By PAUL GOTHAM
IRONDEQUOIT, N.Y. — Denied a chance to convert on a first-half penalty kick opportunity, Nevlyn Harper took advantage of later opportunities. The senior midfielder found the measure twice in a four-goal second half as the Irondequoit Eagles defeated Spencerport 5-2 in Monroe County Division II action.
Harper and Carraig Jones connected on goals in the first 13 minutes of the second half to help the Eagles pull away for the season-opening win.
“We have a really solid midfield core; those guys pull strings,” Irondequoit head coach Tom Gillett said. “We have two very good strikers. Really we just kinda shuffled the order of our midfield a little bit to get guys out in wider positions, and that opened things up. We really started to get more chances from that.”
Deadlocked at one, Jones gave Irondequoit (1-0) a lead it did not surrender when he scored from inside the 18-yard box. Justin Connor assisted on the play.
Ten minutes later, Harper followed a Jacob Ryan attempt for the eventual winning goal. Jones started the play with a cross from the right wing.
27:43 remaining: Nevlyn Harper gives Irondequoit a 3-1 advantage. pic.twitter.com/H7XjithyPP
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) September 2, 2021
“We’re really trying to concentrate on is spacing and our midfield, making sure that our midfielders are out on the sideline rather than getting sucked in and playing really narrow,” Gillett explained. “You’re much easier to defend then. If you can spread the ball out and you’ve got guys with a bit of technique on the ball, you can possess, draw teams out and create those channels.”
Gillett’s son, Tommy, initiated the next goal with a service from the left side. Harper flicked it into the back of the net to put the game out of a reach. Jones redirected a Ben Myers cross for an insurance marker with 10:52 remaining in the contest.
Carraig Jones gives Irondequoit a 5-2 lead with 10:52 on the clock. pic.twitter.com/COI8Ml2nCV
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) September 2, 2021
Kyle Milburn gave Spencerport (0-1) the first lead of the game with 13:56 remaining in the first half. Milburn’s goal came less than 10 minutes after Jericho Beideman brushed away Harper’s PK attempt.
Jericho Beideman denies the PK. pic.twitter.com/4Q2vaSXF8H
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) September 2, 2021
“He’s usually infallible from the spot, but credit to their goalie,” Gillett said. “He (Harper) hit it near him, but he had to get down for it, so it was a really good save.”
Justin Connor followed a Carson Keller shot from outside the 18-yard box to level the match for Irondequoit heading into halftime.
10:29 remaining in the half – Justin Connor follows the shot and finds back of the net to level the score at 1. pic.twitter.com/EIZIT9d7BR
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) September 2, 2021
John Choate scored Spencerport’s second goal. Sujan Rajamohan assisted on the play. Cal Russo had the helper on Milburn’s tally.
Ian Aulbach made seven saves for Irondequoit.
OTHER SCORES FROM THURSDAY’S SECTION V BOYS’ SOCCER
Pittsford Mendon 1 Greece Arcadia 1
Rush-Henrietta 2 Hilton 5
Greece Olympia 2 Eastridge 3
Fairport 3 Victor 0
Honeoye Falls-Lima 3 Batavia 0
Canandaigua 0 Greece Athena 3
Webster Schroeder 0 Penfield 3
Pittsford Sutherland 3 Brockport 0
Brighton 1 Churchville-Chili 2
Webster Thomas 3 Gates-Chili 0
Greece Odyssey 8 Dansville 5
Marcus Whitman 0 Honeoye 2
HAC 1 Naples 3
Penn Yan 5 Midlakes/Red Jacket 0
Wayne 6 Geneva 0
Caledonia-Mumford 0 Wayland-Cohocton 8
Hornell 4 Letchworth/Warsaw 0
Livonia 11 Kendall 0
Medina 1 Pavilion/York 4
Ellicottville 1 Avoca/Prattsburg 7
Newark 6 Marion 2
North Rose-Wolcott 0 Bath-Haverling 6
LeRoy 5 Byron-Bergen/Elba 0
Wheatland-Chili 3 Northstar Christian 0
Avon 9 Gananda 0
Addison 3 Alfred-Almond 0
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