Boys’ soccer tied Framingham 1-1 Tuesday, Sept. 14, at home in a competitive back and forth match.
In the first half, North was aggressive on both sides of the ball and maintained pressure on Framingham’s defense, outshooting their opponents 6-1. Senior Rialto Janairo, a captain with seniors Andrew Nielsen, Will Rooney, and Akash Sahadevan, led the way with two consecutive shots on Framingham’s goal in the middle of the half.
“We played a great first half and a subpar second half,” said Roy Dow, the head coach. “Framingham was the best team we have played to date, and they made a few adjustments at halftime to combat what we were doing.”
In the second half, Framingham began playing with more tenacity, outshooting North 8-3. Midway through the half, Framingham had a scoring opportunity, firing two shots on net in under a minute. However, junior Duncan Naylor, North’s goalkeeper, managed to save both attempts.
Later in the half, senior Kyle Judge, advanced toward Framingham’s goal and broke through Framingham’s defense to score the team’s only goal of the game. Shortly after, Framingham found an opening and capitalized on an uncontested ball, tying the game up.
According to Dow, the Tigers need to improve on controlling the ball and decision making.
“We were a little careless in the second half with bringing the ball out of the back. Making the wrong passes, not releasing the ball quick enough, and just being sloppy overall,” said Dow. “I would say we are going to work on continuing to make quicker decisions on the ball and making sure we take care of the ball in our own penalty box by being safe with it.”
Despite his critiques, Dow added that he has high hopes for future games.
“We have a lot of players who have a lot of ability and are hungry. Most of the team returned from last year, and it’s evident that they have improved as soccer players, but more importantly, matured as people,” said Dow. “I am excited about this group.”
Boys’ soccer, 3-0-1, will play at Brookline Saturday, Sept. 25 at 2:30 p.m.
