By PAUL GOTHAM
HILTON, N.Y. — With one touch of his right instep, Hussian Ali clinched victory for the Hilton boys’ soccer team, Thursday night. The senior midfielder also helped the Cadet program face the ghosts of its not-too-distant past.
Less than 20 seconds into the second overtime, Ali took a Joshua Ranke lead along the right flank, found the back of the net, and Hilton defeated Fairport 1-0 in a pivotal Monroe County Division I matchup.
“It’s the best feeling; one of the best feelings you could ever have,” he said. “We wanted to play as hard as possible. It’s our last four games on (Hilton’s home) LeBeau Field, and we are defending the fortress.”
Ranke started the play near the center circle on the Fairport side of the pitch and threaded a pass through a pair of Fairport defenders to his teammate.
“I got the ball in the middle, turned and found Hussian on a good diagonal run,” the junior attacker explained. “Before I received the ball, I checked over my shoulder and I saw that I had a little space. I trusted myself to turn and use that space to the advantage. Hussian made a very good run.”
Hilton, ranked No. 9 in the most recent NYSSWA Class AA poll, improved to 7-0-1 on the season and 5-0-0 in Division I. The victory over Fairport (7-2-0/4-2-0) also gave the reigning divisional champions a game and a half lead in the division going into the second half of the table.
“The past four years it’s always been Hilton and Fairport going at it,” Ranke added. “At least we see it that way. We don’t like losing to Fairport, so the fact that we all stayed together in double overtime. We’re all mentally ready for this game. It feels good.”
Staying together against Fairport is not easy. The Red Raiders came into the game having allowed just four goals in their previous eight games. They disrupt passing and make it difficult for opponents to create rhythm on offense.
Thursday night was no different. Hilton had its chances: Noah Malta led Aiden Herron through the back line for a one-on-one opportunity early in the first overtime against Fairport keeper Will Hughes. Earlier in the match, Malta hit the post on a free kick situation. The Cadets managed five corner kicks. All presenting some level of a threat without converting. But overall the Cadets struggled to maintain offensive buildup.
“It all came from losing the midfield battle which is not something we want to see our guys do,” Hilton head coach Mike Ellicott noted. “We think we’ve got a very talented midfield. For the first time this season we were outplayed in the midfield.
“This was the first time I saw our midfield three just out of sync, and it was like the ball was a bouncing ball. Every time they touched the ball it hopping off their feet and all over the place. The combinations weren’t there.”
The win, though, was the second straight for Hilton over Fairport dating back to last year. A fact that is not overlooked by Ellicott.
“These are boys that all grew up watching the sectional final where they lost to Fairport,” the fourth-year coach said of his players. “They have grown up watching (former Fairport players) Peter Critchlow and Ben Christidis. Those were just talented players. Our kids look at Fairport and go it’s the boogie man. There’s a psychological thing there.
“Now it’s a run of two victories against them in two seasons. We want to try and finish this off. We’ve got them in a position now where they’ve got two losses to their name. We don’t have any losses. The first most primary goal for us is to defend the divisional title. It’s never been done before here. The boys know that there are bigger and better things to aim for. That’s a nice pat on the back if you can just take that square and say you defended that.”
The win also assured another milestone for Hilton.
“Now we’re over 700 days at home without losing,” Ellicott noted. “I love Hilton sports. There are not many Hilton teams that can say that they’re undefeated for over 700 days. …It might not sound like much to some people, but we don’t have a history of that here.”
Joey Gombatto made eight saves for the Cadets’ fourth clean sheet of the season.
Hilton hosts Rush-Henrietta next Tuesday in another Division I matchup. The Royal Comets are coming off back-to-back shutouts including a victory over McQuaid which snapped the Jesuit Knights 27-game unbeaten streak. Hilton beat R-H, 2-1 in their previous matchup this season.
Fairport gets six days off before traveling to Victor to take on the Blue Devils next Thursday. The Red Raiders beat Victor, 1-0 on September 11th.
Fairport hosts the rematch with Hilton on October 9th.
Leave a Reply