Thrillers In The Mist

O’Neill Remains Unbeaten In League As Maggie Borowicz Records The Hat Trick Vs. Liberty; Lady Indians Still Need One More Win For Sectionals; Sullivan West Boys Outlast Monticello In Sterling Battle Under The Lights, A Far Cry From First Match Up By Squads  Won Handily By Bulldogs

Girls: James I. O’Neill 4, Liberty 2

Boys: Sulllivan West 2, Monticello 1

By RICHARD A. ROSS

rross@sportsinsightsny.com

Great soccer makes me misty-eyed. This day/night pitch purview did just that. Clockwise( Liberty's Nikole Snyder and O"Neill's Madison Freeman look to wrest control of the ball in the early going. Monticello's Ariel Pabon and Sullivan West's Richard Lander each hope to put a stamp on the game. Lander was held scoreless by Monticello's Tino Taylor, while Pabon scored on a kickoff for the Monties' lone goal. Monticello's Austin Colon goes aloft to send a shot heading over the crossbar. O'Neill's talented keeper Avianna Velasquez makes one of her 14 saves on the day in the Lady Raiders 4-2 win to remain atop of Division IV.

SULLIVAN COUNTY, NY—Call it mystifying…or in this case featuring my second soccer double header in two days..mist-ifying given the exigencies of the weather on October 13. It began as I watched the Liberty girls vying with O’Neill before racing back to Sullivan West for my second night game this week to watch a compelling battle between short-handed Monticello and the Westies.

O'Neill's Anna Biehle and Liberty's Olivia Baum.

For a person who for most of  his adult life eschewed soccer, a sport I never took enough time to watch or appreciate, giving myself over to a pair of two-a-days speaks volumes about how I have come to revere the game and the stalwart athletes that play it.

Fortunately, Americans are no longer in the dark about the enlightened appreciation given the game by the rest of the world. I will never lose my love for football but I also pledge allegiance to fútbol.

When it comes to great soccer, I’m hooked.

That’s good news for the area soccer teams who always seem happy to see me on the sidelines. They have come to expect stunning photographs and crisp stories. This day’s double header yielded both.

O’Neill Lady Raiders Stay Atop Division IV With Slick Win Over Liberty

As the Liberty players went through their warm ups amidst the overcast skies and gathering misty drizzle, you could sense their excitement and hope as they looked to take on O’Neill in a rematch of their first game of the season. In that encounter down in Highland Falls, Liberty fell 7-0 to the talented Lady Raiders.

But since then, Liberty has righted the ship and coming in with a 6-3 (2-1 OCIAA) record, they needed just one more win to assure a sectional berth given their 14-game schedule. Despite repeated attempts to fill in with more games this season, Liberty has found no takers so it looks like seven is the magic number to celebrate a berth-day.

Close encounter: Liberty's Lara Heslop gets a step on a persistent Christina Pellela as first half action heats up.

But they weren’t going to get it on this day and for two salient reasons. The first was the hat trick about to be uncorked by senior striker Maggie Borowicz who scored her first goal just five minutes in and added two more in the second half to keep the distance from the Lady Indians who got second half goals from Rebeccah Harman and Zaira Pabon.

The other advantage O’Neill exerted and a great part of its undefeated league record, came from junior keeper Avianna Velasquez who recorded 14 saves and showed immense athleticism and keen instincts in the cage.

Without a prime-time goal tender, no team is going far when it comes to the postseason. O’Neill’s got a keeper with its keeper if you’ll pardon my play on words.

I had asked both coaches to e-mail me details about the second half as I was leaving for the second part of  my tour, but as of this writing I haven’t received such so my recap is heavy on the first half and all-too-brief on the second.

Liberty took it right to O’Neill following the opening kickoff as the Lady Indians looked to be in a bit of disarray at the outset.  Zaira Pabon had a shot on goal. With Coach Linda Wetzel shouting continuous directions and admonishments, that dynamic soon changed and once O’Neill got it into the Liberty  end they started to make things happen quickly.

Senior Anna Biehle directed the ball forward up the left side and at 35:13 Borowicz picked up a crossing pass from Deanna Ryan and drove a goal by Liberty keeper Justice Muniz-Dingevan for the 1-0 lead.

Liberty had a chance for a tie as Selena Vargas was afforded a direct kick, a product of what seemed like a spate of O’Neilll handballs in the early going. Velaszquez made a spiffy save on Vargas’ direct at 32:10.

