Lebanon forward Abe Pearson (11) fights for the ball against Campbell defender Ethan Bellino (6) during a semifinal game of the NHIAA Division II boys soccer playoffs at William Ball Stadium in Exeter, N.H., on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. Campbell won, 2-1. (Valley News – Alex Driehaus) valley news photographs —Alex Driehaus
Lebanon’s VJ Sites, left, comforts his teammate Domenico Pentella as he leaves the field after losing a semifinal game of the NHIAA Division II boys soccer playoffs against Campbell at William Ball Stadium in Exeter, N.H., on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. Campbell won, 2-1. (Valley News – Alex Driehaus) Alex Driehaus
From left, Lebanon midfielder Tyler Kelly and forward Abe Pearson congratulate midfielder Otto Bourne after he scored on a penalty kick during a semifinal game of the NHIAA Division II boys soccer playoffs against Campbell at William Ball Stadium in Exeter, N.H., on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. Campbell won, 2-1. (Valley News – Alex Driehaus) Alex Driehaus
Lebanon head coach Rob Johnstone talks to his players during halftime of a semifinal game of the NHIAA Division II boys soccer playoffs against Campbell at William Ball Stadium in Exeter, N.H., on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. Campbell won, 2-1. (Valley News – Alex Driehaus) Alex Driehaus
Lebanon forward Abe Pearson (11) goes up for a header against Campbell defender Zach Dean (4) during a semifinal game of the NHIAA Division II boys soccer playoffs at William Ball Stadium in Exeter, N.H., on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. Campbell won, 2-1. (Valley News – Alex Driehaus) valley news — Alex Driehaus
By ALEX CERVANTES
Valley News Staff Writer
EXETER, N.H. — It took 11 seconds and a couple passes for the Campbell High boys soccer team to clinch the goal that would end Lebanon’s season on Tuesday night at Bill Ball Stadium.
When the Cougars’ Zach Dean knocked a lofted pass down in his own third in the 78th minute of play, the break was on. Aaron Belanger collected the ball near midfield, flicking it on to Logan Barka, who took two long touches, driving with the ball at a retreating Raiders back line. Striding with Barka was Luke Delia, who had leveled the match a half-hour earlier. Barka then slid a ball through a pair of Lebanon defenders right into Delia’s path, the senior forward comfortably slotting the ball into the back of the net.
Delia’s second-half brace secured a 2-1 comeback win for Campbell in the NHIAA Division II semifinals, while the Raiders’ hopes of a third state title game appearance in four seasons withered away in the blink of an eye.
But that type of goal, frankly, is how you have to beat Lebanon, coach Rob Johnstone said.
“I mean, they literally won it pass, pass, goal,” Johnstone said, breaking down the Cougars’ counterattack. “Nobody broke stride on their team. And again, you have to credit that level of perfection on the counterattack, because if you’re going to get us, you kind of have to be spot perfect,” he said.
Campbell, the 2023 D-III champions, won the two teams’ lone regular-season meeting, 3-2, in late September. It was a game in which the Raiders generated as many attacking chances as they would all season, Johnstone said.
Tuesday night was different, though.
In the two teams’ first meeting, Lebanon was able to stretch Campbell out, allowing Johnstone’s squad to “get around them and get through them.” This time, under the lights at Eustis Field, the Cougars played a more compact shape, a coordinated effort to crowd the middle of the field. It worked.
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“If you saw this game from a blimp, the bodies they had between the hash marks, between the numbers, there were a ton of bodies there,” Johnstone said. “And that’s smart. … It was clogged. We tried to come around and probe, go square across, get around the corner, but they had bodies there.”
The tactical chess match between the two coaches aside, the game also pitted two of the state’s best players in Delia and the Raiders’ Otto Bourne, the pair scoring all three of the match’s goals.
Just as Delia commanded attention from Lebanon’s back line, Bourne’s gravity all over the pitch forced Campbell to adjust.
“I thought both of them had outstanding games,” Johnstone said. “And I can’t ask any more out of Otto.”
It was Bourne who struck first in the match, hammering home a no-nonsense penalty kick to give his squad a 1-0 lead after the Raiders were beneficiaries of a handball call. Delia’s header in the 47th minute, guided into the back of the net off a free kick lifted into the 18-yard box from midfield, leveled the game, 1-1. His tally 30 minutes later proved to be the match’s deciding goal.
But Lebanon wasn’t out of the match, even as precious seconds ticked away Tuesday night.
Johnstone felt as though his team was going to win the matchup until the Cougars’ second goal and, even after, he felt his team was well-positioned to find an equalizer and force overtime. He loved the late response from his team, which included senior center-back Dominic Calandrella’s 30-yard left-footed effort that forced a save from Campbell’s keeper.
A comeback wasn’t in the cards, though, the center referee’s final whistle commencing the Cougars’ celebration and confirming the end of the Raiders’ season. Lebanon will graduate nine seniors from this squad, including Bourne and Calandrella. Still, the in-game flexibility his players showed throughout stood out to Johnstone.
“What more can you ask?” Johnstone said of his players’ performance.
“It may be a cliche: You want our seniors to leave the field knowing (they) didn’t leave anything out there,” he continued. “Miles Saunders, when he tore his quad, the pieces started moving around. But man, despite that, they played great. I mean, asking guys to play out of position, asking guys to play minutes they haven’t played. Good for them.”
Alex Cervantes can be reached at acervantes@vnews.com or 603-727-7302.
11-05-2024 5:31 PM
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