By PAUL GOTHAM
HONEOYE FALLS, N.Y. — Elijah Bailey scored with 1:04 remaining in the first overtime as the No. 2 Churchville-Chili Saints erased a halftime deficit with a dramatic rally and defeated top-seeded Spencerport, 3-2 to claim the 2023 Section V Class AA Boys’ Soccer championship.
Bailey’s right-footed blast from 30 yards out touched off a celebration more than 30 years in the making.
“It feels great,” the senior defensive midfielder said. “Spencerport is a big rival, and we lost to them both times in the season…We finally got them in the most important time.”
Having trailed 2-1 at halftime and late into regulation, the goal gave Churchville-Chili its only advantage of the game.
“At halftime we told the guys if we shut them out in the second half, we have a chance to win this,” said C-C head coach John Mahoney. “We’re a shutout soccer team. That’s what we do.”
Andrew Berardicurti took possession of the ball along the right flank and drew four Spencerport defenders as he pushed the ball toward middle third before laying off a pass to Bailey.
“To see it come across, I got the ball the ball, took a touch and cut back on my right foot,” Bailey said. “I just wanted to put a hard shot on. I don’t know if it was going to go in originally, but it got deflected. It went enough out of reach of the goalie.”
The championship was the first since 1990 for the Saints and comes after three recent defeats in the finals including a 1-0 overtime loss to Pittsford Sutherland in the 2021 Class A championship.
“The long wait is over,” Mahoney said. “It couldn’t have been written better for us against such a very good team and fierce rival of ours.”
Kyle Milburn converted a penalty kick to give Spencerport (16-4-0) an early 1-0 lead. Aidan Ozkaynak leveled the match for C-C with 11:30 remaining in the first half.
29’ Aidan Ozkaynak gets the equalizer for @CCCSDbsoccer pic.twitter.com/Iunr7Fih6e
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) October 31, 2023
Justice Hinman scored to give the Rangers a 2-1 lead heading into halftime.
36’ Justice Hinman gets behind the backline to give @RangersBSoccer a 2-1 lead. pic.twitter.com/mai9BD46Om
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) October 31, 2023
“We made two critical errors in the first half that cost us, obviously,” Mahoney said. “We really felt that all we would need to do was get one, and it would go to overtime and then we would have a chance to win it. I believe in our team’s ability to hold opponents out and stop them from scoring on us.”
Senior center back Cam Bean connected on the equalizer with 1:04 remaining in regulation.
“Second time all year I’ve moved my center back forward,” Mahoney said. “He scored a goal both times. Good things happen when you have good players.”
Bean’s goal, off an indirect kick after an obstruction call inside the 18-yard box, was originally called offsides. After a brief discussion between the referee and line judge, it was ruled a goal. This came moments after Spencerport celebrated what it thought was a third goal on its own indirect kick. That score was disallowed because the ball went into the back of the net without being touched twice.
79’ Cam Bean nets the equalizer. Class AA is going to overtime. pic.twitter.com/3vgJeBO0Nq
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) November 1, 2023
“I’m the last guy that’s going to apologize to anybody for the way that game weirdly turned out,” said Mahoney. “We’ve been on the other end of that so many times. I’m happy for my team, happy for my school, happy for our family. Just proud of the program we’ve had.
“We’ve been good for a long time. We’ve just been really unlucky in finals. Really, really unlucky. Did Spencerport get unlucky there? Yeah, they were unlucky there, but we’ve been on the other end of that.”
Bailey’s goal was his seventh of the season.
“Just swing, just swing,” Mahoney said. “That goal is what we’ve been saying all year long. Even with a defender in front of you, good things happen. It happens at the EPL (English Premier League) level, at the World Cup level. You swing. It sometimes can go through someone’s leg. It obviously clipped a defender. That’s why Jack (Spencerport goalkeeper, Distaffen) couldn’t read it. I’ll take it.”
Spencerport beat Churchville twice during the season by identical scores of 1-0. The reigning Class A champions looked on target to make it a third win over their fellow Monroe County Division II foe.
“They came out strong,” Bailey said. “It wasn’t our best game all around. We had some bad moments. Giving up a PK is really demoralizing. The second goal that they scored was a defensive error.
“We kinda dug ourselves in a hole and we just didn’t give up. We felt like we dominated in both losses, but we came up short. We were motivated. We were ready to get out there.”
The win comes after Mahoney recently lost his mother.
“I feel so happy for coach most of all because he’s been going through tough stuff with his family,” Bailey said. “It’s been so long. I feel so happy for him.”
Churchville (14-3-2) will play Clarence in the New York State Far West Regional. A 7:30 PM kickoff is scheduled Saturday at West Seneca High School in Buffalo.
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