By STEVE BRICKLER
HILTON, N.Y. — Sophomore Keirnan McManus scored the lone goal as No. 2 McQuaid clinched a spot in the Section V Class AAA Boys’ Soccer final with a 1-0 victory over No. 3 Rush-Henrietta, Tuesday night at Hilton High School.
“It was what you would expect from a sectional game,” said McQuaid Coach Jeff Oliver. “A semi-final, a game away from a final, which is what they all want to be doing, so we figured it would have the emotion that it did.”
McManus was on the spot from 25 yards out to one-time an errant clearance in the 73rd minute.
The game got off to a fast start as both teams each had a great scoring opportunity within the first four minutes of action. The Royal Comets had the first golden look at goal when senior forward Joseph Otumfuo freed himself along the baseline to the right of the McQuaid goal and laid a ball across the goal mouth on the ground that was just out of reach of the back-post runner.
McQuaid followed moments later with a back-post cross that was headed over the bar from inside the six. R-H had another quality look at goal from about 18 yards out in the seventh minute that McQuaid goalkeeper Alex Morey turned aside with a diving stop.
The remainder of the half was played mostly within the midfield third with neither team finding any clear-cut chances. The Comets held a 3-2 advantage in corner kicks at the break and were winning their share of the 50/50 battles with a defense that frustrated the Knights as they tried to organize their attack.
McQuaid was able to find a little better footing in the second half and started to create dangerous opportunities for themselves. In the second minute of the second half, the Knights earned a free kick on the left side of the box. The initial shot from McQuaid junior Kevin Miller was blocked, but bounced back to Miller who took it endline for a cross that went through the box untouched.
Minutes later, McQuaid forward Leonardo Furgiule got free on the same side and sent in a cross that came in hot across the goal mouth that was redirected just over the bar from point blank range. Miller remained dangerous in the opening 20 minutes of the second half, getting off a couple of shots that narrowly missed, while the Comets continued to find ways to disrupt the McQuaid attack.
The Comets struggled to penetrate the McQuaid defense in the second half in the run of play but were able to create chances on set pieces from distance, dropping balls in areas where a redirection could find its way into the back of the net.
McQuaid continued to apply pressure, earning back-to-back corners in the 71st minute. The pressure finally paid dividends as a Comet clearance attempt from the right side of the box went central and on the ground directly to McManus who didn’t hesitate to pull the trigger, beating R-H goalie Thomas Giambra to the upper right side of the net for the game winner with 7:23 left in the game. Giambra kept the game within reach with a breakaway save with two minutes to play while the Comets pushed numbers forward. The McQuaid defense was able to preserve the win without giving up any dangerous chances in the final minutes.
“Until you see how a team wants it,” said Oliver of R-H, “Until you’re out there and you’re up against it and it takes some time, and luckily we were able to weather them. They came out very hard and we were finally able to settle a little bit, compact our team a little bit, but man, they made it real hard.”
McQuaid will face top-seeded Fairport in Friday’s championship game.
“We’re looking forward to it,” said Oliver. “Seventy-two hours probably won’t be enough (to prepare). We both would probably like a little more time but it should be great.”
Earlier in the evening, Fairport advanced with an 8-0 win over No. 8 WOIS/Edison/Franklin/SOTA.
McQuaid improves to 9-4-1 while the Royal Comets closed with a record of 5-11-1 for the season.
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