By JOHN LIKANJE
MIDDLETOWN, N.Y. – Section V had two teams play at the same time with extremely different field conditions. Hilton played Mamaroneck (I) in a game which went into overtime on the pristine turf field. On the opposite end of the press box and bleachers, Bath-Haverling matched up with North Country champion Beekmantown (VII) on the muddy, swampy grass field. The Rams embraced the challenge and dominated from kickoff until the contest was called five minutes early due to lightning.
The Rams exploded for 28 shots and seven goals while holding the Eagles to five total shots en route to a 7-0 victory in the New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA) Class B semifinals. It’s the Rams’ first win in the state semifinals since 1996 when they won it all in Class B.
“It feels good,” Bath-Haverling head coach Matt Hill said on the Rams advancing to the state final for the first time in 25 years. “It’s good to see the kids’ smiling faces.”
Keefer Calkins led the offensive outburst with four goals, including a hat trick in the first half. The senior attacker wasted little time getting on the scoreboard, only needing 17 minutes to find the back of the net on a bounce off the right crossbar. Calkins scored again 11 minutes later on an assist by senior midfielder Brady Dickson and secured the hat trick with six minutes left in the period. By this time, there was no doubt as the Rams had surged to a commanding 5-0 advantage.
“Movement off the ball,” Calkins said when explaining his scoring prowess. “I was creating opportunities getting the ball at my feet. A couple of times, I was able to dribble around people and had a nice shot, so that was also great. Everything seemed to be flowing for us. It was a rough field but it worked for us and we got it done.”
“He’s always around the ball,” Hill said about Calkins. “He generally gets several shots a game. He’s been doing a great job finishing, especially in the second half of the season.”
Calkins applied the coup de grace on his performance with a left corner sneak on a rebound off a goalkeeper save in the 64th minute. The senior attacker has now amassed 50 goals in 22 matches played.
The Rams’ other three goals were scored by Ezra Hoad, Zach Musso and Evan Pendle. Musso scored the first goal of the match in the ninth minute on a header via a Hoad cross. Hoad went top shelf off a deflection in the 29th minute to extend the Rams’ lead to 4-0. Finally, Pendle capped off the scoring on a breakaway in the 73rd minute right before the game was called due to lightning.
“We knew that we had to get the ball up front to Keefer, Ezra and Zach just to get shots,” Hill said when explaining his squad’s gameplan. “We try to get 20-25 shots a game. We just needed to do the same thing today.”
.@NYSPHSAA Boys’ Soccer B Semifinals: Bath-Haverling vs. Beekmantown – Ezra Hoad goes top shelf off a deflection. Hoad has a goal and an assist in the 1st half. 11′ – Bath-Haverling 4 Beekmantown 0. @PickinSplinters pic.twitter.com/EOuapB7CXQ
— John Mitchell Likanje Junior (@jml5798) November 13, 2021
Senior goalkeeper AJ Brotz only needed three saves to pitch a shutout – the Rams’ 15th of the season.
The Rams advance to the state final to take on Section III champion Skaneateles. The Rams fell to the Lakers, 3-1, in the 2019 state semifinals. The Lakers went on to win the state title.
“I’m super excited,” Calkins said on leading the Rams’ to the state final. “Going to the state final with this group of guys is fantastic. We worked so hard this season and to finally get to the point where we want to be, it’s great. We want to get some revenge, of course. We’re going to do our best and achieve what we want, which is the state title.”
“We’ll figure it out,” Hill said. “Get back to the hotel and talk to the coaches. We played them in 2019 in the semis, so we’ll see. We got some guys that are banged up, but we’ll sort that out.”
Game is scheduled for Sunday at 8:30 a.m on the Faller Turf Field at Middletown High School.
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