Boys Varsity Soccer Puts Pelham on a Sandwich

Extra Mayo. Rye Boys Varsity Soccer put Pelham on a sandwich on Wednesday, winning the away match-up 3 – 2.

“A thrilling come from behind win over a motivated opponent,” said Rye Boys Varsity Soccer Coach Jared Small. “We played really well for long stretches of the day, playing with patience and purpose for much of the first half. A couple lapses allowed the opponent to seize control of the scoreline, but I loved our urgency in the second half and both of our late goals were made of grit and determination.”

The Garnets opened the scoring in the 9th minute with a corner kick taken straight from the training ground. Ollie Lincoln played a short corner kick to Kieran Traynor, who connected with Tommy Broderick near the top of the box. Broderick passed across his body to Charlie Margiloff, who slotted a clever one-time finish into the right side of the goal.

Rye displayed poise for the first segment of the match, controlling the tempo and rhythm against a physical Pelham side. Shun Nagata was silky in possession and Tyler Triolo continued to both put out fires on the defensive side and orchestrate the attack from his deep-lying midfield position. A seemingly innocuous free kick for Pelham turned into the game tying goal after Sebastian Levy’s 55-yard lofted ball glanced off the Rye backline.

The Garnets responded well to the setback, stringing together a series of passing sequences in the middle of the pitch and generating a couple of promising scoring opportunities. But a momentary lapse of concentration allowed Pelham’s Jackson Scarlett to run through the midfield, collect a pass from Russell Eustace behind the Rye backline, and score the go-ahead goal less than 90 seconds before halftime.

The Garnets brought some additional urgency to the second half, and the payoff finally came in the 64th minute. Rye goalkeeper Max Crothall collected a pass near the top of his box and launched a 50 yard pass that cleared the Pelham defenders. Broderick got beat two defenders and the opposing goalkeeper to the ball, getting his foot on it just before all four collided. The result was a picture perfect pass to the back post, where Margiloff cooly finished to register his first brace of the season.

With the score knotted at 2-2, each team had one or two near misses before Rye found the go-ahead goal. Left wingbacks Chase Pepper, Alex Rojas, and Takumi Otani made a significant impact in the second half, teaming with left center backs Lex Cox and Lincoln to stymie Pelham’s dangerous attackers.

With under five minutes remaining and the Garnets probing deep into the opposing 18 yard box, Pelham won possession and began a furious 3-on-1 counterattack. Rye’s Kaden Zion, initially trailing the play by 15 yards, made a heroic defensive run to thwart the attack. Within seconds, Rye cleared the ball to the midfield, where Broderick and Kieran Traynor won multiple headers before Otani sent the ball up the field to Margiloff. With two defenders closing down on him, Margiloff sent a perfectly weighted no look pass to Broderick, who again outraced the defender and goalkeeper before getting his left foot on the game winner.

The Garnets saw out the final minutes to secure a hard fought league win.

The season now stands at 6 – 2. Watch the replay. Varsity hosts Yorktown on Saturday at 7:00pm (watch it).