Timothy Christian boys soccer routs South Amboy

SOUTH AMBOY The Timothy Christian boys soccer team proved on Monday afternoon that it will be a tough opponent in the upcoming Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament.

The Tigers defeated South Amboy 6-0, improving their season record to 8-2.

Junior Mike Oduro led the charge on offense for the Tigers with two goals while David Lopes, Jon Matthew, Josiah DeSantos and Matt Parris each added one goal. Sophomore goalie Robert Saydee recorded ten saves and posted the shutout.

“It’s a confidence booster,” Oduro said. “Every year we have close, gritty games with (South Amboy), so it’s always a statement when we beat them.”

Oduro put his team on top early, scoring both of his goals in the first half. With a two-goal advantage coming out of halftime, his teammates took it from there.

“We have such good team chemistry,” Oduro said. “We know each others’ skills and know what to do with each other on the field.”

For a team that just scored six goals in a game, the Tigers have struggled to score lately. Head coach William Bills recently changed formations from a 4-4-2 to a 4-3-3, which judging by Monday’s performance, seems to be a smart move.

“It opens up the field for us and gives us more direct opportunities at goal,” Bills said. “We’ve been mired in an inability to score goals and had to do something. It worked today.”

With the offense firing on all cylinders, Saydee became the unsung hero of the game.

South Amboy took a penalty shot in the second half, which would have brought the score to 2-1. Saydee guessed correctly, made the save and proceeded to save the next two point-blank shots the Governors took off Saydee’s deflections.

The sequence ended in a South Amboy corner kick. The Governors took yet another direct shot off the corner kick, but Saydee proved solid once again.

“Having Robert back there is really good because we know he’s going to make the saves when he needs to,” Oduro said. “The ball barely makes it to the back of the net with Robert there.”

This is Saydee’s first year as a goalkeeper. Bills believes Saydee, a fullback last season, still has yet to reach his full potential.

“We call him the ‘Beast of the East,’” Bills said. “I think we haven’t seen the beginning of what we can do, and I’m really looking forward to seeing what he can do.”

With tournament play quickly approaching and with matchups against some of the GMC’s best teams ahead, Bills looks forward to the challenge.

“We want to go out, do our best and make sure we play well,” Bills said. “If we play well and we still lose, I can live with that.”

Staff Writer Daniel LoGiudice: dlogiudice@gannettnj.com