You can't see O'Neill's Maggie Borowicz who fired this first goal by Liberty keeper Justice Muniz-Dingevan but the talented striker would add two more before the day was done for the hat trick and the win assurance.

Liberty had its chances as the Lady Indians tried to use a corner kick from Cindy Fuentes to even things up. O’Neill cleared it and put two shots on Muniz-Dingevan who saved both. O’Neill continued to push up and was successful in holding in Liberty goal kicks.

O’Neill was whistled for an infraction in the box and Liberty had a penalty kick opportunity.. Fuentes’ shot skittered wide of the goal at 23:24. O’Neill kept the pressure up with Ryan and Borowicz leading the attack.

After another failed  Liberty corner kick O’Neill drove it up the field again as O’Neill senior Lindsey Crill looked to make things happen on the far side of the field.  The drive was stymied by another hand ball but undaunted O’Neill continued to press despite an illegal throw in and another handball.

Velasquez had a sliding save on a shot by Pabon at 10:45. It was clear she was going to be hard to beat. After Velasquez kicked it out of bounds, Wetzel yelled, “Stop giving it back.”

At 7:39 Ryan drove it by Muniz-Dingevan in the right hand corner of the box for the 2-0 lead.  There was no assist on that goal.

Lara Heslop sent a laser towards the top of the box but Velasquez jumped to send it over the top in Liberty’s best bid to get on the board in the first half.

There would be no more scoring in the first half and as noted I cannot report on  the sequence of goals in the second period (hopefully one of the players or the coaches will fill me in and I’ll amend this narrative accordingly.

Suffice it to say that Harman and Pabon scored in the second stanza and Borowicz added two more to give O”Neill the win. Vargas and Pabon provided assists on the Liberty goals.

Liberty 6-3 (3-1 OCIAA) will look to garner its sectional berth as it plays Monticello on October 17 in the third match up of the year with the Lady Monties.

O’Neill improved to 6-3,(3-0 OCIAA). Velasquez had 14 saves; Muniz-Dingevan recorded 13.

Night Watchmen: Short-handed Monticello Puts Up Epic Battle But Falls To Stalwart Sullivan West in Misty Nail-Biter As Keepers Vie To Give Their Teams A Fighting Chance.

Midfield mix: Monticello's Felix Perilla looks to move the ball in traffic but a gathering legion of Sullivan West defenders including Connor Lovgren and Tyler Groh have other ideas.

You could call it a “Night to Remember,” a title not to be confused with the tragic sinking of the Titanic, an event which was dramatically explored in a movie by the same name. No, this night to remember was uplifting,  marked by an epic soccer clash under the lights that resulted in a Sullivan West 2-1 win over a gritty Monticello squad who showed up with only ten players in the fold.

For the Sullivan West seniors who got to pose with their parents prior to the outset of the fray, the memory of this sensational win will live on, illuminating a shining bright spot in a season of struggles and few wins.

That victory remained undecided until the final seconds when Monticello’s final shot was deftly saved by sophomore keeper Gavin Owen preventing an overtime that would have ensued had the ball gotten by him.

Owen’s save was a dramatic coda to a great game which marked winless Monticello’s better effort to date. Played on a slippery field amidst alternating steady rain and a gathering mist, this game was a challenge for the players and this photographer as well who had to contend with difficult conditions to try and document the action.

Monticello Coach John Maranzana had memories of Sullivan West’s Richard Lander recording the hat trick against his team in the Westies’ 4-1 rout of the Panthers a  couple of weeks back. “Let’s make this a 1-0 win,” h e told his team on the bus coming over. To that end, Maranzana had talented, tall and speedy senior Onique Taylor assigned to lock down Lander all night long..

Sullivan West senior co-captain Sam Smith encodes a longstanding memory after breaking the deadlock with the first goal of the game which came in the second half.

The strategy worked well as Lander would be prevented from breaking off to do the kind of damage he is more than capable of doing. For their part, Sullivan West’s main focus was going to be on Ariel Pabon, the Monties’ most talented player. Pabon would record the lone Monticello goal, an improbable kickoff that travelled to the upper reaches of the cage over keeper Gavin Owen’s head to make a 2-0 Sullivan West margin dangerously close in the game’s waning minutes.

Here are the details in blow-by-blow fashion though truth be told, you had to be there to feel the vibe.

