PATROON BOYS SOCCER: Spartans put away Cats; Wildcats outlast Riverhawks

The Greenville Spartans defeated the Catskill Cats 3-0 in the first game.

Greenville had multiple opportunities at scoring early but deflections and shots going wide bailed out Catskill’s defense a few times so they could reset.

The Cats cleared the ball sufficiently on defense but were just a few steps behind the crisp passing attack by the Spartans’ possessions. The Spartans earned a corner that was cleared out with a header by the Catskill’s Daniel Liebowitz, and Bernard Davis followed it with another shot on net for Greenville but it went directly into keeper Daniel Forbes’ hands.

The Cats answered with a corner kick of their own at the other end but the pass was headed over the net for a goal kick. Catskill’s defense stayed disciplined and pressured Greenville enough to take the scoreless tie to halftime.

The Spartans began the second half with greater urgency and put shots on goal on multiple possessions. Greenville finally broke through on the scoreboard on a soft shot by Joseph Davis, hitting the ball just slightly enough to get past Forbes who sold out on the play trying to block the shot.

The Spartans took a 1-0 lead with 18 minutes on the clock as they looked for more. Five minutes later, Forbes tried to punch the ball out on a free kick by the Spartans but he hit it straight up into the air and it stayed in the box. Benjamin Reinhard was there to capitalize on the mistake and found the back of the net for the score to make it 2-0 with under 12:00 to play.

Reinhard was not done however, scoring his second goal of the night three minutes later to put the game out of reach for the Cats. With Greenville’s passing game still intact, they pressured Catskill for the rest of the clock and ran it down to zero to seal the victory 3-0.

Maple Hill 1, C-A 0

In the second game of the evening, the Maple Hill Wildcats won a very close 1-0 game over the Coxsackie-Athens Riverhawks.

The Wildcats opened the contest at their usual fast pace, but the Riverhawks were hip to their strategy and their defense was up to the task.

C-A matched Maple Hill’s intensity on both sides of the ball and they forced turnovers and throw-ins throughout the first 15 minutes to disrupt the flow of the Wildcats’ offense.

The Riverhawks had a golden opportunity down in the Wildcat box, when they shot it from the side of the net and past Maple Hill keeper Luke Hoffman. However after being missed by Hoffman, the ball rolled all the way across the goal line and out for a goal kick with no other attackers on the far side for the Riverhawks to clean it up.

C-A had no issue regaining control of the ball but once they brought it to the middle of the field Maple Hill would take it right back. This stalemate in the first half came to a close with the score still as it began, 0-0.

The Riverhawks came out strong on defense again in the second half, but the Wildcats remained on the attack to keep Sam Mozzillo busy in the goalie box for C-A.

The Riverhawks had a big chance to score on a breakaway, but Ryan Maurer’s steal was in vain because it was too far upfield for him to get any help in the box from his teammates. With under 20 minutes to go Mozzillo made another diving save in the clutch for C-A on a Wildcats free kick.

Hoffman responded with a stop for Maple Hill on the other end. On a broken play with under 14 minutes on the clock, Gavin Haller broke the scoreless tie and scored to put the Wildcats on top 1-0, to the dismay of the home crowd.

The Riverhawks struggled to put together plays on offense down the stretch with the Wildcats keeping their defense tight. C-A had a few chances with multiple corner kicks in the final ten minutes of regulation, but they yielded no results.

After another big stop by Mozzillo with four minutes left, the Riverhawks had time for one more push downfield. Unfortunately for C-A, any attempts they made at passes in crunch time were interrupted and stolen by the Maple Hill defenders.

The Wildcats were able to hold off the Riverhawks in the final seconds of the game and Maple Hill escaped with a tense 1-0 victory over Coxsackie-Athens.

Chatham 3, Hudson 2 (OT)

CRARYVILLE — In the outer bracket of the Patroon Conference tournament, the No. 5 seeded Chatham Panthers clashed with the No. 6 Hudson Bluehawks.

The game was played with intense passion and energy from the opening kickoff and never ceased. Hudson came out and put a dangerous ball into the box which caused chaos amongst the Panthers backline,

Hudson’s Ibrahim Malik ended the chaos with a clean strike into the net for the early 1-0 lead. Chatham got their composure back and not to long after, Miguel Cassarubias settled a ball out of the air and volleyed a strike past the keeper to even the match, 1-1.

Hudson would come right back and with nice passing got into the box where they were fouled and a penalty kick was awarded. Chatham’s John Wisseman would gather himself between the pipes and commit to his left, and so did the Hudson kicker and Chatham got out of trouble with an outstanding save.

Chatham seemed to ride that momentum and Cassarubias would find a great ball through the Hudson backs to a sprinting Tobias Jeralds who tucked it away for the 2-1 halftime lead.

Coming out of halftime, Hudsons passing game was on point and they were able to create some dangerous opportunities but Chatham held strong. With around eight minutes left in the match, Hudson’s Dejuan Bailey would smash a 40 yrd direct kick straight into the opposite corner to even up the match and send it to a sudden death overtime.

The game would be decided when Hudson outsprinted a Chatham defender and played the ball back to his keeper, who picked it up, resulting in an indirect kick, which Chatham’s Alex Chudy would connect on a rolling pass and finish to earn Chatham the 3-2 victory.