TAMAQUA — Eli Wood admits soccer isn’t his favorite sport, though you wouldn’t know it by watching him.
The Pottsville left-sided midfielder — and self-proclaimed “basketball and baseball guy” — scored two goals Saturday morning to help the Crimson Tide edge Tamaqua 4-3 in a Schuylkill League Division I contest.
Wood’s second goal turned out to be the winner after Tamaqua rallied for two late goals. But don’t be thrown by Wood’s passion for basketball and baseball. When he takes the pitch, he gives all he has.
“Whatever I play, I play with passion,” Wood said. “I’m a competitive guy. If I go out there to play, I go out there to win.”
His 51st-minute strike allowed Pottsville (3-1, 2-0 D-I) to do just that Saturday.
The goal stemmed from Wood’s heavy touch around a defender in the midfield that appeared to be heading out of play. But Wood tracked the ball on the touch line, turned the corner, dribbled into the box and fired far side past Tamaqua keeper Hunter Banavage to give the Tide a 4-1 lead.
“I took a larger touch and the defender thought it was going out,” Wood said. “So I went down to pick it off the line. The goalie bit like I was going to cross to the middle and I just took the shot.”
But the large lead wouldn’t last long. Tyler Hollenbach pulled Tamaqua (0-2, 0-2) within two goals a minute later by breaking through the Tide defense and perfectly placing his shot away from keeper Tobias Serrian.
Robbie Stidham cut the Pottsville lead to one with his second goal of the game in the 59th minute, a trickler off Serrian’s finger tips.
“Both of those guys really are quick,” Tamaqua coach Greg Sheeler said of Stidham and Hollenbach. “They have fantastic shots and when they do have opportunities, they cash them in most of the time. I can’t say enough about those guys.”
But the Raiders couldn’t find the equalizer despite consistent pressure in the final 15 minutes. Serrian made a sprawling save on Hollenbach in the 67th minute and a breakaway chance by Stidham in the 76th was stifled by Pottsville’s back line at the 18-yard box.
“We really lost our center,” Pottsville coach Dave Newton said. “We had unforced errors and we’re not used to the rain. Believe it or not, we’ve only had one practice in the rain and it showed. Happy with the kids’ effort, however, losing their center — not a good thing for us.”
Maldeen Thomas opened the scoring for Pottsville in the 26th minute. Fernando Rivera unleashed a shot from 30 yards out that hit the crossbar and bounced right to Thomas, who headed the ball in from the penalty spot.
Stidham tied the game a minute later by picking up a failed clearance in the Pottsville box and poking it past Serrian.
Wood pulled the Crimson Tide ahead again in the 34th minute with his first goal. Aiden Liptok’s cross from the right side went past Thomas in the middle and found Wood open for an easy tap-in on the left.
Rivera curled a corner kick in off Banavage with seconds left in the first half to give Pottsville a 3-1 lead ahead of the break.
Rivera pestered the Raiders’ midfield all game, but was especially effective in taking away Tamaqua’s possessions in the first half. He also lofted about a half-dozen balls over the Raiders’ defense in search of Thomas that provided the Crimson Tide good looks at goal.
“He’s a magician with the ball,” Newton said of Rivera. “He can place the ball and do it well. Chuck Botto in the center is another one. When he distributes the ball, he’s terrific. We’ve worked on it. We’ve been working on it constantly. Not shocked by it.”
The Pottsville midfield also had an easy target in Thomas. The tall, speedy senior didn’t play last season, but Newton said he is knocking off the rust.
The same could be said for Tamaqua in the first season under Sheeler. The Raiders opened the season with a 6-2 loss at Pine Grove, but showed good strength and skill Saturday. They fought through Pottsville’s dominating possession early and even created a chance on Donny Ludwig’s shot off the bar in the 19th minute.
“We came off a tough loss with Pine Grove where we didn’t really play our game whatsoever,” Sheeler said. “Today, we actually came out and played as a team. I’m proud of the guys. It was a tough loss, but you’ve got to hand it to Pottsville. They put the ball in the net and took care of business.”
Game Summary
Pottsville (3-1, 2-0) 3 1 — 4
Tamaqua (0-2, 0-2) 1 2 — 3
Pot — Thomas (unassisted), 25:55
Tam — Stidham (unassisted), 26:15
Pot — Wood (Liptock), 33:31
Pot — Rivera (unassisted), 39:35
Pot — Wood (unassisted), 50:29
Tam — Hollenbach (Murphy), 51:44
Tam — Stidham (unassisted), 58:15
Shots on goal: Pottsville 11, Tamaqua 8. Corner kicks: Pottsville 9, Tamaqua 3. Saves: Pottsville (Serrian) 5, Tamaqua (Banavage) 7
JV: Pottsville 2-0