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Fryda, Spartans outkick Cardinals
By BOB ETTINGER
CANFIELD
The Boardman boys soccer team needed something to tip the scale further in its favor at Bob Dove Field on Thursday night.
Instead, Tommy Fryda nudged the scale before kicking it over as the Spartans dropped Canfield, 4-1, in All-American Conference Red Tier play.
“A two-goal lead at the half is big,” Boardman coach Eric Simione said. “We’ve had 1-0 leads on them and we know they can come back. To answer their goal right away after we were up three and they’d cut it back to two took the pressure off. When you’re playing a team that beat you three times last year, no matter how many times you tell them to stay focused, it’s in the back of their minds. Answering that goal helped them to not tense up.”
Trevor Boggess put the Spartans (6-2-1, 3-1-1) on the board with a goal on a penalty kick with 16:24 to play in the first half. It was Fryda’s goal with 10:51 remaining that gave Boardman the edge.
“It was very nice,” Fryda said. “The pass was right there on the edge. I put my leg up at a 90-degree angle and tapped it in. I couldn’t expect a better ball [from Cole Congson]. I was waiting for him to get down there and he put it right on the edge, right on the line. That’s what he always does.”
Congson sent a pass across the field and a few feet off the turf. Fryda leapt and hit it with his ankle, redirecting the ball into the net for a 2-0 lead.
“That was beautiful work,” Simione said. “That cross was absolutely beautiful. [Congson] made a nice run to the corner, the pass [to Fryda] was right there and he put it in. They don’t always work out that way, but that’s what you want to see. Tommy likes to one-touch and get it in. He doesn’t like to tool around with it too much.”
That lead held through the intermission.
“It was just a lack of effort,” Canfield coach Christian Silvestri said.
In the third minute of the second half, Ryan Johnston broke away from the pack, dribbled in forcing Canfield goalkeeper Jad Jadallah to dive, then tapped the ball around the down goalie and sent it into the net for a 3-0 Spartan advantage.
“We did a nice job trying not to force the ball past the goalie,” Simione said. “We used more touch to get past him rather than be rushed. We’re starting to figure out that one extra tap is the difference between a shot and a goal.”
The Cardinals (4-4-2, 1-2-1) cut the deficit to 3-1 as Hunter Hale sent a free kick around the wall and into the net with 29”38 to go in the game.
Just more than three minutes later, Fryda slipped behind the defense, dribbled in and forced Jadallah to dive once again. Again, Fryda tapped the ball away from the downed goalie and scored to put Boardman back up three, 4-1, with 26:23 remaining.
“Coming into the second half, we were pumped,” Silvestri said. “That third goal didn’t do us any favors. We got one and we were excited, but we got lazy and Boardman took advantage. [Boardman] played well. I can’t take that away from them. They played good soccer. We need more effort and more heart.”