Captain Ibitoye lifts Plainsmen into final
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Ben Ibitoye knows one mistake can change a playoff game.
But he made sure his Crocus Plaismen didn’t play scared as they dropped the Neelin Spartans 2-0 in the Brandon High School Soccer League boys semifinal at Neelin on Wednesday.
“We had a lot of talk before the game. The boys made up our mind that we were going for the win,” said Ibitoye, who broke through late in the first half for the game-winning goal.
Crocus Plainsmen Ben Ibitoye, centre, celebrates after scoring the game-winning goal of the city boys soccer semifinal on Wednesday. (Thomas Friesen/The Brandon Sun)
“Like I said at the start of the season, we were very hungry, we just took a long time to show that. Now we’re getting the motivation and mentality to go into games to win. Practices were intense, competition was hard, so we built up the pressure from there.”
The teams drew their first game 3-3, with the Plainsmen taking the second 3-1. It was their first clean sheet of the year as the Spartans couldn’t beat goalkeeper Sani Ameh, despite some dangerous chances in the first half.
Neelin star Robinson Diaz Rengifo drew plenty of attention every time he touched the ball in the midfield, and wasn’t able to create enough space to test Ameh.
With 10 minutes to go before the break, Ibitoye collected a pass from David Emenogu on the right side of the pitch and cut in before ripping a shot past keeper Devin Lucas.
“It was a great pass,” Ibitoye said. “Once we started making those passes, the game became easy for us.”
The Plainsmen played a more conservative second half and conceded a few free kicks in dangerous areas, but dealt with each one that didn’t sail safely out of play, which was the majority of them.
Crocus put it out of reach with 12 minutes remaining when speedster Ezra Adeneye pressured a defender into a hard pass back to his keeper, who mishandled the ball before Adeneye tapped it across the goalmouth for the easiest tap-in of Isaac Afolayan’s life.
“Ezra’s amazing, man. He’s a good prospect. He’s going to be good for us in the future,” Ibitoye said. “He’s a good guy, he’s hard working and he listens. He likes to take pointers to get better and he’s a great teammate.”
Neelin’s Timmi Oladiti fires a shot as Crocus goalkeeper Sani Ameh dives for the safe during the first half. (Thomas Friesen/The Brandon Sun)
The Plainsmen head to the final against the Vincent Massey Vikings on Monday at Cougars Field at 4:30 p.m.
Massey went undefeated in league play, giving up just one goal to Crocus in the season opener.
“We need to play better,” Ibitoye said, “play with more intensity and more desire that we want to win that game.”
The girls’ semifinal between the host Neelin and Crocus is today at 4:30 p.m. The winner heads to Massey on Tuesday for the final.
» tfriesen@brandonsun.com