boys soccer

It might be time for Lincoln Stiles to think about heading out on the motivational speaker circuit.

Outstanding on the sidelines, the Oakmont Regional boys soccer coach’s words produced remarkable results on Tuesday night. In no uncertain terms, when Stiles spoke, the Spartans listened.

Twice during the Central Mass. Athletic Directors Association Class B final against Blackstone Valley Tech, the Spartans’ coach called timeout. And twice, Oakmont responded with two-goal rallies, eventually tying the game at 5 and winning 4-3 in a penalty kick shootout.

What Stiles said during those breaks certainly motivated the Spartans.

The first timeout came midway through the opening half as top-seeded Oakmont struggled to slow the Beavers and fell behind 3-1 in the opening 20 minutes. Among other things, Stiles reminded his side that there were still 60 minutes to be played and the Spartans had plenty of time to turn things around.

That message didn’t fall on deaf ears.

Within 10 minutes, Oakmont had pulled even as Michael Bedard netted a pair of goals off Gael Vera feeds, allowing the Spartans to go to halftime even with No. 2 BVT.

A lethargic start to the second half saw the Spartans again fall behind by two, prompting a timeout by Stiles with just over 12 minutes left on the clock. The message was simple.

“I told them, ‘Guys, right now we’re going home as the loser unless we turn things around.’ They needed to play freely like they know how and play loose,” Stiles said following the contest.

The Spartans took that message to heart. With 8:30 to go, Oakmont was awarded a penalty kick, which Vera converted to cut the BVT lead to 5-4. That set up an unbelievable end to regulation.

Kaden Yoder’s last-second corner kick found the head of Vera, who nodded home the tying goal with just four seconds remaining.

“We’re yelling at Kaden and telling him he has 10 seconds,” Stiles said. “He took it and I didn’t even see who scored it. It just popped out and Gael was there with the header.

“I told the guys (heading into overtime) ‘Now you have the momentum. Keep it going and let’s not make any mistakes.'”

Two scoreless overtime periods followed, leading to penalty kicks and, as he had done all night, Stiles pressed all the right buttons in the shootout. Starting goalkeeper Nick Keuhl, who Stiles credited with “doing a great job (Tuesday) and all season,” went to the bench in favor of backup Ben Forbes.

“We went with Ben for the PKs. He’s a little taller, a little more springy left and right” Stiles said.

Blackstone Valley Tech twice missed penalty kicks with Forbes between the pipes, with one shot sailing over the net and another striking off the crossbar.

Oakmont was poised on its attempts, with Aidan Nelson, Vera, Yoder and Cam Cormier sending shots past Beavers keeper Mason Dorr. Cormier took the place of Bedard, who was lifted from the game after getting banged up.

“When it comes to PKs, you just have to go out and do the best you can,” Stiles said. “One of our best guys, Michael Bedard, got hurt, so we had to have Cam Cormier come in and he won it.”

While credit goes to the Oakmont players for going out and performing, don’t overlook Stiles pulling all the correct strings to put them in the best position to win.