Seaholm Soccer Wins Easily Over Ferndale

FERNDALE – It felt like target practice for the varsity boys soccer team on Tuesday night.

The Maples won 6-1 at Ferndale Tuesday night and made it look easy against their Oakland Activities Association Blue division opponent.

The Seaholm offense looked sharp with four different players scoring goals; it was the third time in four games that the Maples scored at least six goals. Coach Ian Whitelaw said the key to his team’s recent success has been their depth offensively.

“We have a lot of talent offensively,” Whitelaw said. “We knew that coming into the season, that we have seven or eight guys that can put it in the net any given day, multiple times. It’s different guys in different games and that’s important.”

Seaholm (8-2; 6-1 OAA Blue) could have easily ended up with eight or nine goals had a couple of shots bounced the right way. The team finished the game with nearly two dozen shots on goal.

Seaholm's Matteo Iavicoli started things off with a goal less than eight minutes into the game. His goal at the 32:12 mark would then set the tone for the rest of the game.

The Maples had a 3-1 lead by halftime and added three unanswered goals in the second half. Seaholm's Andrew Pryka scored twice while Tommy Bowman's put the game out of reach for the Eagles.

Whitelaw liked the way his team used the whole field on offense and consistently kept the pressure up. Seaholm maintained possession in Ferndale’s half of the field for most of the game and even with a big lead, never stopped pushing forward.

“It’s all off the ball running,” Whitelaw said. “It’s every guy in the right spot at the right time. That’s how you keep possession. If you keep possession, you don’t get scored on and it’s a simple game that way. We are a very possession-orientated team and that’s important.” 

Ferndale (2-8; 1-8 OAA Blue) struggled to keep with the pace that the Maples set.

“We don’t handle pace at all,” Eagles head coach Steven Motter said. “We are better suited to play against a slower tempo team and unfortunately the OAA isn’t full of those type of teams.”

Seaholm has a tough stretch of games coming up against some of the top teams in the OAA Blue. The team plays Farmington, Avondale, Oxford and West Bloomfield in the next two weeks; those games should decide the division.

“We have some tough competition coming up,” Whitelaw said. “It’s just about keeping focus everyday, you have to keep with it.”