Monticello’s already depleted squad was reduced to ten for this game as the Monties were missing Roberto Lopex, Alex Rockiki and Tusher Abtahee leaving the Monties with ten to play and no subs available. Sullivan West Coach Debbie Owen inserted her starting eleven at the outset of the game.

Sullivan West kicked off and the rain began almost immediately as Austin Colon and Owen settled into their respective goals for the ensuing clash. Sullivan West missed a scoring opportunity early on as Eli Vaknin crossed it to Lander who just missed at 33:30. Taylor tightened the noose on Lander thereafter.

Pabon had a shot that veered far right of the cage. Monticello coaches winced as Joel Aguilar went down with a leg injury but he got back up and returned to action. Playing with nine would have been an even more daunting challenge.

Maranzana implored Taylor to “Make him work,” referring to Lander. Colon and Owen traded saves on direct kicks by the opposition. Both would continue to be tested all night long. Monticello got nice midfield play from Felix Perilla as the action intensified who was bowled over by a charging Connor Lovgren.

That led to a direct kick by Pabon. A pair of illegal throw-ins by Vaknin had Coach Owen showing her displeasure. Owen had a nice save on a lofted ball sent skyward by Taylor as the deadlock continued.

Taylor was the next to go down as he suffered a blow to the shin. Undaunted he got up limping. Lander used the opportunity at 15:40 for a rare break but Colon saved the high shot.  Taylor showed no lingering diminishment of his speed or his will as the action continued.

Sullivan West's sophomore keeper Gavin Owen saves the game from going to OT wit this last second snare.

Sullivan West missed another opportunity with Colon out of the goal as Aguilar went down again, but like before, simply shook it off.

A headed shot by Mentor Gashi was saved by Owen on a bounce with 5:35. He soon saved a shot by Pabon and then punted it mightily back up the field.

The first half ended in a 0-0 tie.

Monticello kicked it off and the brisk action resumed forthwith. Owen and Colon traded sliding saves, the latter to stop a shot by senior co-captain Sam Smith at 37:25 assisted by Adam Murphy.The Monties’ lack of miscommunication led to a missed opportunity of an open net at 36:40.

Lander looked frustrated as Marazana barked, “Tight, Tino,” imploring Taylor to closely shadow the talented Westie junior.

José Davilla’s shot was stopped by Owen at 31:55.

Sam Smith finally broke through minutes later as he beat Colon and the ball rolled through for the 1-0 lead.

Monticello flubbed the ensuing kickoff much to the chagrin of Maranzana. The Bulldogs made it 2-0 on a sailing score by Andrew Siegel at 11:08 on an assist from Smith.

On the kickoff Pabon sent a perfect strike right over Owen’s head and a mere five seconds after Siegel had provided an insurance goal, Monticello cashed in to make it 2-1 at 11:03.

Monticello missed a great chance to tie it up at 5:45 but instead of driving the ball straight forward, a moment’s hesitation allowed Owen to recover. Perilla’s subsequent shot was saved by the feisty sophomore keeper. Pabon had a great shot at 1:30 which led to a corner kick and a header that Owen anticipated in coming.

He snared that an the game ended with the 2-1 win for the Bulldogs, just their third victory of the season.

Gamers: Monticello's Ariel Pabon and Sullivan West's Eli Vaknin.

“It wasn’t the best game we’ve played,” said Coach Owen. We were without John Masten and Tyler Groh just returned from a foot injury,” she noted. Masten was on crutches but vowed to return to action soon.

“They did a great job of marking Richard. Taylor really took him out of his game. Richard did a better job in the second half. Pabon has an awesome foot,” she averred, marveling at his kick to the top of the box.

“Ariel moved up once we scored,” added Owen who then turned her attention to give props to some of her players. Andrew Siegel really stepped it up tonight as did Connor Lovgren. Both keepers made great saves.

Marazana started by talking about the great job Taylor did on Lander and his team’s grit in playing with only ten players. “Austin made some great saves and we showed resolve fighting back from the 2-0 deficit.

Monticello outshot Sullivan West 22-15. Colon had nine saves to Owen’ s 14 and led corner kicks by a two-to-one margin.

Sullivan West improved to 3-6-1, while Monticello fell to 0-11.

For albums of pictures from both of these games, visit www.sportsinsights.smugmug.com

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.

For an album of photos visit, www.sportsinsights.smugmug.com