Boys Varsity Soccer Sinks Lakeland on Penalty Kicks, Advances

Rye Boys Varsity Soccer sunk Lakeland on Monday after winning on penalty kicks after overtime.

“This was really memorable night for everyone,” said Rye Boys Varsity Soccer Coach Jared Small. “We played well for most of the match, conceded an unfortunate goal in the 76th minute, and dug deep to find a way to advance to the semifinals. Our penalty takers and goalkeeper came up huge in the end.”

Rye and Lakeland played to a scoreless first half, with Rye controlling most of the possession and owning two of the half’s three best scoring chances.

Rye broke through in the 47th minute after Kieran Traynor drew a foul 40 yards from goal. Charlie Margiloff lofted the free kick into the box and Tommy Broderick redirected it back from the goal line with his head. Kasen Scarperi ran onto the ball and emphatically hit into the back of the net for the 1-0 lead. Rye nearly doubled the lead a few minutes later when Traynor send an inviting pass from the right flank into the center of the box only for the ball to scoot just past the reach of Margiloff.

Rye’s backline and midfielders were up to the task throughout the evening, allowing Lakeland few promising looks at goal until a through ball down the middle in the 76th minute allowed Hornets captain Connor Daly to find the equalizer to tie the game 1 – 1.

After three final minutes of regulation and another 30 minutes of scoreless golden goal overtime, the teams headed to penalties to decide who would advance to the Section 1 semifinals. Each team selected five shooters and Lakeland shot first. Rye goalkeeper Max Crothall was sensational, saving Anthony Abbondanza’s shot with a dive to his right before Broderick then converted to put the Garnets up 1-0 in penalties. Crothall was heroic again in the second round, diving to his left to deny Daly from scoring. After a Rye miss and Lakeland conversion, Traynor recaptured the momentum with a quality strike. Up 2-1 after three rounds, the Garnets needed any combination of two events–a Rye goal or Lakeland miss–to seal the win. Lakeland’s fourth shooter pushed his shot above the cross bar, setting up Lex Cox to calmly deposit the clinching goal and setoff a well-deserved celebration.

Watch the replay. The Garnets are 12 – 3 – 1 for the season. Rye returns to host a semifinal against Nyack on Wednesday at 4:30pm at Rye High School’s Nugent Stadium, with the winner advancing to Saturday’s Section 1 Championship match.