Font ResizeWILMINGTON -- Freshman Nick Nilsen scored from outside the penalty box as time expired at the end of overtime to give the Twin Valley boys soccer team a dramatic 1-0 victory over Leland & Gray on Wednesday at Baker Field.
With the win, the Wildcats improved to 4-0.
"In my 30 years, I’ve never seen a game end at the horn," said winning coach Buddy Hayford. "It was pretty exciting for the home crowd."
Goalie Sam Molner, who was making his first start of the year, got credit for the assist after punting the ball deep to Nilsen. He also made 15 saves to record the shutout.
"He swore on a stack of Bibles that the ball didn’t go in the goal," said Hayford of a controversial Leland & Gray shot that Molner stopped just before it crossed the line.
Tanner Karg made 11 stops for the Rebels.
"My fear was that we would eventually get worn down. Chris (Barton) came with an army and we had a thin bench," added the Twin Valley coach, who said Eli Park and Dal Nesbitt had terrific games for the hosts.
The 4-0 Wildcats will host Green Mountain on Saturday at 11 a.m. and the Rebels will host Windsor on Monday at 4:30 p.m.
Cross Country
HARTFORD -- The Brattleboro boys cross country team had its best outing of the season by battling Woodstock to a 42-42 tie. Woodstock claimed the victory based on the sixth place tiebreaker.
Thetford was third with 58 points. Springfield, Hartford
Spencer Olson led the Colonels with a strong third place finish in 19:52 over the 5k course. He was followed by Arturo Guttierez, 4th in 20:02; Michael Cioffi, crossing over from soccer, in sixth place at 20:14; Graham Glennon, 19th in 21:43; and Ryan Gilligan 20th in 21:46.
Woodstock won the girls’ meet with a score of 15 points to Thetford’s 50 points. Freshman Catey Yost ran well for BUHS, finishing 11th with a time of 25:26. She was followed by Dana Alexa in 27th with a time of 32:18.
The team is back in action Friday afternoon in Bellows Falls at the Russ Pickering Invitational.
