Maniac in the midfield

By Michael Ashcraft --

Never underestimate the nice guy.

Andrew Morales does not cut an intimidating figure.

Oh, but unleash him on a soccer field and he's a monster. He was an absolute maniac in the midfield Wednesday, beating three Pilgrim school midfielders to power the Lighthouse Christian Academy to a rematch victory 6-4.

Pilgrim's strength was in its midfield, where they placed strong boys with tricky, quick feet. It was a formula that worked in their first faceoff with LCA to a 1-7 victory over the Sorry Saints.

On Wednesday, the Saints weren't sorry anymore. They shocked the Panthers. Coach Hosea Ashcraft has built a daunting defense as a launching pad to rocket from. In their last faceup, LCA hemorrhaged goals. It didn't this time.

Zion Jenkins, Owen Toomey and Sean Toomey anchor the defense with speed, aggression and some fancy footwork. Full backs Caleb Campos and Miguel Gutierrez also kept a tight ship. Goalie Nile Hosni made an astonishing save that left the Panthers groaning.

In the first 10 minutes, Lighthouse was pressing and keeping the ball mostly in Pilgrim's half. But then the strong and quick Pilgrim midfield began to assert itself. They were tricky with cuts and feints to dance past Saints players.

But the Saints learned, and as the game progressed, they caught them in their tricks and limited their effectiveness.

Winger Zeke Young kept getting fouled, and on one free kick, Zion sent the ball into the sun and over the head of Pilgrim's goalie to open the scoring 1-0.

Minutes later, Zeke committed a handball in the Saints area, and the Pilgrim player didn't fail the penalty kick. At half time, the Panthers were savoring the victory. "We need two more goals," a player said.

But in the second half, it was Lighthouse that fired in four goals in rapid succession. Christian Boatwright got a hattrick in 10 minutes. Andrew was sending over-the-top balls and through balls and Christian kept getting the better of the defense. One of his goals was a corner that he headered into the net.

Pilgrim's heart sank. But there was still 30 minutes of play left, and they fought hard. Andrew asked to be subbed off with back pain. His absence proved his effectiveness; Pilgrim scored two.

A 7th goal was incomprehensibly ruled offside. While Lighthouse players were past the last defense, the ball came from the goalie (who they were not past). The goalie's kick smashed into Marley Rancipher's chest, bounced, and Christian kicked it in.

Marley, whose smooth and flowing play takes inspiration from his Jamaican namesake, was giving Pilgrim's defense plenty of grief. Though he didn't scored, Pilgrim assigned him two defenders to stymie him. This freed up other Lighthouse players to set up and score goals.

After stretching and in spite of continuing pain, Andrew went back out on the field later in the second half. He was a machine, a maniac, a mafia. He tipped the balance back in favor of Lighthouse.

As a kid in school, Andrew is a good-natured, friendly nicest student around.

Ha! But once he gets out on the field, he's a beast.

The game ended 6-4. Lighthouse got revenge.