Saints march past Tigers

When the first set of VISAA boys soccer polls came out last week, St. Anne’s-Belfield was on unfamiliar ground. The Saints occupied the fifth spot in the poll, one of their highest positions in history and four spots ahead of Tuesday’s opponent, Woodberry Forest.
St. Anne’s immediately set about proving itself worthy of the ranking. Dustin Baellow and Mike Abel scored in the first 20 minutes as the Saints defeated the visiting Tigers 3-1 on a rainy afternoon.
“When it started to rain a little bit, we were excited,” said St. Anne’s coach Mark O’Donnell. “When it started to rain a little harder, we weren’t as excited. Woodberry is a very direct team, and I was hoping a little bit of wetness would take a little bit of their speed out of play. Too much, and it becomes a lot more dangerous.”
Baellow got STAB (4-0-0, 2-0-0 Prep League) going in the eighth minute after taking a long ball from Charlie Espinosa in the box and turning Woodberry defender Wilson Hallett. He rounded onrushing goalkeeper Austin Finch and poked the ball into the net for a 1-0 lead.
“[Baellow] gives them the confidence that they can always come and find something and score,” said Woodberry coach Steve Culbertson. “When you’ve got that up top, it makes the rest of the team better.”
Midfielder Tim Cook helped create the Saints’ second goal in the 15th minute, running down the right flank and taking a pass from Baellow to work a one-on-one with Finch. His shot bounced off the crossbar, but Abel was there to put the rebound away.
St. Anne’s controlled play for much of the first half behind central midfielders Espinosa, Abel and Jay Everett. Espinosa, in particular, earned praise from his coach for his role in helping the Saints win the possession battle.
“He had a phenomenal game,” O’Donnell said. “He had a good game even by his standards. He was very confident. His placement on long balls was outstanding. His decision making, his toughness — he had an incredible game.”
Espinosa had a hand in the Saints’ final goal early in the second half. He found Kendal Pettigrow with a long ball down the left flank, and the junior midfielder cut inside and beat Finch from a tight angle to finish off STAB’s scoring.
Woodberry (2-2-0, 0-1-0) got on the board two minutes later off a corner. Kelvin Whitcher took the kick, and the ball bounced to defender Brian Pecheles, who shot past Saints goalkeeper Carl Carpenter to end the shutout.
The Tigers didn’t threaten again until the final minutes when Carpenter had to dive to save Chase Spong’s shot. Baellow had a pair of scoring chances in the interim but shot wide both times.
“They earned what they got because they were physically after us,” Culbertson said. “They did that very well. We might have found one more, but they had some chances, too.”
Woodberry visits Christchurch on Friday, while St. Anne’s takes its unbeaten record into a home matchup with No. 4 Benedictine the same afternoon.
While the Saints hope to get a result against another highly-ranked team, they aren’t putting too much stock in the early returns.
“We know we’re a good team,” Baellow said. “It’s just a number. It doesn’t really matter right now. All that matters is that at the end of the season, we’re playing for a state championship and hopefully winning.”