Football

Thunderstruck

O’Neill goal with 3.2 seconds remaining in regulation leads to eventual overtime win by Raiders

By RICHARD A. ROSS

JEFFERSONVILLE, NY - It was a dizzying week for Sullivan West that ended with a stunning 2-1 overtime win over Tri-Valley under the lights in Lake Huntington on parents’ night. That victory, which featured a late game-tying goal by Kienan Garn and an overtime goal by Garrett Owen, followed a scoreless tie against Port Jervis on a day marred by a automobile accident that hospitalized Kay Rosenberger, mother of Sullivan West coach Debbie Owen. The tempestuous week began with a game that will be etched in memory as “the one that got away.”

What might have been the year’s most compelling Sullivan West win, even more thrilling than its 2-0 shut out of John S. Burke Catholic a week ago, was only 3.2 seconds from fruition when the unthinkable happened.

Leading 2-1 in a game that they dominated in the first half, Sullivan West threw the ball in from its own end with nine seconds left. In an instant, O’Neill’s JR Downey trapped it on the right side and sent a cross in front of the goal to a sea of maroon jerseys.

In a stunning sequence where time seemed to stand still, O’Neill players poked at it, a Sullivan West player whiffed on trying to clear it and the ball seemed to suspend in air. Finally, with 3.2 clicks left on the clock, Raider Ryan Shannon poked it by keeper Logan Grishaber for his second goal of the day and the game went into overtime.

A goal by Downey with 7:42 remaining in the second overtime period iced the win for O’Neill (7-1 4-0 OCIAA) over Sullivan West (5-3, 3-1 OCIAA).

The game pitted the two teams in a midseason clash for the Division IV lead.

The sequence that led to O’Neill’s three unanswered goals was part and parcel of a furious comeback in response to a 2-0 halftime deficit wrought by a Sullivan West team that came out hungry and on fire.

A pair of goals by Kienan Garn, both assisted by Eric Milton, had put the Dawgs in front and on their way toward their most impressive win since defeating Highland in a double-overtime thriller in last year’s sectional quarterfinals.

Sullivan West’s early intensity surprised O’Neill players and their coach, Ken Hall.

“They brought the game to us and we came out a little flat,” said Hall, who felt that his team played better in the second half.

O’Neill came into the game with one loss, a 4-3 stinger to Iona Prep in the Nanuet Tournament, a game that the Raiders led by a goal with 1:10 left.

Victimized by an opponent in the waning seconds steeled the Raiders for subsequent late-game intensity. They have since survived overtime victories over Cornwall and Fallsburg, and now Sullivan West.

Coming off their heady first-ever win over Burke and 1-0 victory over Fallsburg, the Bulldogs had circled this O’Neill game as a litmus test of their authenticity as a real contender.

Last year, the Raiders and Sullivan West played to a 1-1 tie in the encroaching darkness on October 19 in a game that the Dawgs needed to tie or win to gain a sectional berth. After playing to a scoreless tie for the first half and gaining a 1-0 lead on a goal by Kevin Brewer with 23:33 left, the Dawgs saw their historic win go up in smoke on a late handball in the box that set up a game-tying penalty kick by Dan King.

Now a year later, a similar pall fell over the Sullivan West pitch.

O’Neill was in attack mode and the tired Bulldogs were spent.

Prior to the game, Sullivan West coaches had offered timely advice: “Play hard, look out for each other, and most of all, have fun,” they counseled. Following the stunning loss, the word “fun” seemed to have been divested from the Dawgs’ vocabulary.

The Bulldogs came out on the attack and, after an early push by Shannon gave Sullivan West a direct kick, Garn headed one that sailed wide.

On an ensuing goal kick, Milton held the ball in and chipped it ahead to Garn, who struck gold with 37:38 remaining for the 1-0 lead.

Unflustered, O’Neill responded with shots on goal by captain Doug Fleming and one by Shannon. Grishaber held fast.

A strong direct kick by Sullivan West’s Garrett Owen sent the ball to Garn who shot it. Goalie Stefano Mineo momentarily dropped it but covered it up.

After Justin Armstrong got one up ahead and held it in, a subsequent flurry led to a throw in by Kevin Cappiello. He found Milton, who in turn chipped it to a driving Garn, who drove it into the back right side of the net for a 2-0 lead with 22:14 remaining.

On the ensuing sequence, Garn was kicked hard in the knee and had to come out of the game for the remainder of the first half. He did not return until nearly eight minutes had expired in the second half.

The loss of Garn up front hurt Sullivan West, but others, including Milton, stepped in to keep the aggressive flow going. Milton had a shot that sailed wide as he failed to square before shooting.

The Dawgs dodged a bullet when a shot by senior Matt Jaye was headed away by Owen at the last second with 11:22 to go in the half.

Bulldog Jesse Fadis sent a shot laterally toward the goal but it skittered east/west over the top of the crossbar.

Sullivan West coaches prepared their team for the coming O’Neill onslaught during their halftime confab. “They’re not used to losing. We need lots of good touches, and stay tight on those defenders,” they advised. “Let’s keep it back in their third of the field,” said Owen.

But Hall had other ideas for his team. Moving into a 3-4-3 alignment by pushing up a defender and a midfielder, O’Neill increased its strike force that at times had four in the diamond.

The momentum began to shift, but Sullivan West managed get good balls ahead to Armstrong and Fadis.

A monstrous direct kick by Owen sailed right into Mineo’s hands. Garn returned with 32:36 to go, but was clearly hampered by the hit he had taken earlier. He took another hit soon after but got up and kept playing.

A corner kick by O’Neill’s Justin Myers resulted in a shot that sailed up over the top of the goal with 27:09 left. Owen stopped a Downey shot by heading it away.

In the midfield, Sullivan West’s Ross Bernhardt worked furiously to win balls. He divested one from a Raider defender and sent it ahead to Garn, but the shot had less on it and went to Mineo.

“Everybody on defense all of the time,” shouted coach Bernhardt, who could sense O’Neill’s increased momentum. The Bulldog coaches pulled a forward back to help on defense, but the move added momentum to the Raiders. By the time the Dawgs shifted back, the game polarity had reversed.

Sullivan West’s James Spruill was playing his best game and looked like anything but a rookie out there.

After Owen was called for a push, Fleming got off a shot. O’Neill held in on the goal kick and, with 8:23 left in regulation, Shannon got his first goal as his shot hit Kevin Correa, who tried to clear but kicked it up into Grishaber’s face. The ball dribbled in and O’Neill cut the lead in half at 2-1.

The Dawgs reverted to three men up front, but the Raiders had four.

Bernhardt had a shot on goal but didn’t square.

As time wound down, it seemed as if Sullivan West would hold on for the improbable win.

But alas, it was not to be.

Failing to clear on its final throw-in set up the Shannon shot that tied the game. The teams played scoreless through the first 10-minute overtime, but O’Neill’s pressure led to Downey’s game-winning goal.

“We went back to what we do best,” said Hall following the game, “but we’d like to get on the scoreboard earlier,” he added.

“They’re a good team,” Owen told her players, “but so are we. They never let down until the last play was done. We’re no different. We played even with them,” she told her disconsolate team.

Grishaber recorded seven saves for Sullivan West. Mineo had 14 for O’Neill.

For photos of this game and stories about Sullivan West’s subsequent tie against Port Jervis and its come-from-behind win over Tri-Valley (both in overtime) visit riverreportersports.com.