Oxford’s varsity boys soccer team had an unusual start to the 2011 season.
On Tuesday, August 23, the Wildcats were scheduled to play Farmington Hills Harrison at home behind Oxford Elementary in their season opener. Oxford showed up. Farmington showed up.
The only problem was the referees didn’t show up, causing Oxford to reschedule the match for later in the season and leaving varsity head coach John Thaler a little irritated.
Instead of playing Harrison in a home and away, Thaler agreed to play Harrison twice in Farmington because ‘they had already come to our place,? he said.
The Wildcats finally got the season underway on Thursday, August 25 when they traveled to West Bloomfield and played to a 1-1 draw.
Following an uneventful first half which saw both teams come up empty on the few chances they had, Oxford’s aggressive style of play finally paid off when senior forward Marco Bonfiglio collected a pass from fellow senior Mike Kitchner and slipped it by the goalie for a 1-0 lead.
However, West Bloomfield turned up the pressure and earned seven corner kicks within the final 15 minutes. With three minutes left, they tied the score at one off of a corner kick.
Oxford currently sits at 0-0-1 and traveled to Birmingham Seaholm on Tuesday, August 30. Look for results in next week’s Leader.