By PAUL GOTHAM
HENRIETTA, N.Y. — Ryan Mathis finished with a pair of goals including the game winner late in the second half, and Fairport boys’ soccer rallied to defeat host Rush-Henrietta, 3-2 in Monroe County Division I action, Thursday night.
Mathis ran down a ball along the right flank and beat a pair of R-H defenders before slotting a left-footed shot into the opposite side netting for his team-leading 13th goal of the season.
“I knew (Rush-Henrietta defender) Zayden Patel was running alongside of me,” Mathis said. “He’s a great defender. We’ve played against each other for a lot of years. I had to cut the ball back to get an angle for a shot. When I did that, everything opened up.”
69’ Ryan Mathis gives @FCSDSports a 3-2 lead. pic.twitter.com/ipIf3rD9Qu
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) October 11, 2024
The goal capped a rally that saw the Red Raiders erase a one-goal deficit at halftime.
“We just had to keep ourselves in the game,” Mathis said. “We had to play with energy. Once we start hyping each other up, that’s when we play well.”
Trailing 2-1, Mathis set up teammate Sean Griffin with the equalizer less than two minutes after the break. Mathis, again along the right wing, played a service through the 18-yard box that Griffin finished along the far post.
44’ Sean Griffin gets the equalizer for @FCSDSports Ryan Mathis sets up the play. pic.twitter.com/MsZjMICD4O
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) October 11, 2024
Mathis started the scoring in the ninth minute when he took a throw in from teammate Austin Stephany and used one touch before unleashing a right-footed blast from 25 yards out that found the back of the net.
Rush-Henrietta rallied.
Patel converted on a free kick opportunity to level the match with 15:52 remaining in the first half. Jafar Al-Hamdani took advantage of a giveaway to stake the Royal Comets to a 2-1 lead with 1:45 remaining before halftime.
25’ Zayden Patel takes advantage of a giveaway inside the 18 and connects on the equalizer. @FCSDSports 1 @RushAthletics 1 pic.twitter.com/z6tdwlLbG9
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) October 10, 2024
Jafar Al-Hamdani takes advantage of a giveaway, and @RushAthletics takes a 2-1 lead into halftime. pic.twitter.com/ldIwADab6B
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) October 11, 2024
“That’s a great team,” Mathis said of R-H. “We knew it was going to be a battle.”
The two teams played to a 1-1 draw on September 19th.
Rush-Henrietta dropped to 6-5-3 with the loss. The Royal Comets travel for a 6:15 p.m. match against Spencerport next Wednesday before hosting Greece Athena two days later in the regular season finale.
Fairport (9-0-3) is one of four remaining unbeaten teams in Section V Boys’ Soccer along with Brockport (12-0-0), Livonia (13-0-1) and Northstar Christian (12-0-0). The Red Raiders host Spencerport on Monday for a 7:15 p.m. kickoff then finish the season at Churchville-Chili on Thursday. A 6:30 p.m. start time is scheduled.
*Article has been updated to reflect accurate credit for the assist on the first Fairport goal.
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