Sage Hill turning it on

Chris Yemma

A five-win season thus far may have deemed the Sage Hill School boys

soccer team a pretender, but with all five wins in Academy League

play, the Lightning are a definite league contender.

After an 0-6 start to the season, the Lightning have won six of

their last nine games while climbing to a second-place tie in league

with St. Margaret’s, a couple of wins behind league-leading Oxford

Academy, which defeated Sage twice this season.

And following a 2-0 league win over visiting Brethren Christian

Tuesday, the Lightning are still keeping this season’s tradition of

winning must-wins alive.

“The [nonleague] schedule was pretty tough,” Sage assistant coach

Doug West said. “But then we took off after that and we’ve been

playing incredibly well.”

Sage (5-8-1, 5-2 in league) suffered its only two league losses at

the hands of Oxford Academy -- a 2-1 nail-biter Jan. 7 and a 3-2

closely contested match on Friday.

Aside from Oxford, the Lightning have handed all the other league

teams -- and by a 24-6 margin of victory.

The team’s climb toward its plateau has been fueled by the

playmaking ability of sophomore Braden Ross, who scored both goals

for the Lightning Tuesday.

“Braden’s been a powerhouse for the team,” West said. “He’s

definitely on top [scoring wise]. He’s got a good shot. Unfortunately

a lot of teams know that and put extra pressure on him, but he

doesn’t mind a little bit of extra competition.”

Against Brethren (7-8-1, 3-3-1 in league), Ross provided a

second-half explosion after a fairly lethargic first half of play

from both teams.

In just the fourth minute of the second half (44th minute), Ross

broke free down the left side and tapped a grounder across the

penalty box after Brethren’s goalie charged out on him.

Ten minutes later, Ross broke free again, the goalie came out

again, and Ross tapped it by him again, the ball rolling ever so

slowly into the goal.

Sage took 19 shots in the second half to just eight in the first,

and finished outshooting Brethren, 27-13.

With only two seniors on the team, though, Sage still considers

this season something of a rebuilding one. Four freshman, seven

sophomores and four juniors are on the team.

“We’re a young team and we lost a lot of boys last year,” West

said. “So it’s kind of been almost a rebuilding year. But the boys

are stepping up, they’re learning how to move the ball a little more

and they’re learning how to play physically.”

But if this season’s going to be a rebuilding year, the Academy

League is in for a challenge next season. Sage has already earned the

respect of league foes.

“They’re right there -- they’re one of the top three in league,”

Brethren Christian Coach Bernie Smith said. “There’s four teams that

are going to battle it out. That’s Sage Hill, Oxford, St. Margaret’s

and us.”

For Brethren to compete, though, it must look to toppling other

league teams. With two wins over the Warriors this season by a

combined score of 10-2, Sage has got Brethren’s number.

For Sage to have a chance at a share of the top spot, it must

defeat host St. Margaret’s Friday (3:15 p.m.). And for that to

happen, the Lightning must keep the momentum going and this season’s

theme of winning big games alive.

Sage has been climbing toward a plateau, but have yet to arrive at

the peak -- the peak being the top of the Academy League.

“Right now I’d say we’re getting there,” West said. “But we’re

ready to start picking it up again.”