Cowboys defeat Wamogo on penalty kicks
By John McKenna (11-10-09)

In the top photo, Litchfield players celebrate their victory. Middle, Litchfield's Brandon O'Halloran, left, tracks the ball and Wamogo goalie Brendan Roden makes a save in the penalty-kick round. In the lower photo, Wamogo's Mike Bockrath works to gain control of the ball.

Litchfield High's boys soccer team lived to see another day in the Class S tournament by edging Wamogo on penalty kicks Tuesday at Plumb Hill Playing Fields.
The Cowboys and Warriors played to 1-1 tie through two overtimes and were tied at 4-4 after the first round of five penalty kicks. But in the second round, the Cowboys clinched the victory by making their first three shots while Wamogo missed three of four.
"It was a tough way to have it end, but we'll take the win," said a relieved Litchfield coach Rob Andrulis. "You survive and move on this time of year."
Litchfield (11-3-3) will play Cromwell Thursday at 2 p.m. in a second-round game at Plumb Hill.
By defeating Wamogo, the Cowboys avenged a 1-0 loss to the Warriors last week. Based on that game and Wamogo's play of late, Andrulis, Wamogo coach Mike Wilson, their players and everyone else at Plumb Hill figured Tuesday's game would be close.
"We knew it would be an even battle and we were confident we could win," Wilson said.
Both teams scored their goals in the first half. Nick Hula headed in a direct kick by Adam Rhodes to put the Cowboys up 1-0, but Wamogo tied it on a goal by Ben Jepson. Jepson, Wamogo's stopper, dribbled through a gaping hole in Litchfield's defense and lofted a shot over the head of Cowboys goalie Andrew Luzzi.
The second half saw the rivals waste some good scoring opportunities, and the game went into overtime. After two 10-minute overtimes failed to decide the outcome, it came down to penalty kicks.
In the first round, each club made their first four shots and missed the fifth. Converting for Litchfield were Quinn McKenna, Rhodes, James Assif and Gunner McIntyre, while hitting the net for Wamogo were Ryan Orhani, Mike Bockrath, Jepson and Mike Odenwaelder.
Both goalies came up big facing their fifth shot. Wamogo's Brendan Roden stopped a shot by Hunter Grabowski and Luzzi knocked away the shot of Labinot Mersini to force a second round of kicks.
Ryan Corning, Will Brightly and Connor Birkins connected for Litchfield while only Brian Skoczylas made his shot for Wamogo. Three straight Wamogo misses followed to give Litchfield the win and set off a celebration on the field.
A veteran tournament coach, Andrulis knew the game could be decided by penalty kicks. At practice Monday, the Cowboys worked on their kicks.
"We practice them every day at the end of the season, because 25 to 30 percent of the games in the tournament come down to penalty kicks," Andrulis said.
Wamogo finished 6-9-1 and, as Andrulis said, was a far better team than the record would indicate. After a tough start to the season, the Warriors came on strong and were one of the most dangerous teams in the Berkshire League by the end of October.
"I told our kids they played a great game and to keep their heads up," Wilson said. "They turned the season around and today we came close to pulling one off. We just couldn't get the goal when we needed it."