The Oxford varsity boy soccer team continues to dominate as they’ve increased their overall season record to 5-0 and 2-0 in the OAA Blue after a defeating North Farmington 4-2 on Sept. 6.
Oxford made the return trip to North Farmington to finish their weather-delayed game with Oxford up 3-1 with 17:29 left in the first half.
‘The half remained the same with Oxford providing pressure on the Raiders,? said Coach John Thaler. ‘Goals were scored by seniors Joe Hurford, Travis Simat and Chase Garavaglia before the game delay.?
The second half started with aggressive play by both teams, but Oxford gained the upper hand as the North Farmington keeper committed a foul inside the box which led to an Oxford penalty kick. Emmanuel Ibarra steped up and buried the shot to put Oxford up 4-1.
However, the Raiders would inch closer with a goal on a free-kick delivered from midfield to put them within two. Oxford’s defense held tight the remainder of the game and sophomore keeper Connor Bandel secured the win for Oxford.
Earlier in the week on Sept. 3, Oxford beat Ferndale High School 8-0 in their first league game.
The Wildcats got on the board quickly with a nice goal by senior captain Chase Garavaglia. Junior Francisco Rivera-Reyes scored the next goal on a perfect header just catching the bottom of the crossbar to put the Wildcats up 2-0. Sophomore Justin Westphal tallied his second goal of the season on a nice feed from senior captain Travis Simat. Garavaglia would add his second goal of the night soon after.
Junior Tommy Downs added another goal with sophomore Devan deJong punching one past the keeper for his first goal of the season. Senior Jake Champion and Simat rounded out the scoring to put Oxford up 8-0 with less than 10 minutes left to play in the half. The Eagles would earn a great breakaway, moments later only to be stopped by junior keeper Michael Dobies, who earned the shutout in goal. The game was called at half.
On Aug. 28, the Wildcats traveled to Lapeer where they shutout the Lapeer East Eagles 3-0. The Wildcats got onto the scoreboard with nice one-two passing between juniors Tommy Downs and Francisco Rivera-Reyes, which ultimately led to Downs netting the game winning goal. Shortly after the Eagles would give up a poor clearance which fell to sophomore Greg Knox who rocketed a shot on goal that the keeper couldn’t handle, putting the Wildcats up 2-0. Again, the defense of David Kitchner, Matt Reed, Joe Hurford, Travis Alderman and Drew Connelly only allowed a single shot on goal during the entire half.
The second half saw more strong play from Oxford with great possession. The Wildcats wouldn’t have to wait long to score as Knoxfed a great corner to the far post to find an unmarked sophomore Justin Westphal, who calmly punched the ball into the back of the net.
Sophomore keeper Connor Bandel earned the shutout in net.
The boys will battle Schwarz Creek at home on Sept. 12. The game starts at 7 p.m.