By PAUL GOTHAM
GENESEO, N.Y. — Less than one minute had elapsed in Friday’s New York State Class D Far West Regional, and the Naples boys’ soccer team had pushed forward for two corner kicks.
One minute later, the Big Green had its first goal of the night on the way to a decisive win.
“A lot of teams go into games like this with the ‘be cautious the first 10 minutes’ attitude,” Naples head coach Ryan Betrus said after his squad’s 4-0 victory over Section VI champion, Ellicottville. “We go into games like this, and we say gas pedal. Right from the kickoff, you’re on the gas, and you’re going as hard as you can.”
Landon Gleichauf connected for the first Naples goal with 38:31 left in the first half.
“A goal in the first five minutes of a game like this changes everything,” Betrus said. “That is our goal, to score in the first 10 minutes of the game.”
Matthew Lincoln and Oscar Austin added tallies before halftime for a 3-nil lead heading into the break.
“We ran hard the first 10 minutes, and it sets a tone,” Betrus said. “It was we’re here to win. We’re here to play hard, and we’re going to give it all we got. If it wasn’t enough, it wasn’t enough, but today it was.”
Naples dominated in every aspect of the game. The Big Green finished with a 9-0 advantage in shots on goal and 6-1 in corner kicks. They limited Ellicottville to one set piece within their 35-yard line and that didn’t occur until the final five minutes of the game. At the same time, Naples set up for free kicks within 35 yards of their opponent’s goal on four separate occasions.
The win was the 15th straight for Naples (19-1-0) which improved to 5-0 all-time in state quarterfinal matches. Friday’s state win, though, was the first in 25 years for the Naples program.
25’ NYS Class C Far West Regional: Matthew Lincoln redirects an Isaac award cross and finds the back of the net. Four minutes later, Oscar Austin adds to the lead. @NaplesAthletics 3-nil. pic.twitter.com/MyAkF4lxnf
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) November 9, 2024
43’ NYS Class D Far West Regional: Isaac Ward settles a Maddox Mannella service and gives @NaplesAthletics a 4-nil lead. pic.twitter.com/ybQhLUGb5i
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) November 9, 2024
The moment never looked too big Betrus and his squad.
“One of the things that we got is we lost in the finals last year,” Betrus said of the loss to Fillmore in the 2023 Class D final. “So we’ve got sectional final experience.”
Betrus also drew on his players’ work in other sports to prepare for Friday’s game.
“We have five guys who have a combined 15 sectional tennis titles and have made it to regionals,” he said referring to Lincoln, Gleichauf, Jake Betrus, Connor Betrus and Colin Kenney. “This group of boys knows what it’s like to win.”
Isaac Ward added a goal in the 43rd minute to put the game out of reach.
Gleichauf, Ward and Maddox Mannella had an assist apiece.
“Matt does his job up top and his job is to put the ball in the net,” Betrus said referring to Lincoln the Section V Small Schools Player of the Year who now has 30 goals on the year. “If another team is going to focus on him, they’ve got to know that there’s other scorers. We’ve got guys who can put the ball in the net. They’ve put a lot of time in over the years.”
Naples advances to the state semifinals to face either Hamilton (III) or South Kortright (IV). That game will be played next Friday at Middletown High School. A 3:15 p.m. kickoff is scheduled.
Naples is 2-1-1 all-time in state semifinal games including wins over Seton Catholic (2-0) in 1999 and Roxbury (4-0) in 1989. In 1995, Naples lost in PKs to eventual state champion, Hamilton.
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