By TIM IRVING
On paper, Harley Allendale Columbia entered the Class C2 boys quarterfinals as the third seed and Kendall the sixth seed.
Sectionals aren’t played on paper and the Eagles jumped out to an early lead and won 3-1 on Saturday afternoon.
“We had to stick to our guns, play our game, possession, and get some shots when we could,” Kendall coach Rich Esposito said.
It took about 2:20 for his Eagles to get on the board. Louis Conte got a run up the middle and keeper Thomas Riveros came out to challenge. Conte slid the ball to his left for Zach Barret and the junior hit the vacated net for a 1-0 lead.
A couple of minutes later, Kendall senior Mike McCue went out with leg injury, McCue led the Eagles this year with 15 goals.
The Wolves tried to send their forwards over the top of the defense but keeper Jorden Ostrander consistently came up with sliding stops and clean catches.
“He’s been standing on his head all year long and made some quality saves when we need him, so really proud of him, “ Esposito said.
With under 15 minutes to play, Barret went to the left flag for a corner kick and spotted Conte towards the top of the box and his header went under the crossbar for a 2-0 lead.
Barret said about playing without McCue, “He’s our star player but we’ve got a bunch of key players on our team, our defense is great, we’ve got some fast people, some people who can score.”
With time running out in the first half, the Eagles pressed forward again. Riley Robinson made a heel pass on the right side to Jonathan “Bombo” Reyes and the freshman sent the ball across to Josh Esposito and the sophomore finished for a 3-0 halftime advantage.
The Wolves pressed forward in the second half and just over six minutes in, Quinn Hartman won a race to the ball and played it forward for Finn Costello, who went right and drew Ostrander out and scoring to cut the lead to 3-1.
Coach Ted Hunt then switched Riveros out for sophomore midfielder Sean Thody to get an extra attacker in but Ostrander and the defense came up big at key points, including a free kick from just outside the box the Rafael Ferguson had labeled for the net.
The Eagles advance to the Class C2 semifinals for the second straight season, those games scheduled for Wednesday.
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