The Proctor Hornets are always a challenging side to play. They are well organized and work very hard; characteristics of the developing SPS squad as well. Both teams expected a competitive match and that is exactly what the night crowd at Proctor was treated to. As the first half got underway the Big Red got the better of the early chances.
Henry Wilson to Will Iller at the top of the box saw a left footed strike force the Proctor keeper to his right. Moments later Wilson himself had a clean shot on frame. Continuing to push forward, SPS got to the baseline numerous times forcing the Hornets to clear balls and earning the visitors several corner kicks. While dangerous, the Big Red could not break the deadlock. Defensively, backs
Iago Arango,
Blake Truchon,
Nikita Duncan, AJ Zoltowski and Matt Baptiste, were very consistent in their play. Possessing the ball well when they had it and tracking runners with grit and persistence.
Leo Colinet was vocal in command of the back line and while not overly busy, made an impressive clutch save on a partial breakaway to keep the half scoreless.
The second half started well for the Big Red as they pressured the backline of the Proctor defense early. Five minutes into the half, some clever ball work by Alex de Burgh Codrington created some space for him to slot the ball to Will Iller at the top of the box. Will played a perfectly weighted ball to the back post where
Henry Wilson arrived to two- touch the ball into the back of the net. With a lot of time to play, SPS continued to attack as well as win in the middle of the park.
Theo Quan was on his game and consistently made strong tackles and helped the Big Red keep their shape. With fifteen minutes to play a Proctor free kick would catch SPS momentarily disorganized and it is all it would take to make the game level at 1. SPS regrouped and attacked hard over the final minutes. Will Iller had another good chance as did the head of
Henry Wilson, but it was not to be. The game ended in a 1 – 1 draw.
The good news is that the Big Red is back on the pitch tomorrow as the host the Dexter School on Hunt field. Hope to see you there.
Go Big Red!
