Lightning end on high note

NEWPORT COAST — Thursday’s Sage Hill School boys’ soccer game had something for everybody.

For the Lightning defense, the 3-0 Academy League victory over Oxford Academy left a stamp on the program. It was the 12th consecutive shutout and 14th overall this season. The Lightning have only allowed one goal, an own goal, in 16 games.

For the Lightning offense, it gave a glimpse of just how potent it can be, even without two-time first-team all-league forward Braden Ross. Sage Hill scored three, nearly four, goals in an eight-minute span and blasted shots at the Oxford goal from all angles throughout the second half.

For seventh-year Lightning Coach Noureddine El Alam, it was a chance to see the program he has been at from the beginning reach the regular-season pinnacle of going unbeaten, for the first time in school history, with a record of 14-0-2, 9-0 in league. Sage Hill finished as the No. 2-ranked team in CIF Southern Section Division VI and league champions for the second consecutive year.

More importantly than the result, El Alam enjoyed seeing his team play “beautiful” soccer.

“The way we play is more important,” El Alam said. “It tells me about what we are doing in practice. Each year we get better and better. We have results, but it is not about the outcome. The second half was beautiful. I’m really proud of the players. The win is just the icing on the cake.”

The defensive end of the Lightning’s dominant season had a special meaning for first-year goalkeeper Beau Caillouette. Freshman goalkeeper Jake Blitzer also finished off the second half of shutouts and filled in when Caillouette had an injured shoulder.

“I take a lot of pride in it,” Caillouette said. “I can’t imagine a better season. I didn’t expect to do it, but it’s great that we did. We talk about [the shutout and winning streak] all the time. We all had a meeting [Thursday] at lunch. We said we’re going all the way.”

Early in the playoffs, with Ross making his way back from a broken foot and freshman forward Ben Capaldi expected to miss the first two games due to a prior family commitment, the Lightning will lean heavily on senior captain Richard Gadbois to create scoring opportunities with his mix of size and ball-handling skill.

In the fall, Gadbois will attend Boston University on an athletic scholarship.

“It’s one of the top programs in the country and they have a young team. It’s a dream come true,” Gadbois said. “It feels good when a Division I school wants you.”

On Thursday, Gadbois used both power and finesse to create shots on goal, but through the first 54 minutes the game remained scoreless.

“Every time I shot the ball it was wide,” Gadbois said. “After 15 chances something had to happen.”

Then the dam broke for Sage Hill. Gadbois sent a free kick into the 18-yard box with 25:40 remaining in the game. Senior Alex Edelstein charged in front of the Oxford goalkeeper and the ball deflected off him to sophomore Nick Singarella, who quickly popped in the game’s first goal.

Two minutes later, Gadbois plowed through a pair of Oxford defenders and slammed a shot that ricocheted off a defender’s foot and over the goalkeeper for a 2-0 lead.

“He just put his foot in front of it,” Gadbois said.

A minute and a half after scoring, Gadbois was taken down in the box and earned a penalty kick. The Oxford goalkeeper made a diving save and Capaldi’s shot off the rebound went over the goal.

But Sage Hill wasn’t finished. Four minutes later, senior Tyler Ellis headed in a pass off a 40-yard free kick to make it a 3-0 lead.

With the win secured all that was left to preserve was the shutout streak.

“You have to keep confident and know they aren’t going to score,” said Caillouette who made an assortment of one-handed saves throughout the game. “I’m ready for the ball. This is what I trained for.”