Oratory Triumphs Over Linden to Get Back to .500

Oratory Soccer has been on a tear recently, winning back to back games since losing to Scotch Plains in the semifinals of the county tournament. Scotch Plains ended up winning the 2024 county tournament, which shows how far OP soccer has come since they competed with them hard. After wins against Plainfield and Woodbridge, OP footy was matched with Linden at home in their final conference matchup of the season. The Rams (1-4 in the conference) looked to beat this Linden team (2-3 in the conference) in order to place above them in the division. Oratory started the game on fire with numerous shots just missing ever so slightly. Although they played a great half of soccer and were very sound defensively, the Rams were unable to put the ball in the net. Jack Ebert came up with a clutch last second slide tackle to keep the game scoreless at the buzzer. The Rams looked to continue to put the pressure on as Max Cook would score another free kick goal, set up by Charlie Spiegle. Cook scored his 15th goal of the season, making him third in the county. Cook has also scored in three straight games, looking to get a 20 goal season under his belt. The back four and George Fagan would keep a clean sheet to win a 1-0 game. Fagan finished with 8 saves and the clipboard as well. The Rams have now improved to 9-9 as they play Princeton Day on Wednesday in the final home game of the year.