Carlos Sousa scored on a rebound in the second overtime period to give the Connecticut Wolves a hard-fought 1-0 victory over the visiting New Hampshire Phantoms on Saturday night in New Britain, Connecticut. Sousa's fourth goal in his last three home matches broke a long scoreless deadlock which featured solid defense and stellar goalkeeping (Anthony Latronica in the Connecticut goal, Mustapha Achab in net for New Hampshire) at both ends of the field.
The Wolves created the most dangerous scoring opportunities out of the gate, as Jair forced an early save out of Achab and set up another chance for Roger Kennedy that Kennedy pushed to the right of he far post. The Phantoms held their defensive shape at the back, often managing to get eight players behind the ball in two organized lines, four in defense and four in midfield. New Hampshire was then able to spring counterattacks, with forward Mike Keevan being among the most relevant attacking threats for the Phantoms in the first half.
Keevan then had the two best scoring chances of New Hampshire in the opening forty-five minutes, as Latronica had to dive to his right to stop a Keevan drive from the edge of the area. Shortly thereafter, Keevan had the best chance of the night for New Hampshire, as he received the ball alone in front of the net. Latronica managed to make a reflex save, just getting enough of Keevan's shot to knock it out for a corner.
One of Connecticut's best chances of the opening stanza came in the 38th minute, as defender Seth Lilburn fired a speculative long-range shot that surprised Achab in the New Hampshire goal. Achab had to dive to his right to make the save as Lilburn's shot dipped under the level of the crossbar.
Both sides made changes at halftime to try to spark their scoring attack. For Connecticut, Shane Watkins and Carlos Rocha entered, for Jair and Roger Kennedy respectively, while the Phantoms brought Dushawne Simpson into the match. The substitutes immediately made an impact on the match. Rocha had two near-misses in the penalty area, the second coming after fine setup work by Wolves captain Dean Sewell. Simpson threatened to open the scoring at the other end, but Latronica managed to tip his header over the crossbar.
Sousa and Rocha both continued to put pressure on the Phantoms defense in the latter stages of the second half, but New Hampshire held firm and managed to turn the tide once again towards the end of regulation. Simpson attracted the attention of the Wolves defense after his early chances, but it was midfielder Rich Fleming who nearly prevented overtime, shooting just wide of the right post in the dying minutes of regulation play.
Connecticut came out aggressively to start the first overtime, with Shane Watkins latching onto a loose ball and forcing another save from Achab. The New Hampshire goalkeeper also had some help from his defense, as Phantoms captain Ted Haley cleared another Watkins shot off the goal line. The Wolves managed the better chances in the first ten minute overtime period, as Latronica's catch of a Simpson header was the only New Hampshire threat on goal.
The end came in the second sudden death period. Carlos Rocha fired a long, speculative shot at goal, catching Achab playing off his line. Achab scrambled back, but the shot hit the crossbar and bounced to a wide open Carlos Sousa, who wisely went towards goal while the Phantoms defense assumed that the ball would sail over the net. Sousa found himself all alone in front of goal with Achab down, and calmly finished from close range to give the Wolves a vital 1-0 victory.
This result marked the third narrow home victory in succession for the Wolves in the last three weeks, each victory coming by a one goal margin, with two decided in overtime. Connecticut returns to action on Wednesday in the New England Cup against Cape Cod Crusaders of the PDL, and then hosts South Jersey Barons next Saturday night. With this double overtime encounter being the first of four matches in eight days, the Wolves will have to prove their match fitness and get contributions from the reserves to be able to withstand this vital stretch.
Wolves 1, Phantoms 0 (2OT)
Goal- Connecticut- Carlos Sousa (Carlos Rocha)- 103rd minute
Cautions: New Hampshire: Sean Carey, Dane Street
Connecticut: Dean Sewell, Andy Ravenello
Lineups: New Hampshire: Mustapha Achab, Ted Haley, Patrick Mulcahy, Rich Fleming, Glen Hollingworth, James DeDeus, Kevin Chevalier (Omari Murray, Dane Street), Sean Carey, Ahmed Manning (Dushawne Simpson), Mike Keevan (Mike Kulas)
Connecticut: Anthony Latronica, David Kelly (Matt O'Toole), Steve Danbusky, Seth Lilburn, Andy Ravenello, Davy Williamson, Sullivan Phillips (Tony Cartiera), Dean Sewell, Jair (Shane Watkins), Carlos Sousa, Roger Kennedy (Carlos Rocha)
