Oliver Ames slips by Mansfield in defensive battle

MANSFIELD Reigning three-time Division state champion Oliver Ames is looking to find where it will get offensive production two games into this season After getting shut out in their season opener the Tigers got just enough offense Monday night with a - win in a rematch of last year s state semifinal against Hockomock League rival Mansfield Oliver Ames stellar defensive performance made Victor Nascimento s goal the difference as the Tigers notched their second consecutive shutout to start the season by blanking the Hornets It was a really good contest for us early on in the season to have so much of the ball and so much possession Oliver Ames head coach John Barata disclosed It was fun to have But we got to finish We ve got to figure out scoring OA - - felt snakebitten offensively until it determined the back of the net in the th minute thanks to Nascimento A quick throw-in led to a strong cross from Josh Braz Ferreira and Nascimento settled a bounding ball on the left side of the box before beating charging Mansfield keeper Troy Lasbury-Casey five saves for the goal In a championship like this when you re playing against a great organization like Mansfield you need to have the differences And the tenacity and intensity Barata reported We needed good players out there Victor has skill and tenacity so it was a good fit to put him up and see what he could do And he delivered That was more than enough for OA s defense which has compiled six straight clean sheets dating back to last season Alejandro Landaverde Lukas Hallama Ryder Mercieri Nick Babanikas and Bailey Gavin were terrific in the back end in front of goalie Zack Gilson two saves And when Mansfield - tested OA s defense the Tigers invariably had an answer Aside from Brandon Gardner hitting the crossbar on a long free kick in the th minute the Hornets had their best scoring chance come less than five minutes into the second half when Mario Harrison got behind OA s defense Sujay Gaddam laid the ball off to Harrison but he didn t get a chance to put a shot on net as Hallama rushed in to clear the ball away We practice recovery defending and that was textbook what he did Barata stated That was the one real scary chance they had all meeting That moment was awesome for us to teach that unit defense is critical