DANVERS — If there’s one thing the St. John’s Prep soccer team has learned about themselves this fall, it’s that they can deliver in the clutch — seemingly time and time again.
Locked in a scoreless battle with visiting Framingham Saturday at windy Glatz Field, the Eagles finally broke through with 7:20 left to play when Jackson Quigley sent a perfect pass onto the foot of a streaking Matt Foley. The senior captain calmly drew out Flyers goalkeeper Jack Maude before putting a shot past him into the net, giving the hosts a 1-0 triumph in a Division 1 second round playoff game.
“We’ve been playing our game the same way all year long, and we’ve won a lot of these close games late,” said Foley, whose goal was his 11th of the season and fourth game-winner. “It’s routine now for us. We’re used to be in tough positions and pulling through.”
Fourth seeded St. John’s Prep (15-1-4), which will now host the defending state champions from Concord-Carlisle Wednesday in the state quarterfinals (6 p.m.), got six saves from junior netminder Matt Droggitis, who earned his eighth shutout of the season.
“We’ve been in so many tight games that there’s no reason for our guys to get nervous,” veteran St. John’s Prep head coach Dave Crowell said. “I know it’s the tournament, but we’ve done this so many times that it’s second nature.”
On the game-winning play, Prep midfielder Jack Neal won a ball near midfield and set the play in motion.
“The ball bounced to (junior midfielder) Michael Hutchinson, and he played a nice ball into the middle to give me an opportunity,” said Quigley. “I was running to the left side of the field when out of the corner of my eye I saw Foley. I decided to play a quick little ball to him to see if I could get it through.”
“Quigley turned and got the ball off his foot quickly, which was key,” added Crowell. “Whenever we got possession they were swarming to us defensively in the first half, but we did a much better job of avoiding that in the second half.”
Foley had seen both Garrison Murphy and Quigley go for the ball, and if either one of them got it they’d be looking for him. So he instinctively made a diagonal run towards the box.
“Quigley put a perfect pass there for me when I cut towards the net,” said Foley. “I opened my hips to make it seem like I’d shoot far post, but instead I put it near post.”
Framingham (8-5-6), the 13th seed, certainly had chances of its own earlier in the match.
Junior forward Kenny Correa had two terrific scoring bids within the first seven minutes of second half, but both were denied by Droggitis. He took the ball deep into Prep territory just a minute in and flicked a shot from just outside the far post, but Droggitis dove to get his right hand on the ball and steer it aside.
Six minutes later, he gathered a pass out front and fired a quick shot on net, but again the Prep netminder was up to the task and denied the bid. Correa fell to the turf in frustration after the second of his near-misses, holding his head in his hands.
The best chance, though, came off the foot of Sam Pacheco at the 66-minute mark. Sent in alone after a perfect through-ball by teammate Nico Harutunian down the right side, Droggitis cut down the angle to deny him at the near post.
The Eagles had opportunities of their own to snap the stalemate prior to Foley’s goal. A free kick midway through the frame sailed just wide of the far post, and a Finn McCabe header out front off a Prep corner kick sailed over the crossbar. Then, with 11 minutes left in regulation, Owen Beeny sent a short pass directly onto the foot of star scorer Garrison Murphy out front. The junior quickly blasted a shot on net, but Maude was in the right place at the right time to deny the bid.
St. John’s Prep and Concord-Carlisle (13-2-3) will now meet in the Division 1 quarterfinals for the second time in three years; the Eagles defeated the Patriots two years ago, 2-1.
“It’s definitely exciting,” said Droggitis. “I’ve never played them before personally and don’t know what to expect, but I’m sure it’ll be fun.”
“A lot of seniors live in fear of a game being their last one,” added Quigley, “but personally it excites me. I’m looking forward to Wednesday night.”