The Solanco boys soccer team made history last week. Even they are not sure how much. According to coach Ron Miller, the Mules won three games in a row for the first time in over a decade. Their two-game win streak was the longest in eight years. And Solanco defeated Garden Spot for the first time in school history. The way they won the games was just as remarkable. Solanco scored 20 seconds into overtime to defeat visiting Governor Mifflin Saturday.
Nick Boulé, who scored five goals during the streak, had the game-winner. The Mules got the ball to begin the extra session and worked it down the field where Boule scored. "Before overtime I told the boys that my heart can't take much more of this," Miller said. "In the meantime they needed to go out and win this early and take care of business. If they only listened to me like that all the time." Playing in front of a sizable home crowd, the Mules fell behind 90 seconds into the game because of a defensive breakdown. "I was just standing there trying to figure out what had just happened," said Miller. " Solanco scored the equalizer eight seconds before halftime when Cody Bleacher headed home a cross from Boulé. The Mules took the lead seven minutes into the second half as Boulé ran on to a through ball from freshman midfielder Evan Salisbury and beat the goalie. "Everything was cooking on all cylinders at that point," said Miller. Governor Mifflin tied it with seven minutes left in regulation before the Mules ended it early in the extra session. Last Thursday's 4-3 win over host Garden Spot was even more dramatic. The Mules trailed 3-1 with less than 10 minutes to go before rallying and eventually winning on a Boulé goal in the second overtime period. It was an especially meaningful win for Miller. It came on September 11 and Miller is veteran of the Air Force. It was also the birthday of Tom Brackbill, Miller's coach during his playing days at Solanco. Brackbill server as a mentor to Miller, who played soccer at Syracuse before his Air Force career. Miller told Brackbill the Mules would be playing in his honor. The game started well for the Mules as reserve midfielder Cole Boxleitner scored in the 20th minute off an assist from Jimmy Maeda. Garden Spot responded with three unanswered goals in the second half. A penalty kick score gave the Spartans a 3-1 edge with 18 minutes remaining in regulation. "I was thinking it was the Elizabethtown game all over again," said Miller, referring to the game where Solanco led 1-0 at halftime before losing 5-1. But this time was different. Bryan Olivares was taken down in the box after a pass from Josh Bailey and Olivares converted the penalty kick to trim the deficit to 3-2 with a little over nine minutes left. Four minutes later, Boulé beat a defender and tied it. "It was a great comeback but I told the boys we were not done," said Miller. "If you come back and don't get the win that will mean we still didn't get the job done." That's what happened two years ago when the Mules battled back from a 2-0 deficit but lost 3-2. Solanco had some added adversity when starting goalie Jonathan Kraynak was injured with three minutes left after he was run into by a Garden Spot player. He was replaced by Robert Beard. After a scoreless 10-minute OT period, Boulé once again came up big with a goal 50 seconds into the second session. Following the game, Miller sent Brackbill a text that simply said, "4-3 2 OT win Coach. Happy Birthday". Solanco started the week with a 4-0 triumph over Cocalico Tuesday, September 9. "It was 80 minutes of soccer dominance," said Miller. Seven minutes in, Salisbury headed home a free kick taken by Matt Gote. Boulé scored less than a minute later to make it 2-0. In the 28th minute, Britton Yoder scored off a pass from Olivares. Bleacher scored in the 78th minute with Boule notching an assist. Comments are closed.
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