DANVILLE – After turning away Hazen Union’s upset bid in the first round, the Caledonia United boys soccer team couldn’t solve Fair Haven’s defense last week in the quarterfinals of the Division III playoffs.
Senior Darshan Eddleman continued to play his best soccer of the season last Tuesday, tallying the game winner and added an assist in Cal United’s 3-2 first round win over the Wildcats last Tuesday. After Seville Murphy shocked the home crowd 90 seconds into the match to make it 1-0 Hazen, freshman sensation Omar Miksic-Knibb found the equalizer off a perfectly lobbed Sean Lehoe floater over the Wildcat defense at the 26 minute mark. Cal United controlled possession the rest of the half and took the lead when Connor Winn buried a perfect cross from Eddleman with seven minutes left. Hazen refused to go away, making it 2-2 midway through the second half when Damian Morrison broke through the defense. With 12 minutes left in regulation, Sam McLane beat two defenders on the left side and found a streaking Eddleman at the goal line for the game-winner.
“We started slow and it can be tough to dig yourself out of a hole so early in the match. The boys played themselves into the game nicely and as time went on, we held most of the possession. Hazen is disciplined and tenacious, they don’t give up anything easily. They kept themselves in the match and capitalized on our mistakes. The boys worked hard throughout, and it felt good to generate 15 shots on a stingy defense. It felt good to get the first playoff win under our belts,” said head coach Peter Stratman.
Jace Hetrick and Jack Spaulding scored two goals apiece and Max Carrabino put on a show in net for Fair Haven as they blanked Cal United 4-0 on the road Friday to advance to the Division III Final Four. After nearly 50 minutes of soccer, Fair Haven’s 4-0 advantage seemed like a mismatch to the naked eye, but a Miksic-Knibb shot off the post and a pair of dazzling saves by Carrabino on Sam McLane and Eli Russell penalty kicks erased what could have been an old fashioned shootout. The talented sophomore keeper also denied Eddleman twice on quality chances to keep the home team at bay. Josh Petersen made three stops for Cal United in the loss as their season came to an end at 11-3-2. Fair Haven improved to 11-4-1 with their fourth straight win, including three straight shutouts from Carrabino. They faced defending Division III champion Stowe in the semifinals on Tuesday.
“They were a very good team, but definitely beatable. A couple of their shots were absolute bangers from distance and their keeper made several incredible saves. It took us about 25 minutes to get ourselves into the pace of the match, but after that, we matched them and actually had more possession and shots,” said Stratman.
It was the first season for Cal United under Stratman as a three-team cooperative (Twinfield-Cabot-Danville) in a new Division. The program earned its first ever Division III playoff win and Stratman will only lose Eddleman and Bailey Huang to graduation in the spring. Stratman’s teams have won nearly 60 games in his six seasons in Marshfield and Danville and with a dynamic core returning that includes leading scorer Miksic-Knibb (18 goals), they will likely be knocking on the door of another Final Four appearance next fall.