Frogs hop to it early to shutout Saint James

ST. JAMES — Three first-half goals were all Maret really needed Tuesday against Saint James, but one more in the second half sealed the game for the Frogs in a 4-0 victory over the Saints.

Maret wasted little time getting on the scoreboard as Matt Bainum netted the game’s first goal in the fifth minute off an Adam Zeitler assist.

From that point, the Frogs took control of the clock by maintaining posession of the ball for much of the contest.

“We try and keep possession,” Maret coach Monhan Telfer said. “If we keep possession, we’re not running around as much and we can rest our legs.”

Eight minutes after the first goal, the Frogs struck again when a Zach Tamen shot went through the waiting arms of Saint James goalkeeper Alex Wagner to push Maret’s lead to two goals.

“(Tamen) is probably the most technical player we have,” Telfer said. “He’s a good leader.”

Tamen added a second goal in the 23rd minute after a shot ricocheted to him off the crossbar. He returned it, sending it to the back of the net.

Saint James (1-12) is used to playing possession-oriented teams being in the Mid-Atlantic Conference and it is something the Saints try to mirror.

“Most of the teams in this conference play a possession style game. Possession dictates the game’s pace,” coach Jonathan Schwab said. “If they can execute it, we end up defending for much of the game.”

Despite trailing 3-0 at the half, Saint James remained aggressive.

“My boys never give up,” Schwab said. “We had good opportunities, we just couldn’t finish.”

The Saints’ best scoring opportunity came in the second half when Kevin Han’s header just sailed over the top of the goal.

Maret controlled almost every facet of the game. The Frogs’ four goals came on just 17 shots for the game. Saint James only managed four shots.

Brandon Greenberger scored Maret’s final goal in the 56th minute.

“Maret is a good team,” Schwab said. “Our team is young, but we’re competitive.”