serious contender or just a paper tiger.

Well, Salem's answer came through loud and clear. These guys are for real.

After falling behind early, Salem roared back with two quick goals before halftime and a third just after the break to take the lead. Timberlane bounced back with an equalizer of its own late in the second half, but then five minutes into overtime, Kyle Chute scored a brilliant goal from 25 yards out to finish off a thrilling 4-3 win that puts Salem squarely in the middle of the championship conversation.

"A lot of teams that go down two goals in the first 11 minutes might pack it in, but they continued to fight," said Salem coach Justin Golden. "I'm proud of the boys, this was a statement win. We hadn't played any teams that I'd perceive to be contenders, so this was a game we had circled, we really wanted this and now we'll have some nice momentum going into the second half of our schedule."

Chute had his fingerprints all over the Salem comeback even before scoring the overtime winner. Towards the end of the first half, he spearheaded the rush that eventually led to Ryan Doucette's goal to put Salem on the board. Then just before halftime, he fired a perfect corner kick onto the head of Nick Hayes, a towering 6-foot-3 midfielder who buried it to tie the score.

When it wasn't Chute, it was junior forward Josh Fichera, who picked a defender's pocket and scored Salem's third goal six minutes into the second half. Fichera (10 goals, 4 assists) drew double coverage throughout the day, which ultimately helped set up Chute's winner when both of Timberlane's center defenders chased him into the corner, leaving Chute wide open in the middle on what proved to be the game's decisive moment.

"He fed the ball to Kyle, who from 25 yards out popped it over the top and dropped it into the upper right side of the net," Golden said. "A great placement. Josh really scared the backs there, they were afraid of his left foot so they collapsed on him, left Kyle open and he buried it."

Even in defeat, Timberlane likely can take a lot of positive away from how it played as well. The team's opening 10 minutes, when the Owls got goals from Christian Allaire and Matt Perry, were dominant. Then once Salem had seized the momentum in the second half, reigning Eagle-Tribune MVP Connor Ross scored the tying goal with under 10 minutes to play, setting up a white-knuckle race to the finish.

"Credit to Salem, they ended up finishing at the end, but great resiliency by both teams," said Timberlane coach Mitch Mencis. "They fell behind by two, fought back, took advantage of a defensive error on our part and then we fought back. A great game between two aspiring programs."

The road doesn't get any easier for either club over the next week. Salem (8-1) now hosts undefeated Londonderry on Tuesday at 4 p.m., while Timberlane (7-1-1) goes to unbeaten Exeter, also on Tuesday at 4 p.m. It will mark Timberlane's first meeting against Exeter since the Owls lost to the eventual state champions in last fall's state semifinal.

"I love the way that our schedule ramps up," Mencis said. "We have Exeter next and then Londonderry, so we'll be back in the furnace and hopefully we'll come out strong on the other side."