Pickin' Splinters

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East Rochester and Greece Olympia play to a stalemate

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East Rochester’s Alex Entz comes off his line for one of 12 saves on the night. Olympia’s Obi Kagde goes airborne for a shot. ER’s Judah Tanner (23) defends on the play. (Photo: DAVE YATES)

By PAUL GOTHAM

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The calendar indicated mid-September, but play on the pitch had a touch of October to it Monday night at Greece Olympia High School.

Obi Kagde connected on the equalizer in the waning moments of regulation, and the host Spartans (4-1-1) went on to finish in a 1-1 tie with East Rochester (7-0-1).

“We know that they are a good team,” Olympia head coach Rob Duprau said of the Bombers. “They’re probably going to compete for a Class C title. For us, it was let’s look at this as a sectional game. Can we compete with some of the better teams in the area? I thought we had some good moments out there. I don’t think we capitalized on all of them.”

Kagde slid between a pair of defenders and nodded home the tying goal in the 78th minute.

“I was really proud of my team in terms of their resiliency,” Duprau said. “Getting down a goal and to keep fighting right until the end and getting one back and still battling in overtime. I’m proud of the boys.”

Blessed Likoke made a run along the right wing and served a cross into the 18-yard box that Kagde headed in from just outside the 6.

“We’ve had a little bit of a problem putting the ball in the back of the net,” Duprau said. “We’ve got a lot of quality out there and there’s tons of potential. It just hasn’t happened for us yet. We’re doing enough to win games, but there’s more in it. There’s more in it for us. We keep working. We keep training. Eventually the cap is going to come off, and we’re going to start putting some in the back of the net.”

Kagde’s goal came less than 10 minutes after ER’s Sean Lewis snapped a scoreless tie.

“I’m definitely glad that this one goes in the tie column and not the loss, but we had about four or five chances to put it away today,” Bombers’ head coach Mike Yacuzzo said. “We’ll build off those frustrations, know as a team we can do better and learn from that. Where we are in the season, there’s a lot to be happy about.”

Greece Olympia’s Dylan Mattice (13) makes one of his eight saves in the match as he stops an attempt by Perry Francis (6). (Photo: DAVE YATES)

Lewis made a back post run and easily redirected a Jalen McCoy cross for his first varsity goal.

“We beat ourselves today,” Yacuzzo said. “I know we didn’t put this in the loss column, but we were not outplayed today. We had our chances to come out with a win, and we beat ourselves. Learning from that as a team for when we see some of these top-tier teams in sectionals, we know what this feels like. We know what this tastes like. Can’t have that happen again. We move on from here.”

That ER had a chance to take the lead was due in large part to the efforts of junior keeper Alex Entz.

“He’s been incredible for us,” Yacuzzo said. “Him stepping up like that, the team sees those kinds of efforts and it just boosts everybody. It was an awesome game from him. We needed it too.”

Olympia had the better of the play from the opening kickoff, and Entz made three of his 12 saves early in the match including a sliding stop on a shot from Arnanh Douangdala.

“We knew that this was going to be a totally different style of play than the Wayne County soccer we play,” Yacuzzo said. “It was a matter of keeping them calm, collected and playing their game. They know that they’re better now. They’ve all grown so much. They know they have the skill. It’s just calming them down a little and letting them get their legs under them. And they did that. I wish they didn’t wait until the first overtime to really take it to them. They really figured it out.”

Entz later tipped a Diuangdala blast over the bar.

Entz’s counterpart, Dylan Mattice, was up to the task when Olympia needed him. The senior keeper stopped eight shots including a pair of point-blank opportunities in overtime when McCoy created space between himself and the Olympia backline.

“I’ve been lucky enough to have him since he was ninth grader,” Duprau said of Mattice who has recorded four shutouts thius far in the season. “He’s been doing that since he’s been a freshman. Some of his best are those when he doesn’t have a shutout. He’s really good. He’s been a great team leader for us. He’s a captain. I think he’s phenomenal. I think he’s going to have a great year.”

East Rochester will host Sodus on Wednesday for a 7:15 PM start.

Olympia welcomes crosstown rival Greece Arcadia on Wednesday. A 7:30 start is scheduled.

(Photo: DAVE YATES)

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