Boys Varsity Soccer Bites Huskies in OT
Rye Boys Varsity Soccer bit the Harrison Huskies in OT Friday evening under the lights at Nugent Stadium.
“There are few things better in high school soccer than a golden goal win on a Friday night in front of a great home crowd,” said Rye Boys Varsity Soccer Coach Jared Small. “We were really proud of the group for responding to an early 2-0 deficit and finding a way to win a match against a strong opponent.”
Rye had significant control of possession in the first 6 minutes before a corner kick turned into a beautifully orchestrated counterattack for Harrison. After winning the ball near his defensive corner, Harrison’s Nico Acocella played a 40 yard pass forward to Taiyo Narusawa who gave the Huskies a 1-0 lead.
Narusawa struck again from a sharp angle off another assist from Acocella to double Harrison’s lead in the 20th minute. With fewer than 5 minutes remaining in the first half, Rye’s Jonas van Beurden beat a defender down the right flank and served a cross through the box. Henry Field made an athletic play to keep the ball alive, the Harrison keeper made an initial save, and Tommy Broderick–with his momentum going away from the goal–headed the rebound into the back of the net to bring Rye within one going into halftime.
Midway through the second half, Jack Childs switched the point of attack to van Beurden, who cut inside, beat two defenders, and found the back of the net with a clever and powerful finish. Each team had some promising opportunities in the final 20 minutes of regulation but the game went to overtime knotted at two.
Harrison had the best opportunity of the first overtime when Acocella unleashed a shot that looked bound for the top corner until Rye keeper Kyan Cox parried the ball into the crossbar. Cox made another strong save a few minutes later to preserve the tie and send the game to a second overtime.
With just four minutes remaining in the match, van Beurden headed a Childs corner kick on goal, and after an initial save from Harrison’s keeper, Tommy Broderick tapped the ball in to notch his 14th goal of the season and secure a 3-2 comeback win for the Garnets.
The Garnet season is now 8-3. Watch the replay. Varsity hosts Yonkers Saturday at 2:30pm (watch it).
