Boys soccer: Park ready for home stretch

Park coach Lucky Mallonee eagerly hopes his team will be able to finish the regular season with a flourish.

And the way the Bruins' remaining schedule sets up, that could very well happen.

Park plays four of its final five games at home, taking on Annapolis Area Christian School, Severn, St. Mary's and Glenelg Country School in Brooklandville.

That means the Bruins, 5-5-2 overall and 4-5-2 in the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland B Conference, have an excellent chance to excel the rest of the way.

The Bruins, led by senior goalie Jake Abrams, senior defender Ham Sonnenfeld and junior sweeper Randy Conney, are focused on the playoffs and what seed they could gain after failing to reach the postseason last year.

"There isn't a team that we play the rest of the way in the regular season that I don't think we can't beat," Mallonee said.

He added that playing his team's home games on grass is another advantage for the Bruins down the stretch.

"The majority of the teams in the league play on (artificial) turf," he said. "I have always contended it's easier to go from grass to turf than from turf to grass. People who come to our field have to make an adjustment in their style of play."

The Bruins could probably use a big dose of confidence after going through their toughest stretch of the season.

Park lost to first-place St. Paul's twice, tied Boys' Latin and lost to Friends. All three squad are in the top half of the nine-team conference.

"The last four games, we played against the three best teams in the conference," Mallonee said. "I am not surprised at the results. I am little disappointed we couldn't have squeaked out a win here or there, but those teams are very good."

Earlier in the season, Park took advantage of a depleted Friends squad, beating the Quakers, 4-1, on Sept. 14.

In that game, Friends dressed only 13 players, because five had been suspended for breaking team rules, Quakers' coach John Docherty said.

The rematch, however, was a different story on Oct. 12 in rainy Roland Park when the hosts blanked Park, 2-0, behind goals from Connor Finn and Mike Sweet.

The two squads could meet again in the playoffs.

"This win is big. We are in a battle for second place," said Docherty, whose Quakers (8-4) are ahead of Severn and Boys' Latin in the league standings and behind St. Paul's.

The Quakers took the lead in the 16th minute when Nabil Odulate's shot hit the cross bar and the alert Sweet knocked the rebound past keeper Jake Abrams.

Finn scored an insurance goal early in the second half.

Park pressured the Quakers late, but Friends sophomore goalie Will Frost certainly did his part to help the winners pitch their fifth shutout.

He made 10 saves, including six in the final 10 minutes. Frost's best stop came when he was on the ground and still stuffed Nathan Randrianarivelo's point-blank attempt.

"I think we had three or four quality scoring chances and unfortunately, we couldn't put it in," Mallonee said. "When they (Friends) had their opportunities, they put them in the goal."