Soccer

Red cross

Perfect send from Max Siegel feeds Sam Heinle for Liberty’s lone goal over league rival Sullivan West

By RICHARD A. ROSS

LIBERTY, NY — Even if Liberty and Sullivan West were playing a boys soccer match in the Sahara Desert you could count on two things: The game play would feature unbridled intensity and it would rain cats and dogs.

For at least one of their two league games every year, you can pencil in a monsoon into the forecast. True to form on September 12, the rains came; the field filled up with puddles and the intense play followed suit.

Sullivan West coaches Debbie Owen and Rick Ellison hoped that the rain would be the great equalizer, allowing them to do some of the things they had schemed, knowing about Liberty’s trapping and fine skills.

What was surprising to the Bulldog coaches was that Liberty’s keeper was now Will McGuire, last year’s junior varsity keeper, not senior Tom Fix, who soon proved his suitability as part of Liberty’s staunch defense.

By game’s end, McGuire would record 19 saves and often came out of the cage, playing his position with confidence and aggression.

Liberty got the better of the early play, winning balls and sending passes into spaces filled by its running midfielders. Whistles led to a couple of Liberty indirect and direct shots early on, but, on a key play, a ball went out that Sullivan West first believed was off a Liberty player. Kevin Correa went to throw the ball in but the officials whistled it was a Liberty ball instead.

Correa had to suddenly shift from being in the front third of the field to the defensive third. Liberty got the ball perfectly up the sideline to the corner where Max Siegel sent a perfect cross to Sam Heinle, who headed it past Sullivan West keeper Logan Grishaber in the left corner for the goal at 18:29 into the first period.

Sullivan West looked for a chance to tie the game. Justin Armstrong took a direct kick and sent a laser at McGuire who snared it. The Bulldogs, who showed their best play of the young season in their 3-2 win over Port Jervis, looked to recreate some of that magic. Alex Lander displayed excellent foot skills up front as Owen called advise: “Make little passes.”

The first half ended with Liberty’s lead intact. Sullivan West upped its intensity in the second half and had its best chance for an even score midway through the period, as a trapping Liberty team failed to mark Brice Billard. Correa sent him a perfect ball but Billard’s shot missed the mark.

Liberty’s team, coached by Anne and Polycarpio Ramos, features players from Liberty United’s successful off-season program. A number of Sullivan West players played on Liberty United’s championship U-17 and U-19 teams, too, making for an interesting dynamic as former teammates vied against each other.

The teams will resume their rivalry on the larger pitch in Lake Huntington on October 3.

Grishaber had 14 saves for Sullivan West (1-3, 0-1 OCIAA). Liberty improved to 2-1-1 (1-0 OCIAA). Sullivan West will take on Tuxedo on the road and then host O’Neill this week for another key league fray. Liberty will encounter Fallsburg and Burke this coming week in league games.

Visit riverreportersports.com for more game details and an album of pictures.