A momentum win: Diaz, Titans top Bears in battle of unbeatens
Oct. 20—The Tuscarora boys soccer team's seniors had their favorite memories in the program read by a PA announcer before Tuesday's Senior Night match.
Titans senior David Diaz picked a match from two years ago, when he was the lone underclassmen playing alongside 10 Tuscarora seniors.
"I looked up to all of them," he said.
Diaz wasn't just along for the ride back then, though. As a sophomore, he was one of the Titans tasked with taking corner kicks and free kicks.
These days, Diaz takes pretty much all such kicks for the Titans, and he has a pretty good idea how to boot the ball to ready-to-soar teammates like Tony Lombardi.
With the Titans looking for an insurance goal against Oakdale in a battle of unbeaten teams on Tuesday, Diaz took a free kick from about 11 yards out on the far right side during the 31st minute.
Diaz lofted the ball toward the goal, Lombardi leaped and headed it into the net, and then the Titans continued to hold the visiting Bears scoreless en route to a 2-0 win.
The win sends Tuscarora (12-0-1, 6-0 CMC Spires Division) to Saturday's Central Maryland Conference championship match, where the Titans will face the Gambrill Division champ.
"This is a group that wants to be playing for a state championship," Titans coach Todd Knepper said. "So, to get to a preliminary championship and be recognized as the strongest team in our conference means a ton to us."
Topping a team like Oakdale (9-1, 5-1) also gives the Titans a boost with the postseason approaching.
"To get this game against a team that's quality this late in the season, that gave us a nice run, you couldn't ask for more," Knepper said.
Oakdale had to play a good portion of the match without Cristian Topovich, who left with a knee injury with a little over two minutes left in the first half.
Still, the Bears made this one of Tuscarora's toughest wins. The Titans typically score more than two goals but leaned on their defense.
"It only takes one if you're going to keep a clean sheet, and that ended up kind of turning into the focus when really we set up to line up and go score four or five goals," Knepper said. "To their credit, they hustled just as much as we did. We just capitalized on those early chances and really dug in and did the dirty work."
And two members of Tuscarora's defense, Lombardi and Kyle Lillis, ended up scoring.
Lillis struck first on a play initiated by Diaz. Dribbling by a defender, Diaz fired a shot from the right that was blocked by Bears keeper Dylan Miller. Miller then hustled to block the rebound shot.
But Lillis was there for the second rebound, pounding a point-blank shot in during the seventh minute.
"Kyle's a left back, but he likes to live on the front half of the field," Knepper said. "He is just an all-out bulldog for us. He's constantly trucking forward, he's constantly getting in the passing lanes, he won his one-on-one's tonight, got his body in the right position. And we absolutely love him for the work rate and the reliability."
Lombardi also likes to score, be it on penalty kicks or headers. It was a header this time.
"We like to get forward on set pieces and we've got some guys who are good in the air, guys like David who can pick out a head," Knepper said. "All in all a good night for us. I'm super happy for the seniors, and I think everybody that showed up got what they were asking for."
Oakdale has to face another Frederick County heavyweight, Frederick, on Thursday.
"We're going to have to be ready," Bears coach Wil Ricketts said. "It's a tough game today, and we'll just be ready for the next game. A dangerous team we have to play on Thursday."
