By PAUL GOTHAM
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Dylan Kladstrup made familiarity his ally.
With club soccer teammate Cullen Bock in the opposing goal, the Pittsford Sutherland junior decided to make a play out of character.
It proved to be the game winner.
Kladstrup connected on the lone goal with 16:26 remaining, and the Sutherland Knights downed Wayne Central, 1-0 to claim the 2019 Section V Class A2 championship, Friday night.
Kladstrup beat a pair of Wayne defenders along the left side of the 18-yard box and went near post for the clincher.
“With Cullen in goal I’ve been playing with him for years,” he said. “I know he knows me. I know he knows that I was going to go to right, so that’s why I went to the left.”
Aidan Pellegrino collected an assist on the play.
Kladstrup’s tally gave the Knights their second title in three years.
“It was an awesome game,” Sutherland head coach Sean Hopkins said. “They battled. Wayne really played hard. We kept grinding. I was nervous with the wind in our face. We tried to get that early lead in the first half. Dylan just struck through, and that’s what Dylan does. It was a good finish.”
The goal was Kladstrup’s team-leading 19th of the season. He connected on three golden goals to clinch overtime wins earlier in the season. Friday night he delivered the game winner despite getting extra attention from the Wayne defense.
“He got through two guys and straight to goal,” Eagles head coach Tim Mattle said. “It was a little error defensively, and he took advantage of it. That’s why he is who he is scoring all those goals. We were on him all night. He got free one time, and he made us pay for it.”
The game winner started in midfield with Will Bowen who played a long ball to the left side of the pitch.
“He had two guys on him,” Bowen said of his teammate. “He used his body well to kind of shake ‘em off. Once he got free I knew it was in.”
“He always seems to find a way to get in there and get a goal or two,” Hopkins said of Kladstrup. “It’s amazing. It’s what you need if you’re going to win. And he finds ways to win.”
Two years ago, Sutherland finished the regular season 8-7-1 before winning the A2 title. That squad went on to the NYS Class A semifinals. The Knights improved to 17-1-1 with Friday’s win.
“We’ve been dreaming about this day for about a year now,” Bowen said of the championship victory. “I mean that when I say it. We talked about this season for so long. We worked for it every day. I think that’s what set us apart. I think that’s why we’re here, and I think that’s why we came out on top.
“I’m so proud of my guys. I’m so proud of my family, this community and everything we’ve done.”
The shutout was the third straight in the post-season for Sutherland and junior goalkeeper Matthew Nixon.
Wayne was making its first trip to the finals after three straight setbacks in the semifinals. The Eagles had won nine straight entering the game and had outscored opponents 30-2 over that stretch. They outlasted Pittsford Mendon in the semifinals on PKs to advance to Friday’s matchup.
“We got banged up a little bit,” Mattle said. “We brought it back together tonight. I just told them leave it all out on the field, and they did that. They gave it their all.”
HALFTIME Class A2 BSOC: @WCSD_Athletics 0 @SHSsoccersquad 0 Backdrop courtesy of the late fall setting sun. pic.twitter.com/IAraslTLcV
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) November 1, 2019
Sutherland (No. 9 NYSSWA) will play Greece Athena (No. 18 NYSSWA) in the regional qualifier. A 5 PM kickoff is scheduled Tuesday at Spencerport Central Schools.
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