By PAUL GOTHAM
BRIGHTON — When Brighton goalkeeper Christian Burkhart made the decision to return home from prep school, the first person he called was long-time club teammate, Will Bowen.
Friday afternoon, the two friends stood on opposites sides with game on the line.
Bowen didn’t allow friendship to get in the way of victory.
“It was great to see him,” the Pittsford Sutherland junior said. “It felt good to score on him also.”
Bowen beat Burkhardt with a penalty shot less than three minutes into overtime to clinch a 3-2 Sutherland victory in Monroe County Division III action.
“He came up to put the ball down, and I said ‘I’m sorry I got to do this to you.’ I patted him on the head and just hoped for the best.”
Bowen slotted the attempt in the right corner to end a tight affair.
“Saw it go in, ran to the corner and looked at the boys,” Bowen said of his third goal of the season. “Just smiled and embraced it.”
The pair have played together for Rochester FC since they were eight years old. Burkhart spent the past two school years at Shattuck-Saint Mary’s in Fairbault, Minnesota.
Will Bowen converts the PK in the first OT. FINAL: @SHSsoccersquad 3 @BCSDSports 2 pic.twitter.com/JVgoYFJfo8
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) September 7, 2018
“We go way back,” Bowen said of the friendship.
In a game that was as closely contested as the 12 yards separating the two for the deciding tally, it was fitting that Bowen had the chance to decide the outcome.
“Ice in his veins, right in the back of the net,” Sutherland coach Sean Hopkins said of the game winner. “Will battles. He works so hard.”
Twice Sutherland took the lead in the first half. Both times Brighton answered.
Bowen led teammate Carsen Ramsager through the Brighton backline for a 1-nil advantage in the match’s 11th minute. Brighton’s Caio De Medeiros scored three minutes later.
Dylan Kladstrup volleyed a Ramsager cross to give the Knights a 2-1 lead with 6:32 to go in the first half.
Brighton’s Gabriel Barraclough-Tan leveled the match 92 seconds later.
“As a defender, you know the next two, three minutes (after a goal) you have to be ready to clear the ball out,” Hopkins noted. “We didn’t do a good enough job back there with that, but it’s a new backline. We’re learning every day. They’re getting better every day. We had a couple letdowns, but we’ll fix it. They’ll be good.”
“It was a good win,” Hopkins said of his squad which fell to Brockport, 1-0 on Wednesday after beating cross-town rival Pittsford Mendon last weekend. “The guys needed it. It’s been a rough week. We gotta another tomorrow, so we needed that one.
“We responded. I was nervous to see how we would respond because we’ve got a lot of new guys this year. We wanted it. We scored first. We were always kinda the one getting it first. I had a good feeling about overtime. I didn’t think it would be that quick, but that was great.”
Sutherland (3-1-0/2-1-0) travels to play at Sweet Home (VI) on Saturday. A 6 PM start is scheduled.
Brighton (3-2-0/2-1-0) hosts Greece Athena next Friday for a 6:30 PM start.
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