East Aurora advances to Class A state semifinal for first time in program history.
By PAUL GOTHAM
WEST SENECA, N.Y. – Lucas Jamesson provided all the offense needed, and East Aurora boys’ soccer outlasted Pittsford Mendon, 1-0 in the New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA) Class A Far West Regional, Saturday at West Seneca West High School.
Jamesson one-timed an Owen Mack feed from just outside the 6-yard box for his 13th goal of the season.
With the win, East Aurora (19-2-0) advances to the NYSPHSAA semifinals to face either New Hartford (III) or Maine-Endwell (IV).
The state Class B champion two years ago, Saturday’s regional win for the Blue Devils was the program’s first at the Class A level.
“For these boys, to carry the burden last year from the state champion team and now they have to compete in Class A,” said East Aurora head coach Kevin Beale. “They responded.”
To do so, the Blue Devils had to withstand early pressure from Mendon which worked for three corner kicks in the opening seven minutes.
“We battled,” Beale said. “We battled from within and made plays.”
On another sequence in the opening 10 minutes, East Aurora outside back Kai Sendziak denied Ben Burrows an opportunity from just outside the six-yard box.
“We had a save like that in the game before,” Beale said referring to the Blue Devils’ 2-1 win over Grand Island. “We withstood a lot of their attack. They’re strong. They’re a quality team. They’re like playing Clarence.”
For Pittsford Mendon (16-3-0), it was the Vikings’ first trip back to the state quarterfinals since beating East Aurora 1-0 in 2013. Mendon went on to claim a share of the NYS Class A title that year.
Mendon, currently No. 2 NYSSWA Class A, came into Saturday’s action winners of five of six. The Vikings had three shots on goal in the opening 40 minutes and four or five grade-A chances to score in the game.
“Obviously disappointed,” said Mendon head coach Mark Hurley. “Credit goes to East Aurora. They disrupted our game a little bit, and we couldn’t get our rhythm going.
“Really proud of the boys. They fought to the end. It’s a great group of guys. I’m going to miss all of them, a fantastic group. I’ve enjoyed every second of it.”
Mendon’s Carm Esposito made five saves in the game including back-to-back stops during a sequence with just under 12 minutes remaining.
The junior keeper got a hand on a shot from Alex Kolken inside the 18-yard box. On the subsequent rebound, Esposito scrambled and took away an open-net opportunity for Mack.
“I feel like even though we had time, guys started panicking a little bit, getting away from our game and hanging our heads,” Hurley said. “Carm kept us in it and reminded us that there’s still time to play, there’s still time to win the game. I’m really proud of him that he kept us at one-to-nothing and gave us those opportunities going forward. Two-nothing breaks your back, and he kept us from getting our backs broken in the end.”
East Aurora keeper Charlie Finnerty made four saves including a one-on-one with Burrows where he came off his line to smother the shot.
East Aurora is 6-6-2 all-time in regional matchups. The Blue Devils came in 0-3-1 in Class A including a 2-0 loss to Mendon and hall-of-fame coach Joe Borrosh in 1979.
“Mendon and Joe Borrosh prior, is just legendary stuff,” Beale said. “From the Mendon ‘79 game, we had some of those dads had sons who played for us.”
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