Boys’ soccer tied Lincoln Sudbury 0-0 Saturday Sept.10, at home, in an intense, fairly even game. 

Both teams had their chances, but neither could find the back of the net. “It was a tough game for us,” said junior Andrew Arcese. “We had some opportunities, but we couldn’t capitalize on them.” 

In the first half, neither team gained control and took possession of the ball for an extended period of time. The first major play of the game came 13 minutes in, when the North goalkeeper, senior Henry Baker, a captain with seniors Harrison Georgadis and Matty Gillen, took too long on the ball. This allowed Lincoln Sudbury to steal the ball, resulting in an easy goal scoring opportunity for Lincoln Sudbury. However, Baker made up for the mistake with an incredible save. Afterwards, North began to take charge and create chances of their own, while Lincoln Sudbury got a few shots off against the run of play. North appeared the more comfortable team in possession during the majority of the first half, but the game remained even.

At the start of the second half, North started to establish themselves again as the slightly better team. Both of North’s center backs were very calm on the ball, and they were comfortable finding passes and dribbling into space. This enabled North to have more short periods of possession, and they eventually capitalized on them with two major chances 65 minutes in. 

Lincoln Sudbury had a solid press though which led to some more opportunity on the counter attack for them. Lincoln Sudbury team was far from expert in possession, though. They mostly relied on long balls and mistakes by North to create chances. 

“We didn’t allow them to play smoothly for most of the game,” said Arcese. “We definitely made it hard for them.” However, North never really fully imposed themselves on their opponents either. Whenever North would put some pressure on their opponents, it would soon fade and the game would even out again. 

With around 15 minutes left, North’s minimal control completely came to an end. Lincoln Sudbury suddenly took charge of the game. “They had us pinned back at the end of the game,” said Arcese. “We had to stay focused defensively.”

The pressure from Lincoln Sudbury began to intensify even further with 10 minutes left, and North was hanging on by a thread for the remainder of the game. 

Lincoln Sudbury’s biggest chance during the closing stages of the game came with around five minutes left to play, when a close range effort was denied by Baker again with a diving save. The impressive stop was enough to bring the game to finish at 0-0.

North, 1-0-1, will play Needham today, at home.