Boys' soccer

S.S. Seward edges Sullivan West in fiery opener

Revitalized Bulldogs come out firing

By RICHARD A. ROSS

JEFFERSONVILLE, NY - One might have presumed that Sullivan West, a young team now missing the relentless scoring of graduate Jonathan Reynolds and his cross-field counterpart Kevin Brewer, would be tentative and struggling to find its identity.

The Spartans from S.S. Seward, a perennial powerhouse and nearly annual inhabitants of the state tournament final four, found otherwise in the first half of the season opener on September 6.

“They get better every time we play them,” said Spartans coach Bill Steele, following Seward’s narrow 3-2 victory that had the men in orange heading home with a newfound respect for the young and restless Sullivan West team.

Unquestionably, Sullivan West had the better of the play in the first half. Unintimidated by Seward’s size, Sullivan West fought hard for every ball. They dealt with the Spartan’s physical style of play that drew whistles, but not nearly enough to satisfy the pleas of Coach Debbie Owen and her assistant Ron Bernhardt.

Skill wise, S.S. Seward showed its edge from the start. Sullivan West coaches advised their players on the bench to watch closely. But on the field, Sullivan West players were hardly passive learners. Within minutes, Sullivan West sent a barrage of shots at goalie Wayne Hallock, including an initial blazer by Jesse Fadis that sailed high and lasers from Cappiello and Kienan Garn, one of which was set up by a nice feed from Rich Feeney.

With seemingly relentless energy, sweeper Garrett Owen turned balls back up field and blasted them back into the Seward end.

The Spartans got their first good shot on goal by Chris Slesinski at 21:53, but keeper Logan Grishaber made a nice save to preserve the shutout.

Cappiello and Garn kept up the pressure with the latter showing his capacity to launch viable shots from farther out.

Seward’s offense often worked off a triangle with Jeremy Harter playing the central role. He got off a nice shot at 12:40.

With 6:19 to go, Cappiello sent a corner kick into the path of Owen, who drilled it to give the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead.

Sullivan West’s defense prevailed the rest of the half, as did Seward’s and the score held up as the teams took their halftime break.

In the second half, the Spartans came out on the attack. Slesinski had a good chance, as did Sullivan West’s Garn. With the ball down in its own end, Sullivan West failed to clear and Harter made them pay with the first of his three goals at 35:28. Dylan Gaucher provided the assist and the game was tied at one-all.

For a period of more than 10 minutes, Sullivan West experienced problems in the middle of the field as Seward was winning nearly every ball and keeping the pressure on. A Sullivan West breakdown on defense allowed Harter to break loose up the right sideline and bang an unassisted second goal, giving S.S. Seward a 2-1 advantage at 28:03. He followed that on a cross from Slesinski at 26:50 to give the Spartans a 3-1 edge.

A minute later, Garn was pulled down inside of the box and, after duly noting the location of the foul and the line to the official, he was granted a penalty kick, which he fired to the left of Hallock to bring the Dawgs within one at 3-2.

For the final 14 minutes, Sullivan West played with a renewed fire. Kevin Pinkel created a nice set for Eric Minton, which sailed wide in a shot that was the first of several that could have tied the game.

Jesse Fadis sent one wide right. With more players to sub in, Seward began to win the war of stamina as Sullivan West players began to cramp from the rigorous pace.

Numbers are down this year for the Bulldogs as a number of potential players have drifted over to play football.

The Bulldogs had a good chance at 3:22, but Owen missed on a feed from a corner kick.

Steele was highly complimentary of Sullivan West’s play and candid about his own team’s first-half tentativeness. “We played nervous. They out-shot us 12-8 in the first half but we got after it in the second half,” he said. Steele referred to Owen as “a heck of a player.” “We played a solid 15 minutes in the second half and spent the next 15 just hanging on,” Steele said.

Sullivan West coaches were very pleased. “We need to get a little more physical,” Bernhardt said. He told his team, “During the last 20 minutes, you dominated.”

As the team gathered in the net to assess the game, coaches Bernhardt and Owen summed it up this way, “They had three guys working that offensive triangle. If you misplayed anything in there, they capitalized on it.”

“We just played one of the four best teams on our schedule and nearly upset them,” Bernhardt said.

Grishaber recorded 11 saves for Class B Sullivan West (0-1). Hallock had 14 saves for Class D S.S.Seward (1-0).

Visit riverreportersports.com for an album of game photos.

Bulldogs defeat Downsville but fall to Delhi in Downsville Tourney

DOWNSVILLE, NY - Kienan Garn recorded two goals and Logan Grishaber had 14 saves as Sullivan West got its first season win by defeating Downsville 2-0. The Bulldogs fell to Delhi in the championship game by the score of 4-0 as their record fell to 1-2.