By PAUL GOTHAM
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Fans will have to wait for another day to see which side gets the upper hand in the 2018 version of the Greece Arcadia and Greece Athena boys’ soccer series. Thursday’s tilt fetched a similar result as that of eight days ago: a level match at 1-1 after 100 minutes of play.
That’s not to suggest either of the contests lacked action.
Athena wasted little time on Thursday. The Trojans took the opening kickoff, and Dylan McDermott got to the end line where the Athena senior midfielder played a service to Dylan Rice in the middle of the box. Arcadia goalkeeper Taber Monks corralled Rice’s header. Less than a minute later, Athena worked for a corner kick that the Titan defense turned away.
The Trojans Yakup Simsek followed that with a 40-yard rush up the pitch before laying off to teammate Othman Belhseine for another shot.
Barely two minutes had passed and the Trojans shot tally reached three.
Arcadia countered, and leading scorer Tyler Lewandowski (17 goals and three assists) freed himself outside the 18-yard box for a left-footed strike that sailed just over the bar.
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The remaining 36 minutes of the first half played out at a similar pace.
It wasn’t until Cameron Misiurewicz volleyed an Adam Strand cross in the closing seconds of the first half that the scoreless tie was broken.
Cameron Misiurewicz volleys the Adam Strand cross to give @SoccerArcadia a 1-0 lead over @athena_soccer at HALFTIME pic.twitter.com/44zBQOm3xO
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) September 27, 2018
“I saw it go out wide, so I tried to get to the back post as fast as I could,” Misiurewicz said of his second goal of the season. “I saw the ball come over and just tapped it in.”
The play started on the left outer third with a Dino Begovic takeaway. Arcadia switched fields and Strand received the ball along the right flank.
“There was not much time left, so we were trying to get the ball up as fast as we could,” Misiurewicz added.
The scored stayed that way for the first 20 minutes of the second half.
26 to go. @SoccerArcadia 1 @athena_soccer 0 pic.twitter.com/SRJ2DyGCbb
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) September 27, 2018
Athena had a second-chance opportunity nullified by an offsides call in the 60th minute. Less than three minutes later, CJ Takatch found Ryan Burns along the right side, and the Athena center back got to the end line for a cross that Rice nodded into the back of the net.
Dylan Rice levels the match with this nod of a Ryan Burns cross. @athena_soccer 1 @SoccerArcadia 17:34 to go. pic.twitter.com/QhWJMGHK66
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) September 27, 2018
“Burns had the overlap which is what (head coach Mike) Butler really wants out of the team,” Rice explained. “He whipped it in back post and I was there.”
At 5-1-3 (5-0-2), Athena, undefeated in its last eight, leads Monroe County Division III by a narrow margin over Brighton (8-3-0/5-2-0) which has won five straight. Athena plays at Brighton on October fifth.
Arcadia (7-2-2/3-2-2), ranked No. 15 NYSSWA Class A, was coming off its first loss in eight games. The Titans get the weekend off before playing at Brockport next Wednesday.
“The intensity, there’s nothing like it, nothing like it,” Rice said of the rivalry. “The atmosphere that the crowd creates is insane. Nothing like school soccer.”
Arcadia currently holds the third seed in Class A sectional points. Athena is fifth. The last time the two schools met in the postseason, Athena beat Arcadia 3-1 in the 2016 Class A1 title game.
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