New Kent prevails in soccer thriller, toppling Northampton 5-4 in overtime

New Kent's Josue Benitez (1) puts a tackling move on Northampton's Jesus Maldonado-Lopez during first half action Monday night.

Alan Chamberlain photos

After building a three-goal lead in the first half, New Kent’s Trojans watched their early advantage gradually slip away in the face of a fierce comeback mounted by Northampton’s visiting Yellow Jackets. The visitors overtook their hosts by the end of regulation to force overtime.

But the Trojans shrugged off the Yellow Jackets’ dominating second half performance to take control in the extra sessions. Sophomore Adam Caldwell’s two goals, one in the first extra period and the other coming with just over a minute to play in the second, proved to be the difference makers in New Kent’s thrilling 5-4 Monday night soccer victory.

At the other end of the field, fellow sophomore and Trojan goalie Logan Deters led a determined defense, weathering the Northampton onslaught with 13 saves in the second half and overtime.

“Both of my sophomores pulled us through today,” said New Kent coach Keith Grant.

“We were ready for this game; we were pumped,” the coach added.

The outcome avenged a 5-0 shutout last week at Northampton. Also, the Trojans are now 2-2 on the season.

For the match, the Yellow Jackets outshot the Trojans 29-11. But New Kent made the most of its shot opportunities with the first two finding the visitors’ net.

Two minutes into the contest, Kyle Claytor took a Josue Benitez pass, raced past defenders on the right side, and punched a shot past Yellow Jacket keeper Eddie Mateo-Hernandez. Eight minutes later, a repeat of the first scoring play ended with Claytor again beating Mateo-Hernandez for a 2-0 lead.

Claytor nearly accomplished the hat trick at the 21-minute mark on a Caldwell pass, but too much spin on the ball caused Claytor’s shot from in front of the goal to drift wide right.

No matter. Moments later, Northampton’s Jose Palacio tripped Caldwell near the goal, resulting in Benitez’s penalty shot over Mateo-Hernandez creating a 3-0 advantage.

Northampton, however, recovered with Jesus Maldonado-Lopez firing a shot out of a crowd of defenders that caught Deters leaning the wrong way. At halftime, the Trojan lead had shrunk to 3-1.

Much to the Trojans’ chagrin, most of the second half played out in the hosts’ end of the field. Five minutes after play resumed, Kevin Ortiz closed the gap to one. New Kent held on for the next 25 minutes, but with under 10 minutes left in regulation, Ortiz scored off an indirect free kick to knot the contest.

Both teams had chances to avert overtime. Moments after Ortiz’s tying goal, teammate Jose Verga unleashed an open shot that Deters stopped. Then in the waning moments, Benitez cleared the ball out of the Trojan end to Caldwell who dribbled past defenders to blast a shot over a hard-charging Mateo-Hernandez, but the effort sailed wide right.

“I almost kind of didn’t want to go to overtime,” Grant said. “I’d have taken the tie, but the rules say we have to play.”

Those rules call for a pair of five-minute overtime periods with no sudden death. Teams must switch ends of the field following the first period. Grant, meanwhile, rallied his players during the break.

“I told them we need to push the first goal in and then slow down and play your position,” he said.

Eighty seconds into the first overtime, Caldwell rolled his first score past Mateo-Hernandez. Deters then stopped two Yellow Jackets shots, and just before time expired, Benitez bounced a shot off the top of the Yellow Jacket goal that could have put New Kent up by two.

Caldwell, though, made it 5-3 in the second overtime by outracing a trio of defenders to drill a sizzling shot off Mateo-Hernandez. Momentum carried the ball over the keeper and into the net for a 5-3 margin with just over a minute left.

Caldwell’s second score became more than just insurance. Verga scored with under a minute to play, but that would be the Yellow Jackets’ final shot of the night.

In the assist category for New Kent, Benitez was credited with two while Claytor and Alan Walker chipped in one apiece.

Deters, spending his first game in goal, finished with 15 saves, drawing high praise from his coach.

“He’s an awesome goalie,” Grant said. “And best of all, we have him for another two years, so I’m happy.”

New Kent’s Alan Walker (17) vies for control of the ball with Northampton’s Billy Martinez.