Bishop Guertin's Logan Downey goes airborn to knocke the ball away from Nashua South's Revin Olsen (5) and Steve Long off a Panthers corner kick during Wednesday night's game at Stellos Stadium. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

NASHUA – See Nashua High School South’s Santi Somorrostro run. See two or three defenders run with him, ball or not.

See Somorrostro and the rest of his Panther boys soccer teammates get frustrated. But in most cases, eventually the talent takes over as it did Wednesday night when the Panthers blanked a defensive-minded Bishop Guertin squad 2-0 at hot and sticky Stellos Stadium.

But it was scoreless for a half despite the Panthers (5-1) gettting nine of their 15 corner kicks during that span as 0-4 BG’s game plan was working.

“It was frustrating whole game,” said Somorrostro, whose tenacity set up the game’s first goal about 60 minutes into the contest. “We really expect that the whole season. But we’re still struggling to get movement off the ball, and Coach (Tom Bellen) has been stressing that since Day 1.”

And he did it again last night at halftime, and the Panthers more or less responded.

“We’ve got a lot of teams doing that to us this year,” Bellen said of the opposition’s defensive minded, compact strategy. “We’ll break it down eventually, but tonight was not a good game for us. Second half was better. We were a little lethargic from the back-to-back (South beat Alvirne Tuesday) and you always look at the scores of the other teams … But I wasn’t looking past (the Cards) and I don’t think our guys were either. But you don’t always go in with that same attitude you do against a Hanover.”

Guertin, missing 20-goal scorer Rayaan Hameed (muscle injury), has yet to score a goal this year, but the Cards figured their best defense may become a good offense.

“Stay compact in the middle of the field and make it difficult,” Cards coach Tyler VanDeventer said. “That (getting downfield) wasn’t our focus. Our focus was staying as compact as possible to limit their chances. I feel we did that.”

Guertin sophomore keeper Beau Boughter made eight saves and was under siege with all the Panther possessions. The Cards didn’t get a shot on goal until neary 56 minutes into the contest – and got only one more — but the BG defense did its thing. Liam Ireland (center back) and Josh Corriveau at center midfield led the way.

But Somorrostro’s tenacity is tough to stop for an entire game. With the 60 minute mark fast approaching, he ran into a triple team, lost the ball, got it back and found an open Ethan Schnyer who fired a hard grounder to the left side of the net that Boughter simply couldn’t reach for the only goal South would need at 59:12.

“That’s the thing with Santi,” Bellen said. “He’s going to be marked by 10 guys every game, all game, and he’s going to figure out how to create on his own and create for others. And he does. He probably should’ve had four assists tonight. Just a bunch in the box we didn’t get our foot on or head on.”

Nashua South’s Santi Somorrostro (9) tries to maneuver through Bishop Guertin’s Matt Keller (5) and Logan Lowney during Wednesday night’s game at Stellos Stadium. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

South made it 2-0 when Marcell Perry’s shot was slightly deflected and went in to seemingly the surprise of everyone on the field and the stands with just under 14 minutes to play.

Guertin just couldn’t muster enough offense, but the Cards almost kept South off the board, too. VanDeventer said that his game plans aren’t impacted by Hameed’s absence, and he doesn’t know just how long the senior striker will be out as returning even on a limited basis might not be for the best healthwise.

“That’s totally going up to Hameed and his family,” VanDeventer said. “He’s looking to play college soccer next year, so at the end of the day, if he chooses to sit out, that’s his prerogative.”

Meanwhile, the Panthers know they’ll face a real test next Tuesday when Hanover returns to town seeking revenge for two straight title game losses. Then it’s the team they beat in the semis, current unbeaten Manchester Central on Sept. 14. And guess who, rival Nashua North on the 19th. Yikes.

“We’re still hoping to be in the hunt for a championship and these games are going to happen,” Bellen said. “Hanover’s going to be a tough one, Bedford I watched the other night and they’re going to be a tough one. … I just want to get through next week.”

Like Somorrostro wants to get through multiple defenders. And he can.

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