Scarsdale thwarts Express’s comeback bid in the NYSPHSAA Class AAA sub-regional

Will McAllister answered Elmira’s comeback bid Wednesday with a pair of second-half goals three minutes apart as Scarsdale pulled away for a 5-2 victory in a Class AAA subregional boys soccer match at Hendrick Hudson High School in Montrose.

McAllister scored on a rebound from a diving Sean Hanrahan save with 19 minutes, 1 second remaining to give Section 1 champion Scarsdale a 4-2 lead, then banked in a short header on a throw-in with 16:01 remaining for the competition. ultimate goal.

“I thought we had a great fight tonight,” Coach Elmira Dirk Hamilton said. “Very proud of the boys, especially when they were 3-0 down, one on a call we didn’t agree with. We kept our composure and got the score back to 3-2 and then had a few chances to equalize , but that just didn’t work.” find it.

“We could have pulled in the tail when it was 3-0, but we kept fighting and ultimately turned it into a great game.”

Scarsdale won the state title in Class AA the past two seasons. Class AAA became New York’s top classification last year.

The Express, playing in its first New York State Public High School Athletic Association tournament match, fell into a 3-0 hole before Luca Capilli’s well-placed 45-yard shot on a free kick near the sideline just went over the goalkeeper’s hands went and into the back of the net.

Spencer Wheeler got the Express within one when he scored on a lunging header off a rebound with 35:13 remaining. Scarsdale’s goalie jumped high to save a Landon Cook shot, setting up Wheeler for the score.

Lev Stahl’s header off a Lorenzo Galeano corner kick with 16:43 left in the first half broke a scoreless tie. Galeano scored on a penalty kick with 15:42 left in the half, and PJ Rosenthal’s score with 6:40 remaining in the half gave Scarsdale a 3–0 lead.

“The Galeano boy was excellent on the ball,” Hamilton said. “We tried to have a first and second defender every time he could touch the ball. Technically they were a little bit stronger than us and collectively they were very quick and every little mistake we made they could capitalize on. That’s what we did .” good teams do that.”

Completion of Express’ championship season

Elmira finished with a 12-6 record after beating Ithaca 1-0 in Saturday’s Section 4 final for the first sectional championship in the program’s 14-season history.

“A great group of kids who have played together for a long time and are used to supporting each other and are used to winning games,” Hamilton said. “It’s also a very young team. We only have four seniors. We’re returning 18 of the 22 players who came tonight. We’re looking very strong for the future and this is something we’ve been building towards for a few years.” “

More: Ithaca girls fall to Arlington in state tournament

Next

Scarsdale (16-2-1) will face Section 9 champion Monroe-Woodbury in the regional final at 2:30 p.m. Nov. 9 at Marlboro High School.

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This article originally appeared in the Elmira Star-Gazette: Elmira fell to Scarsdale in the NYSPHSAA boys soccer state tournament