By: Sean Moylan
Kyle Thornley and Tommy Fallon played (arguably) their best games of the year.
Moreover, the entire Hightstown High boys’ varsity soccer team put together one of its best offensive attacks of the season in its Central Jersey Group III playoff game at Ocean Township on Tuesday afternoon. Nonetheless, Ocean (seeded 4th) made the most out of its chances and beat Hightstown, 3-1.
"It was a typical game for us. We outplayed them but they took advantage of their opportunities," said Hightstown Coach Dominic Mastroianni.
In the first two minutes of the game, the Rams bombarded Ocean’s goalie with a couple of quality shots. But the first time Ocean’s got deep into Hightstown territory, three minutes into the contest, it scored
"Adam Henry (13 saves) was stuck with a man coming at him in a one-on-one situation," said Mastroianni, who felt his team had a little trouble communicating in the backfield. Nonetheless, the Rams were having little difficulty getting off quality shots (12 of them) on offense.
"We were firing some nice shots from 18 to 25 yards out," added Mastroianni, who felt his team controlled most of the game despite the final score. Thornley, for one, was doing a good job of working the ball deep. And his efforts were rewarded when he scored on a direct kick to knot the score at 1-1 at intermission.
"They (Ocean) set up a wall, but they left an opening on the left side and he took a shot," said Mastroianni of Thornley, who found the left-hand corner of the net from 25 yards out. "It wasn’t the hardest shot in the world, but it was effective."
At the half "Mastro" talked to his team about keeping control of the game. And at times Hightstown did have control in the second stanza. But Ocean, nevertheless, scored twice more.
"He (Henry) made some nice saves, but he was left defenseless a lot of the times," said Mastroianni, who knows his defense, which is usually very solid, will become even more consistent with experience.
"I’m not unhappy with the (10-10) season, but I’m dissatisfied that we left too much on the table. There’s so much left undone. And this group had the talent."
Hightstown came a long way this season, from its great opening run of games to its toughness against its toughest opponents. The Rams made the post season, won the Valley Conference for the third straight year and had a .500 record, which is pretty good for a team that lost most of its players, including three D-1 stars. And with 10 to 13 players coming back for their senior year, the Rams will be looking for Championships next season.

