EAST BURKE – The Caledonia United boys soccer team struggled to put away a talented Burke Mountain Academy (BMA) squad last week before pummeling Blue Mountain to improve to 5-0 on the season.
After being stuck in the mud for most of the match last Tuesday, Sean Lehoe found the equalizer in the waning minutes of regulation before Sam McLane scored the game-winner off an Olympico corner-kick to salvage a 2-1 overtime win for Cal United over BMA on the road.
With seven minutes left in regulation, Lehoe powered his way into the box and hammered home the equalizer for Cal United. McLane’s perfect corner in overtime went untouched and proved to be the difference against a feisty BMA team that fell to Cal United 6-1 earlier in the season. Josh Petersen was outstanding in net for the visitors, making 11 stops on the day. Charles Lemerond scored the lone goal for the Bears as they fell to 0-4.
“We were missing three of our regular starters and it wasn’t our best showing. We didn’t take care of the ball well enough in the middle of the pitch and felt lucky to escape with the win. It was a gritty game, BMA is always tough, and they did a good job disrupting our rhythm. Josh made several world class saves to keep us in the match and fortunately, our defense stepped up when it mattered most,” said head coach Peter Stratman.
The offense shook off the rust with five goals from senior Vermont All-State selection Eli Russell on Friday as Cal United drubbed Blue Mountain at home 12-0. Sam McLane kept his hot streak going with three more scores and Judah Klarich was equally as impressive with his first career hat-trick. Jola Otten rounded out the Cal United scoring barrage with a goal and Petersen and the defense secured their second shutout of the season. Brody Scott made 12 stops for the Bucks as they fell to 0-6 on the season.
“Blue Mountain, with a younger squad, played hard but struggled to keep up with the pace of the match. We scored two minutes in and never looked back. The boys played with precision and composure, focusing on maintaining possession and controlling tempo. With lots of seasonal illness and players out for various reasons, we’ve had little to no bench the last couple matches, and it’s been hard to maintain a consistent rhythm. I feel like we are making slow progress, but we’re still making too many simple mistakes. With six senior starters on this team, we’re fortunate to have experience across the pitch,” said Stratman.
Stratman’s club was back on the road for a match-up against Oxbow on Monday before returning home for a Mountain League match-up against Richford on Friday. They’ll look to be closer to full strength for a tough match-up against Vergennes next Tuesday in Danville.
