Breaking Through

Sullivan West Gets Its First Win Of The Season As Bulldogs Down Monticello Behind Lander’s Hat Trick; Monties Still In Search Of Elusive First Victory After Striking First In Non-League Tilt 

Sullivan West 4, Monticello 1

By RICHARD A. ROSS

rross@sportsinsightsny.com

An occasion to smile: Sullivan West players exult in their first win of the season following a 4-1 non-league road victory over Monticello.

MONTICELLO, NY- “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try, again.”

That piece of ageless wisdom which is all about perseverance, determination and a strong work ethic manifested its timeless accuracy once again, this time in a first win of the season for Sullivan West as it finally broke through into the Elysium Fields of the win column with a victory over struggling Monticello.

Fire away! Sullivan West's Richard Lander fires a shot on goal as he soars in the air. Lander had three goals for the hat trick as part of the Dawgs' 4-1 triumph, their first of the season.

For Coach Debbie Owen who continues to tinker with her entourage of varsity and junior varsity players, ever-watchful as to who fits best in what location and under what circumstances, getting junior Richard Lander back after he was sidelined for a pair of games proved to be a stirring elixir.

Sullivan West has several veteran players in certain positions around the field but is trying to fill in the gaps with players with little or no varsity experience. So having a year-round soccer maven like Lander to act as point man for the scoring attack gives the Dawgs a consistent scoring threat.

Opposing teams know you’ve got to mark Lander and mark him well, something Monticello failed to do early on and which caused them to squander a rarified early 1-0 lead which they had gotten from Bryan Gill at 27:43 with an assist from Ariel Pabon.

Rewinding the action from the start, the game began under gorgeous blue skies and refreshingly balmy weather.

Sullivan West kicked it off and pressed the ball forward getting it up front to Lander. Monticello raced it back the other way and got off a shot by Nicholas Nieves. Ariel Pabon had a shot that sailed wide right as the Monties looked to establish a tone on their home field.

Lander blanked on his first shot as he got a wide open pass from Eli Vaknin. The shot sailed high and wide and  Lander grinned knowing he’d just missed a chip shot. He’d soon make up for it noting later that the errant shot was a product of “rust.”

Contact! Monticello's Bryan Gil and Nicholas Nieves are impeded by Sullivan West's Connor Lovgren as they look to advance the ball. Gil had the first goal of the game to afford the Monties a brief 1-0 lead.

Montie keepere Austin Colon saved a viable shot from Sullivan West senior John Masten. The Bulldogs couldn’t convert their first corner kick and the ball was played back and forth with the Monties having what seemed like the better part of the early play.

Gill’s goal was made possible by a Sullivan West misplay as keeper Andrew Siegel came out of the goal and didn’t control the ball. Westie defenders were slow to react and Gill drove it into the back of the net.

Strange as it may seem, Monticello then evinced a kind of let-down and Sullivan West pressed its attack looking to tie it up.

Lander richocheted one off the crossbar.  More rust, no doubt, but you could start to see the polished play beginning to shine through the thin layer of oxidized iron wrought by inactivity since suffering a pulled hamstring and strained patella in the tie against Liberty.

Pabon sent a beauty of a pass to Nieves but the latter was offsides. Sullivan West countered with a pass from  Lander to Jared Ellsworth up the right side that resulted in a shot that went wide.

Sullivan West kept the ball in the Montie end and at 20:59 Lander turned around and fired an unassisted shot by Colon to tie the game at one-apiece.

Forty-one seconds later an unmarked Lander struck again at 20:18 to give the Westies a lead they would never relinquish.  Vaknin had provided the assist on that one.

Sullivan West had openings in space but squandered another opportunity with too many touches on the ball allowing Montie defenders to close up the seams.  A corner kick nearly made it 3-1 but Colon saved it falling to his knees stopping a header by Lander.

Gavin Owen may have started out as a JV player but that ended with his 11-save feisty performance as he took over the cage in the second half of this game and kept the charging Monties at bay.

