By PAUL GOTHAM
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — They are the third and fourth seeds in Section V Class A. One team entered with six straight wins. The other side was unbeaten in four games. Wednesday’s Monroe County Division III match between Greece Arcadia and Greece Athena didn’t disappoint.
Joe Elia gave Athena a first-half lead, and Aidan Lewandowski responded in the second for Arcadia. The rest of the match saw the opposing squads taking respective turns riding the pendulum of momentum.
“That was a battle,” Arcadia head coach Matt Vergamini said. “That’s a great quality opponent over there with some of the best players in Section V on their team. We want the win, but it’s still a positive result, a step in the right direction to build off and to move forward.”
The game’s two goals were nothing less than what would be expected from schools separated by six stop lights.
After Cooper LaValley had a pair of scoring opportunities midway through the first half – one on a feed from Tyler Lewandowski and another on a free kick where he rattled the cross bar – Athena pushed the play to the opposite end of the field. Elia intercepted an Arcadia clearing attempt and tucked a volley under the cross bar for his first varsity goal.
“I’d say it was similar to Hilton,” Athena head coach Mike Butler said comparing Wednesday’s contest to the Trojans draw with the Cadets one week earlier. “Both teams going end-to-end.”
It looked like Athena would double its lead early in the second half when Yakup Simsek threaded a pass through the Arcadia backline to teammate Dylan Rice. Titan goalkeeper Taber Monks alertly came off his line and forced Rice’s attempt over the bar.
VIEW MORE SUE KANE PHOTOS HERE.
Less than a minute later, Tyler Lewandowski played a ball just short of the Athena 18-yard box. Lewandowski’s younger brother, Aidan, won a foot race with Trojan keeper, Jared Burns, and leveled the match when he finished into an open net for his second goal in as many games.
“We looked to put them under a little bit more pressure,” Vergamini said of Arcadia’s effort in the second half. “I thought they had a little bit too much time on the ball in the first half. We looked to push guys on to pressure a little bit more in that second half.”
Arcadia was able to string together several scoring opportunities late in regulation. Butler pointed to the play of senior defender Ryan Burns and his keeper Jared Burns.
“He kept stepping up and making plays and taking care of the ball,” Butler said of Ryan Burns. “He’s been outstanding every single game.”
Jared Burns made a save on a Camden Englert shot in the final two minutes and then turned the tables when he beat LaValley to a ball just outside the 18-yard box to take away the potential game winner.
“He’s very aggressive off the line,” Butler said of the sophomore keeper. “He made some plays.”
Athena’s Othman Belhseine drilled the post early in the first overtime, and the junior attacker skimmed the bar with a corner kick late in the second overtime.
Arcadia is 6-1-1 on the season, 2-1-1 in Division III. The Titans host Pittsford Mendon on Friday.
Athena is 3-1-2/3-0-1. The Trojans host Pittsford Sutherland on Friday.
Both teams are struggling with injuries. Rice did not play in Athena’s match against Brockport over the weekend. The sophomore was also forced to the bench for most of the second half in the Trojans game with Brighton. Dylan McDermott also sat out the second half of the matchup with Brighton.
Arcadia is missing starting left back Lorenzo Ramos-Chavez and another starter, Jose Santiago, who has not yet played this season.
*Correction: Article originally stated that Aidan Lewandowski’s goal was his first of the season. Article has since been updated.
Leave a Reply