BY PAUL GOTHAM
PENFIELD, N.Y. — It’s been 13 years since John Butterworth roamed the sidelines for Penfield boys’ soccer.
The hall-of-fame coach’s influence still remains with his former program.
And Friday night one of Butterworth’s ideas contributed to a Patriots’ victory.
Paul Rolland found the back of the net twice, and Mason Vallow set up a pair of goals as No. 4 Penfield did all of its scoring in the second half in a 4-nil victory over No. 12 Gates Chili in Section V Class AA action.
“Guys really plugged away at that first 10 minutes,” current Penfield head coach John Cotsonas said. “We stress that all the time. The first 10 minutes of the second half is so important to change the tempo, to maybe create more chances and to change the flow of the game.”
VIEW MORE PHOTOS FROM JEROME DAVIS.
The Patriots pushed forward and earned a penalty kick less than four minutes into the stanza. Filip Matic converted on the opportunity. Seven minutes later, Rolland waited far post on a Vallow corner kick from the right flag and sent a volley into the opposite side netting to double the advantage.
“Everybody bought into the game plan tonight and played all the way through it,” Cotsonas said. “We talked about some things that we thought we needed to change a little bit.”
51’ Paul Rolland opposite side netting off the corner. Penfield 2-0. pic.twitter.com/ebygS7A9F3
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) October 20, 2023
Penfield continued to feed off its momentum.
Vallow played a service from the left flank that hit Troy Gallagher in stride for a finish in the air. Rolland capped the scoring in the 61st minute with an assist from Matic.
60’ Mason Vallow finds Troy Gallagher for a beauty of a goal. Little more than a minute later, Paul Rolland scores his second of the game. Penfield 4-0. Class AA quarters. pic.twitter.com/089FfgIuFe
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) October 20, 2023
Cotsonas, who has been part of the Penfield program since 1995, pointed to his experience as a JV coach with the program
“I learned from Coach Butterworth a long time ago that the first 10 minutes of the second half is so key. If you don’t play well the first 10 minutes, the whole half can go downhill. If you do play well, you can change the whole complexion of the game.”
Rolland’s goals came after the senior forward was thwarted on a handful of opportunities in the first half including a shot off the crossbar. The markers were the senior’s team-leading 15th and 16th of the season.
Paul Rolland came this close to giving Penfield the lead. Scoreless at halftime. Class AA. pic.twitter.com/Rk5YB4oxuM
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) October 20, 2023
“I’ll take him missing five or six different chances because he’s going to score,” Cotsonas said. “Paul is so smart and so fast to make those runs. Filip and Brock (Bell) and Mason do a good job of finding him. There have been so many times throughout the year that ball has gotten into that area where the two center backs are there. It looks they’re going to get it, and Paul just runs right past them. Whether it’s sheer desire on top of the speed, he’s so smart in those situations.”
Penfield’s defense did its job slowing Gates Chili’s leading scorer, Sebastian Guerrero who came into the match with 20 goals and 15 assists.
“You have to be concerned because of the stress that they cause with the long balls, and the fact that Sebastian is a danger any time that he touches the ball,” Cotsonas said. “I thought Brock did a really good job with him (Guerrero) tonight, and the guys that were our second defenders stepping in when he got past him. It was a pretty good team defensive type of play from us especially as we got toward the end of the first half into the second half.”
Spartan keeper Cole Falk made six of his 14 saves in the first half.
Cotsonas was an assistant to Butterworth when Penfield won three state titles from 2001 to 2004.
“You soak that in when you’re around that. We knew that that stuff doesn’t come around all the time.”
Led by former Penfield players Brian Usinger, Mike Lentine, Jammar Miller, Josh Bolton and current Patriots’ assistant Chris Stock, Penfield shared the 2001 NYS AA title before winning outright in 2003 and 2004.
“We had really, really good players,” Cotsonas said. “Coaches look good when you have good players.”
Penfield will play top-seeded and reigning Class A champion, Spencerport in the semifinals scheduled for next Thursday.
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