Rye Boys Varsity Soccer diced Pelham on Wednesday, baking the win 3 – 0 at Nugent Stadium. The win sets up a league championship match on Saturday Night at 7:00pm versus Edgemont on home turf.
“This was a really great win over an opponent that always plays us tough,” said Rye Boys Varsity Soccer Jared Small. “Scoring two goals in the first half was crucial for us, and we did a nice job absorbing pressure in the second half to maintain that lead before finishing with a terrific goal in the final minute.”
Kaden Zion opened the scoring in the 9th minute when he was sprung into a breakaway in the offensive half. The sequence began when Jack Gilroy–strong in his 1 v 1 defending all evening–won a 50-50 ball and played it up to Kieran Traynor on the right side of midfield. Traynor got his head on the ball before the opponent and flicked it to Zion, who played a quick pass to Charlie Margiloff at midfield. As he did in the first match, he played a clever through ball–this time with his back heel–to a streaking Zion. Zion broke away from his defender and after dribbling 30 yards buried a left footed shot past Pelham goalkeeper Jake Fellner.
Rye doubled the lead 8 minutes later when Lex Cox sent a free kick into the box. Traynor again outjumped and outworked his defenders, redirecting the ball to center midfielder Tyler Triolo near the penalty spot. With a defender draped on him and Fellner closing in, Triolo volleyed the flicked ball from Traynor into the right side of the net for his goal of the season. Triolo leads all Garnet field players in minutes played and the goal was an appropriate reward for his remarkable box to box work.
Both teams had opportunities to score throughout the match, with Rye goalkeeper Max Crothall putting on another outstanding performance in goal. His point blank save on Pelham’s Kristian Howell in the 38th minute prevented Rye from conceding what would have been a devastating goal just before halftime, and his full-extension parry in the 70th minute staved off a furious sequence of Pelham corner kicks, shots on goal, and long throw-ins.
Margiloff sealed the game in the 80th minute when he skied above his defender to get his head on a cultured free kick from Ollie Lincoln. Margiloff’s header beat Fellner high and tucked just under the top bar.
While Crothall’s heroics were instrumental to holding Pelham at bay, strong team defending also helped ensure the clean sheet. Rye’s Chase Pepper, Mauro Flores, and Tilman Oberbannscheidt, and Takumi Otani all made significant contributions to help neutralize Pelham’s dangerous outside midfielders and attackers. Shun Nagata returned to the pitch after missing the previous match and together with Triolo proved to be the engine room that the Garnets needed. Cox was dominant in the backline, winning aerial battles and using his expansive passing range to play several line splitting passes.
The Garnets are now 11 – 3. Watch the replay. Watch the Saturday game versus Edgemont.
