Although Columbus Day is generally reserved for the annual Maple Hill Holiday Tournament in Castleton, this year it featured just two varsity games, but each contest had major implications on the girl’s and boy’s races for a Patroon Conference title.
ICC v. MH Girl’s Soccer
The girl’s contest featured two teams who had fought to a 1-1 draw earlier this year and thanks to a recent Ichabod Crane loss to Coxsackie-Athens had pushed Maple Hill into the top spot. For the Riders to defend their league title for a fifth straight season they either had to knock off Maple Hill or somehow hope that two other teams could do the dirty work for them with limited games left. Luckily for ICC they took care of business and put their quest for a league title back into their own hands.
In front of their home fans it didn’t take Maple Hill long to strike. Less than three minutes into the contest Meeghan Arno sent a long ball onto the foot of Ashley Cross who was slowed down by Rider defenders. Cross stuck with it and got the ball onto her right foot and fired a rising shot that went up and off the hands of ICC goal keeper Alicia Mink and into the top netting.
As the half moved on the Riders started to find their groove and put some pressure on the Wildcat goal but with no true scoring threat. In the 25th minute the Riders finally broke through when Jessica Mink centered a ball to Mariela Jacome who powered a shot through a defender and past the keeper to even the contest at 1-1 as it headed towards the half.
Coming out of the half the Wildcats took it to ICC just as they had at the start of the game. Five minutes into the half the always dangerous Arno found space and fired a left foot rip that hit the underside of the cross bar but stayed out of the goal.
The Riders again found their groove and started playing the ball to the wings for crosses but were having a tough time getting anyone into the middle to finish off the passes. Ichabod drew fouls and got shots off inside the box but none of them ended in a goal.
Finally with 11:21 left on the clock the Riders ended the tie with another goal by Jacome. She found herself with the ball heading towards the goal and with a defender on her and Maple Hill goalie Anna Racz charging, Jacome tucked the ball under Racz and into the side netting for a 2-1 ICC lead.
Maple Hill charged back ripping shots on goal but Alicia Mink was strong in goal for ICC. With just under 8 minutes remaining Cassidy Lester took possession and went one on one with a defender before slowing down just in front of the box and laying the ball off for a hard charging Alex Armstrong who scored with a defender on her and Racz charging. That goal capped the scoring and an ICC 3-1 win.
The Riders improve to 11-1-1 with match ups against Taconic Hills and winless Catskill before having a big season ending match against Greenville. The Riders Patroon Conference lead is held by the slimmest of margins as Maple Hill is 9-1-2 with four games remaining while Coxsackie Athens is 8-3 with five games left and Greenville stands with a 7-3-1 record with four games left.
ICC v. MH Boy’s Soccer
The Riders traveled to Maple Hill alone a top of the Patroon Conference, with out a loss and knowing that earlier this year they had dismantled the Wildcats 3-0. By the time ICC left Maple Hill they had been shutout and dropped into a tie with Cairo Durham for first place with Maple Hill and Chatham hot on both of their heels.
The Wildcats came right out of the gate looking like the Wildcats of the past few years and not the team ICC handled easily earlier this season. Playing with speed and disrupting the Riders normally potent midfield play Maple Hill dominated from the get go.
In the 16th minute the Wildcats were awarded a free kick that was blocked down, but the ensuing cross lofted up to the far post where Jeremy Oles headed it home for a 1-0 Maple Hill lead. The Wildcats kept up their onslaught until just before halftime.
With seven minutes left in the half Nick Boardman took a free kick from deep and drove it towards the box where Mitchell Niemeyer got to it and flicked it towards the goal with the ball bouncing just under the cross bar. The ball bounced around before Tyler Jablanski got to it and fired another Rider shot off the post before the ball was finally cleared.
Two minutes before halftime the Riders had another chance to draw even when Kyle Kline powered his way through defenders and up the right wing before sending a pass to the middle where Bernie Watt was left unmarked. Watt was able to get his right foot, his weaker foot, onto the ball and flick it towards goal but the keeper was ready to make the stop.
In the second half the Riders upped the pressure and were able to draw some fouls despite still having their difficulties creating against the Wildcat defense. A free kick early was weakly cleared out just to have Kline rip a shot just over the cross bar.
Kline had another chance 11 minutes into the half when Niemeyer chipped a ball over the defense and just into the box. With Kline a step away the Maple Hill goalie was able to scoop it and avert any danger.
Less than two minutes after Kline’s chance Maple Hill would seal the win adding their second goal. Maple Hill was awarded a free kick near the corner kick flag and the ensuing cross was heading up into the air. Rider goalie Alex Mastrianni charged and punched the ball before landing on a Maple Hill player as the referee awarded a questionable penalty kick that David Briggs calmly finished.
The Riders kept up their pressure as they tried to cut into the deficit. With fourteen minutes left Niemeyer chipped to Kline who took possession before the ball found the left foot of Watt who fired a shot off the post and back into play. Kline took a shoot and it looked like a hand ball on a Maple Hill defender but much to the dismay of the Riders, the coaches and their fans nothing was called as Watt fired another shot, this time just wide of the goal.
ICC would have one more really good chance with just under four minutes to go as they were fouled dead center of the goal just outside the box but Will Poetzsch fired a shot over the bar and the Riders never again had a quality chance to draw even, falling 2-0.
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