Crystal boys’ soccer team stays unbeaten

But that game took its toll and when the Gryphons hosted King’s Academy Friday in Hillsborough, head coach Roberto Miranda was without three starters.

And when they suddenly found themselves down 1-0 in the first two minutes of the game, the Gryphons realized they still have plenty of work to do.

And Gryphons put their noses to the grindstone. They evened the match by halftime and then scored the game-winning goal with less than 20 minutes to play to beat King’s and remain unbeaten on the season and stay atop the WBAL standings.

“We knew (King’s) was going to be a tough game. That Menlo game took a lot out of us, physically and mentally. But we couldn’t look at Menlo as ‘It,’” Miranda said. “The one thing we talked about before the game was we can’t use Menlo as an excuse.”

And yet, Crystal (3-0 WBAL, 7-0-1 overall) came out flat-footed to start the game and King’s Academy (1-2-1, 2-6-1) made the Gryphons pay. The Knights earned a free kick about 60 yards from goal that eventually turned into a King’s throw-in deep in Crystal territory.

Cameron Saiki received the throw-in, worked his way to the top left corner of the penalty box before drilling a perfect shot across the goal face and into the upper right corner for a world-class finish and a 1-0 lead before a lot of the fans had even arrived.

That, however, got the Gryphons locked into the game and for the final 38 minutes of the first half, they assaulted the King’s defense and goalkeeper, with Lucas Shotts providing a lot of the pressure.

Shotts played for Crystal his freshman year before spending his sophomore and junior seasons playing MLS Next club soccer before returning to his high school team for his senior season.

And you tell that Shotts plays at a different level. His speed, power, physicalness and a hammer of a shot kept the Knights’ defense on their toes. Shotts was all around the goal, but could not find the back of the net, not for a lack of trying.

“[Shotts] sets the tone. How to pressure and how to fight and battle for the ball,” Miranda said. “(But) we have a lot of weapons.”

And it was the rest of that weaponry that made the difference for the Gryphons. If not for some spectacular saves from King’s goalkeeper David Smith, the final score would have been much worse. He finished with seven saves, all in the first half.

But Crystal finally solved him in the 21st minute. The play was started by a long throw-in from Jimmy Naylor, with Shotts collecting it and making a run up the left flank. He angled in on goal and ripped a shot that was parried away by Smith.

But Kristian Bisgaard was there to collect the rebound and he sent a low, hard shot into the far left corner to tie the game at 1 goal apiece.

Bisgaard brings a confidence and sense of calm to the Gryphons and with three starters out, both he and Shotts were playing out of position. Shotts had moved into a more attacking forward roll, with Bisgaard serving as a midfield distributor.

Meanwhile, Naylor, the Gryphons’ center back who was playing on a bum ankle, locked down the defensive line, winning nearly every ball in the air. And then his long throw-ins gives the Gryphons a different offensive look.

Crystal would go on to out-shoot King’s 12-4 in the first half before the Gryphons added eight more in the second half.

The Gryphons kept up the pressure in the second half, but had a more difficult time getting shots on frame. A little more than 10 minutes after halftime, Crystal came agonizingly close to taking the lead, with Shotts sending a cross to the front of the goal where Dante Martin’s stabbing one-timer went wide.

But in the 62 minute, Crystal got the go-ahead goal and it was started by Bisgaard. After spending most of the game simply passing the ball, Bisgaard received the ball near the right sideline just past midfield and for the first time in the game, really ran at the King’s defense. He took on a pair of defenders, splitting them, before using a cutback move to create space.

He looked up and saw Rik Shah making a weak side run into the penalty box. Bisgaard made a perfect cross-field pass that hit an unmarked Shah in stride. After a touch to settle, he beat the King’s goalkeeper, tucking a shot inside the far right post to put the Gryphons up 2-1.

They had to weather a last King’s push over the final five minutes, but the Gryphons kept the Knights from finding the equalizer.

“From my first year here, it was about taking the next step,” said Miranda, who is in his eighth season with the Gryphons. “Now, we’ve raised the standard and it’s about maintaining it. This season is about solidifying (what we did last year).”