In somewhat of a roller-coaster week for the Bromfield boys soccer team, the Trojans handled league rival Tahanto a 4–1 result, humbled Parker 5–0, then fought to a tie with Division II foe Nipmuc Regional.
The week started out with the team traveling to play Tahanto, under the lights at West Boylston High School, an unfamiliar site to the team. The Tahanto Stags have been a thorn in Bromfield’s side for the past three years, winning the league title in 2005 and handing the Trojans a loss at home last season. This year, Bromfield was back for revenge. The Trojans handled play right from the opening whistle, with Cody Osgood and Greg Wenger making streaking runs along the sideline. Minutes into the game Wenger got onto the board, taking a pass from Osgood along the right side, beating a defender to the left, and firing a shot into the near corner to make it 1–0 Bromfield. The Stags rebounded, however, buoyed by their large home fan base. Tahanto started to make progress into the Trojan defensive end late in the first half. With roughly 10 minutes left to go, a defensive error following a long sideline throw-in left forward P.J. Denio open alone in the box to put away a shot from just yards away from goal to tie the game up.
Osgood refused to back down, however, and minutes later took a pass from the midfield and placed an accurate shot in the corner to make it 2–1 before halftime. Following the start of the second half, Bromfield dominated possession until the final whistle. The Trojans benefited from gritty play by Lars Nordgreen, Zach Clements, Kevin Molinaro, Connor Davy, and Ben Landry on defense, who gave goalkeeper Caleb Frost little to worry about throughout the game. Senior Scott Nussdorfer and Osgood added tallies midway through the half to round up the final score at 4–1.
The Trojans then moved to prepare for Nipmuc Regional, a Division II power bent on its own revenge following last season’s loss against Bromfield. Early on it looked to be the Trojans’ game again as Wenger pounded in a breakaway shot following a perfect through-pass from forward counterpart Osgood, to make it 1–0 just 10 minutes into the game. Roughly the same amount of time later Junior Brandon Tomm ripped a 20-yarder into the top right corner to increase the Bromfield lead to 2–0. The Trojans appeared ready to cruise into halftime with a significant lead, but a long cross floated over the head of goalkeeper Caleb Frost and hit the far corner just minutes from the halftime whistle to keep Nipmuc in the game.
The second half proved to be Bromfield’s undoing. Lack of determined ball-tackling and consistent possession turned the game in Nipmuc’s favor as they began to threaten Bromfield’s already fragile lead. Finally, the Chieftains broke through midway into the half following a defensive breakdown on the sideline. A Chieftain left midfielder beat the Bromfield defense and hit a shot past Frost to tie the game at 2–2. The Trojans failed to get consistent play from its starters and received a scare late in the game when stopper Davy was taken down in the Nipmuc offensive end and had to be carried off the field. Despite fighting to the end, the Trojans could not mount any significant challenge to the Nipmuc defense in the second half and had to settle for a disappointing tie.
“Our first half was very strong,” said co-captain Greg Wenger. “In the second half we had a few defensive mistakes. We need to pick up our play.”
The team plays two league games this week: at home versus Gardner and at Hudson. The Trojans are currently 4–0–1.
