Amherst scores lone goal in boys soccer victory over Open Door

AMHERST — Scoring chances were at a premium Saturday as Amherst earned a hard-fought 1-0 win over Open Door. The goal came with eight minutes left in the first half after a frustrating 30 minutes for Amherst. Senior Ben Thompson received a throw-in, bulled his way through the defense and finished past goalkeeper Micah Brooks. "I just used my pace to get around them," Ben Thompson said. "I was able to dribble and have a clean shot and then the goalie went down, so I tapped it over him." Amherst's offense grew into the match in the second half, but Brooks made a number of solid saves to keep his team in the match. "The defenders did quite well," said Open Door head coach Joel Baker. "We readjusted our entire defensive line because we had some boys out sick, so giving up one goal against Amherst, I'm not upset about that at all." Amherst had a great chance to put another goal on the board in the waning minutes of the match, but Kameron Kadow fired his penalty kick wide. With the way the Comets' defense played, however, one goal was plenty. "The ability of our defense to shut down an attack like that says something about them," said Amherst head coach Brett Thompson. "They've been outstanding all year long. For the most part, we're in every single game because our defense locks it down." Saturday was Amherst's fourth shutout of the season and it has conceded multiple goals in only two of 11 matches. More importantly, it has won three in a row and is undefeated over its last five matches since a loss to Southwestern Conference leader Avon Lake. "We just work great as a team," Ben Thompson said. "As the season has progressed, we've become more and more accustomed to working with each other and we've built great chemistry." "I think Ben said it best," Brett Thompson said. "It's just team chemistry. We're just worried about getting a win no matter what. We're sharing the ball a lot and playing outstanding team defense, and that's from top to bottom." Open Door has lost three in a row after going undefeated over its first six matches, but Baker is confident in his team despite shutout losses in each of the three losses. "We've played well the last three games, but sometimes the ball isn't going in the back of the net for us, and that's life," Baker said. "It's always hard when you lose three in a row, but this was the hardest three-game stretch we'll have this season. The beautiful part about this team is there's not one bit of quit in any of these boys." Amherst will put its undefeated run on the line Wednesday in a pivotal SWC match against Avon, while Open Door will get another opportunity to get back in the win column Tuesday against Wellington. Amherst 1, Open Door 0 GOALS: (A) Benjamin Thompson (32nd minute) GOALIES: (OD) Micah Brooks (5 saves); (A) Casey Giancaterino (1 save) SHOTS ON GOAL: (OD) 1, (A) 6 FOULS: (OD) 15, (A) 11 CORNER KICKS: (OD) 4, (A) 4 OFFSIDES: (OD) 1, (A) 5 YELLOW CARDS: (OD) Liam Bores; (A) Carter Boone HALFTIME: Amherst, 1-0