October 12, 2000|By Nathan Max | Nathan Max,SPECIAL TO THE SUN
Last season, Poly's boys soccer team ended Patterson's run of four straight Baltimore city championships by defeating the Clippers twice. Yesterday afternoon, Patterson took the title back when junior forward Bobby Oxendine scored his second goal of the game in the 80th minute to lift the Clippers to a 3-2 home victory, its second one-goal win over Poly this season.
Oxendine scored the game-winner after he received a 20-yard feed from sophomore midfielder Josh Robinson on a counterattack and broke in alone on Poly junior goalkeeper Brian Cothern. As Oxendine entered the penalty area, Cothern hesitated before coming out to challenge. The moment of indecision was costly, because Oxendine easily sent a soft touch into the bottom right corner to send Patterson (9-0-1, 9-0) to its ninth straight win and fifth city title in the past six seasons.
"I just went for the ball and won it," said Oxendine, who has 12 goals and nine assists this season. "I wasn't sure where [the keeper] was going, whether he was coming in or coming out, so I just put it in the corner."
Patterson looked flat early, as Poly (8-3, 7-2) opened the scoring just 90 seconds into the game when freshman forward Sean King finished a cross from sophomore forward Corey Cascio. The Engineers kept the pressure on and had their best chances to extend the lead in the eighth and 10th minute, but were denied both times by spectacular saves from Patterson junior goalkeeper Roberto Conrad.
"We should have put the game away then, it's that simple," Poly coach Bob Wood said. "We've worked on finishing, and we just didn't put it away. There's no excuse."
Poly continued to hold a decisive edge in play, outshooting the Clippers 7-3 over the first 36 minutes. But in the 37th minute, Patterson leading scorer David Brunetti sent a cross to the far post to Oxendine, who headed the ball into the corner to tie the game, 1-1.
The goal turned the momentum toward Patterson, which outshot the Engineers 10-4 over the final 43 minutes. Brunetti, who has 13 goals and nine assists, gave the Clippers a 2-1 lead just 90 seconds into the second half when he gathered a pass from Robinson (11 goals, 10 assists) in the penalty area and beat Cothern.
Poly tied the game 2-2 on a fluke goal in the 57th minute. Poly sophomore defender Scott Corden kicked a high ball into the penalty area from 40 yards away. Conrad misplayed the ball, which bounced over him and into the goal.
"That [second] goal we gave up was terrible, but we know how to score," Patterson coach Troy Stevenson said. "We play aggressive and win a lot of balls in the middle of the field, so sometimes we come out with it."
McDonogh 2, Calvert Hall 1: Seth Franz scored the winning goal 11 minutes into the second half as the Eagles (15-3, 7-1 league) defeated the Cardinals for the seventh consecutive time. Franz received a pass from Kyle McHugh just inside the 18-yard box and drilled it past the goalkeeper, breaking a 1-1 halftime tie.
