After Delayed Start, Mansfield Boys Soccer Settles for Tie with Oliver Ames

A 45-minute delay to the start of the Mansfield High boys' soccer team against Oliver Ames' game Wednesday night certainly didn't help either squad.

After waiting for referees to arrive, who were stuck in a traffic jam on Route 128, the game started slow and ended with a 1-1 tie.

Nonetheless, despite some sloppy play on each side, OA and Mansfield savored one point in the Hockomock League standings.

“I’m not here to make excuses, but obviously starting 45 minutes late doesn’t help the situation,” said Oliver Ames head coach John Barata, whose team is now 3-0-2 on the year. “It didn’t help the preparation to get us ready to go and get excited…and then all of the sudden to have to stop preparing. Both teams had to deal with it.”

“It was the reason we came out slow in the first half because we were sitting around too long,” Mansfield coach Steve Sheridan said about his squad, which went to 1-1-3 after the tie. “If I had to do it all over again, I probably would have gone on the bus and went home and re-scheduled the game.”

Although both teams had trouble generating anything in the early going, Mansfield had a surge during the middle of the first half and forced OA junior goalkeeper David MacKinnon to help his team with a few spectacular saves, including a header attempt from senior midfielder Danny Sarkis late in the half.

Sarkis, however, redeemed himself as he and the Hornets kept their momentum going into the early part of the second half with his goal during the 50th minute.

“He’s our goal scorer,” Sheridan said. “He’s our No. 1 goal scorer. He certainly works hard.”

Despite the goal, Mansfield couldn’t sustain the momentum against a frustrated OA squad, which was finally able to generate some scoring chances late. And, they were later rewarded with David Stapleton’s tally late in the second half (during the 70th minute).

“They came alive,” Sheridan said. “That was all OA. They started pressuring us towards the end of the game and our defense just had a little bit of a crack in it.”

Despite the slow start, Barata agreed that the Tigers dug deep to remain unbeaten in the young season.

“I credit Mansfield. They were ready to go and they put us on our heels,” Barata said. “But we recovered and we did alright, but it wasn’t the best performance.”

Both teams have a bigger challenge ahead of them this weekend. Mansfield travels to Attleboro to face the defending Hockomock League champs in its first divisional game Friday afternoon at 3:30 p.m.

OA travels to face the defending Division 2 South champions in Canton – which hasn’t lost a home game in three years – Saturday night at 7.

Although the challenge seems extremely tough against a league power and Davenport Division foe, Barata and company hope fare well with the tough task ahead.

“Canton is No. 4 in the state and they haven’t lost in three years on their field,” Barata said. “They are the favorites to win the Hockomock League again.

“It’s going to be a tough, competitive, game,” Barata added. “They are very strong and hopefully we’ll be ready to play.”