By PAUL GOTHAM
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — On most occasions, the coin flip prior to an athletic contest has little bearing on the game’s outcome.
Tuesday night was not one of those times.
A relentless downpour cascaded the field at Eastridge High School, the site of the Section V Boys’ Soccer Class A quarter-final matchup between No. 4 Wayne and No. 5 Brockport. The rain accompanied 15-to-20 mile-per-hour winds out of the east and gusts that turned none too few umbrellas inside-out.
Given the choice between possession of the ball or wind at their backs to start the game, Jay Marino’s Wayne Eagles chose the latter.
And the momentum gained from those 40 minutes helped Wayne punch a ticket to the semi-finals.
“We wanted to get out quick and get out hard,” Marino said after Wayne’s 4-nil win. “That worked out. It was all part of the game plan for these guys.”
Leading scorer JJ Bolt netted three goals to lead the Eagles to their sixth straight appearance in the semi-finals.
“That was a wonderful game,” Marino said. “They played awesome. We stressed to them the whole time that the mental aspect of the game is what’s going to win it. We’ve been stressing that all year to these guys. They’ve been trusting our process and getting here. That showed up tonight. They did not waver, and they played solid the whole game.”
Center back Noah Means started the scoring when the senior pushed forward on a corner kick and nodded home an Alex Cook service for a 1-nil lead with 20:30 remaining in the first half.
Bolt took over there.
20’ GOAL Noah Means nods in a corner kick from JJ Bolt to give @Wayne_soccer21 a 1-nil lead. pic.twitter.com/kLJXhWAFs6
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) October 26, 2021
Less than seven minutes later, Bolt was in position to take advantage of a rebound off teammate Kaleb Glessing’s blast from 25 yards out and finished. Nine minutes later, the senior midfielder stuffed a clearing attempt and scored.
27’ GOAL JJ Bolt controls the rebound from a Kaleb Glessing shot to give @Wayne_soccer21 a 2-nil lead pic.twitter.com/Zb6SrzMYnJ
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) October 26, 2021
Bolt completed the hat trick late in the second half.
“He’s a great player,” Marino said. “He has scored goals for us when we’ve needed them this year. He’s really been the guy we’ve needed him to be this year, and I can’t say enough about him.”
36’ GOAL JJ Bolt slots it side netting for a 3-nil @Wayne_soccer21 lead pic.twitter.com/9S4eBst5uV
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) October 26, 2021
Junior keeper Alec Gilbert made five saves for the shutout, the 11th of the season for the Eagles (16-2-0).
Marino pointed to the play of his backline for his squad’s defensive success.
“They’ve been solid from day one,” the first-year head coach said referring specifically to Means, Mike Gorsky, Zach Lasher and Jonah Schichtel. “They’ve been holding us strong. Winning air balls.”
The game was originally scheduled to be played at Wayne, but heavy rains left the Eagles’ grass field unplayable. The decision to move the game to Eastridge’s turf field was made early in the afternoon.
“We brought them all in, and I told them in person. I told them it doesn’t change anything. I said ‘I don’t care where we play these guys. We’ve prepared for this game. We are ready no matter where we play, and I like our chances no matter if we’re on grass, turf or wherever.’ We’re ready to go. We’ve been getting better every day. They were good. They didn’t waver. They held strong when they needed to.”
Wayne will play top-seeded Pittsford Sutherland in Friday’s semi-final which is scheduled to by played again at Eastridge. The same two teams met in the 2019 Class A2 final – a game that Sutherland won 1-0.
With his two assists Glessing ran his team-high total to 19.
Bolt has 33 goals on the season. He also sixth sense about the coin flip.
“We were technically the home team, so we had to let them (Brockport) call it, Marino explained. “JJ always tells me ‘tails never fails.’ I call tails every time. Brockport took heads, and it was tails. We ended up getting it by default, and we knew right from the beginning.”
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