Emboldened by their lead, Sulliivan West continued to press forward.  Lander was tripped and got a direct kick but the ball bounced off a SW player and the Monties got it back. Ellsworth fired one on that was again neutralized by Colon.

Monticello’s attack was helped by the speed of Felix Perilla who fired one wide right. To its credit, Sullivan West was getting great midfield and backline defense from veterans Gregory Stevenoson and Tyler Groh.

Sam Smith had the last shot of the half as the Westies looked to drive in the dagger. The shot missed and they took a 2-1 lead into the half. The game was still clearly up for grabs.

Monticello came out strong to start the second period as Perilla recorded the first shot. The Monties had their best chance to tie it on a breakaway as Gashi and Rokicki raced into open space but were called for offsides.

Coaches continuous exhort their players to follow their shots and Sullivan West would profit from heeding that call twice before all was said and done. First Ellsworth missed a shot but followed it up on the right and crossed it to Masten. The senior who is playing varsity soccer for the first time had started the season in goal but Owen moved him up to use his speed and aggressive play as part of her offensive weaponry.

Masten dislocated his shoulder in baskeball early last season and felt it pop in the cage a couple of games before in this soccer season. Out he came and in his place went Andrew Siegel but the young Gavin Owen was proving he was up to the task as well as he would make save after save and punted the ball with authority.

Masten had made it 3-1 and at 14:55 Ellsworth sent another follow up cross, this time to Lander who beat Colon in the far left corner of the goal for the hat trick. Neither team would score again and  Sullivan West ( 1-5-1) posted the 4-1 victory, its first win of the season.

“In the first half it was just about wearing off the rust,” said Lander. “I missed two of them. “It feels really good to get this first win and hopefully we can keep the momentum going.

Owen took stock of the day’s proceedings. “The kids have worked hard and learned a lot. We started with a lot of inexperienced players and made the decision to divide the group in half and even put some of our sophomore experience down in JV to make two teams.

Every day is different when it comes to who is playing where. Depending on the day and who is havng a better game affects the array. Except for the defense it’s kind of been open season as to who is where.

Today we showed how to follow the ball and not always wait for the perfect touch,” she added.

Despite differences of age and size, Sullivan West sophomore Jared Ellsworth holds his own against Monticello senior Onique Taylor. Ellsworth provided an assist on a goal scored by teammate John Masten.

“Things click once in awhile but there is a lot to learn…little things like waiting to not be off sides. We’ve been working on filling in spaces.. learning  to go to spaces. You’d assume that people would just know that on a varsity squad, but we have some kids who  have never played before. It’s not just a given. They have to learn it. Sometimes it’s a bit easier depending on who your opponent is, they might leave some gaps for you, while at other times you have to find them and that’s harder to do. That’s what we’ve been working on,” she observed.

Monticello Coach John Maranzana noted that getting the first goal was a plus. “That was new for us to have a lead,” he noted. Asked what he felt were the most important things his team needed to work on, Maranzana answered, “One thing is ball skills, touches are going six or seven feet away. We’re losing possessions on that.

We’re dribbling and trying to do a little too much which leads some players to get a bit frustrated and then they try to beat guys. Sullivan West played a great game  today but I was a little disappointed in how we played after we scored. Lander is their go-to guy and he wasn’t marked on his first two goals.

In a game like today the tide can swing on winning 50-50 balls and on hustle. After we scored and they took the lead back I thought they dominated us for most of the first half. In the last five or ten minutes of the first half I thought the momentum shifted back to us. We had some opportunities and then at the beginning of the second half we also played well.

But as has happened at other times  this season we expend our energy and don’t get a goal and then we let down,” he posited.

Colon posted eight saves, while Sullivan West got three from Siegel and 11 from Owen.

The Monties (0-8) have a rematch with Liberty on October 1, while Sullivan West hosts Chester.

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