By PAUL GOTHAM
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Earlier this week, the East Rochester boys’ soccer team was named No. 1 in New York State for the first time in program history. On Saturday evening, the Bombers faced a deficit for the first time this season.
And Mike Domm’s XI responded.
Chuck Domm scored two goals and added an assist as East Rochester downed Bishop Kearney, 3-1 in non-league action.
“We haven’t really been challenged too much this year,” Mike Domm said of his squad which has outscored its opponents by a combined total of 55-5 on the season. “It’s been weird year. To see a little adversity, we knew it was going to happen at some point. It was nice to see how they reacted to it. They didn’t panic. It was nice. We did a good job keeping our composure.”
Russ Domm used a flick with a head ball near midfield to get his brother through Bishop Kearney’s backline. Chuck Domm went in one-on-one against BK keeper Katrell McFarland and leveled the match with 9:17 remaining in the first half.
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Less than eight minutes later, Chuck Domm fed Jacob Mercado and the Bombers had a lead they did not surrender.
“We’ve only given up a few goals this year,” Mike Domm noted. “That team was pretty dangerous all over the field when they got the ball. That was good for us to see that level of play.”
Chuck Domm added an insurance goal late in the second half.
Evan Stevely gave BK an early lead with his 19th marker of the season. The junior midfielder took a Kyle O’Gara pass in stride and found the back of the net in the match’s fifth minute.
“That Stevely kid is phenomenal,” Mike Domm said. “He was a handful, fast and strong and creative. We had a game plan to double him, and he was really powerful. We haven’t seen a forward like that this year. That threw us off a little bit.”
ER keeper Michael Raschiatore made eight saves including a stop on a BK free kick with just over 16 minutes remaining in the contest.
“I thought our guys did the best they could to compete tonight,” Kearney head coach Steve Strauss said. “A loss 3-1 is always tough. It’s hard to be upset when you played as hard as we did against a team like that.
“Up against a great team like ER and what better chance to compete than to play against a school that’s played as well as they have.”
Chuck Domm leads ER with 20 goals and 11 assists on the season.
Russ Domm has nine goals and 21 assists.
“We had a lot of good looks that we usually on a different day we score on,” Mike Domm said. “Some of the looks that Russ had he usually puts away. He didn’t lose his mind. He kept on grinding it out. That was good to see.”
The game started with overcast skies. Rain began midway through the first half with showers becoming more persistent in the latter 40 minutes.
East Rochester is ranked No. 1 NYSSWA Class C.
Bishop Kearney played without starting center back Fernando Furioso who was issued a red card in the Kings’ most recent match.
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