By DAVE O’SULLIVAN Publisher LINWOOD — Coming off consecutive South Jersey Group 3 championships, the players on the Ocean City High School boys soccer team know they are going to get the best shot this season from all of their Cape-Atlantic League opponents. The question is, can they keep taking the punching and keep getting up off the canvas. So far, the answer is yes. The Red Raiders lost their season opener to Millville, but have responded with three straight wins, the most recent coming Friday afternoon when they held off a young, relentless Mainland Regional squad 1-0 on the strength of a goal in the 27th minute by Jimmy Flukey. The host Mustangs (3-1) were tenacious from the start and hung with the Red Raiders throughout much of the first half before Ocean City got the break it was looking for. Midfielder Aaron King chased down a through ball to the right of Mainland keeper Matt Stellitano. Stellitano made the right play, coming off his line to challenge near the end line, but King was able to beat him to the ball and somehow get enough of a foot on it to send the ball back in front of the goal. Flukey was there to clean up the play, tapping the ball into the open net for what turned out to be the only goal of the game. Mainland's Ron Garafolo, right, tries to get around Ocean City defender Tucker Perkins during Friday's action in Linwood. Mainland’s Ron Garafolo, right, tries to get around Ocean City defender Tucker Perkins during Friday’s action in Linwood. Lindsay said the Red Raiders aren’t resting on their laurels, and know that it will take hard work and focus if they hope to repeat the success of the last two seasons. “As you can tell by the standings, the CAL is all out of whack this year. We are a whole new team, have mostly an entirely new midfield, so we don’t go out there going off what we did last year,” Lindsay said. “We put in a lot of work during the offseason, and what we did then is going to be what gets us where we want to go.” Bogushefsky said he was impressed by Mainland, and knows his team is going to have to get used to tough, physical games like Friday’s matchup with the Mustangs. “Anytime you go to another team’s field where they are familiar with it and they have their fans there, it’s a tough thing. But a win is a win for us, so we’re happy with the result,” Bogushefsky said. “I give Mainland a lot of credit. I really think they have become a lot better team. Even last year, we beat them 3-0 two times, but that didn’t indicate how they were playing. I think they are doing a lot of good things at the younger level with their traveling programs, and I think they are going to be better and better every year, which is great for the CAL.” Contact Dave O’Sullivan: sully@acglorydays.com; on Twitter @GDsullysays [adsense]