By PAUL GOTHAM
DANSVILLE, N.Y — Connor Lewis and Jhonjader Cardona Penaloza staked top-seeded Penn Yan (14-3-2) to a two-goal lead, and the Mustangs went on to claim the 2026 Section V Class B1 Boys’ Soccer championship with a 4-1 win over No. 7 Aquinas (5-13-0), Wednesday night at Dansville High School.
The championship is the first in program history.
“I really don’t have much as far as words,” said Penn Yan head coach Jason Hassos. “It’s just amazing. It’s been years of work, and guys that aren’t here tonight, you know, they laid the groundwork, and they’re still part of our fall soccer family. The support is amazing, and these seniors, and the young guys all stepped up. It’s unreal.”
Lewis gave Penn Yan a 1-nil lead in the 27th minute when the junior sweeper’s free kick from 53 yards out landed in the back of the net.
The Mustangs took that slim into halftime before Cardona Penaloza converted on a corner kick opportunity less than 12 minutes after the break.
The ninth-grade striker took advantage of a second-ball opportunity and finished out of a scramble inside the Aquinas six-yard box.
Cole Banach and Alex Leisner added goals less than 60 seconds apart to put the game away with nine minutes remaining in regulation.
“It’s always good to get up early,” Hassos said. “Then our team defense and our goalie have been amazing all year.”
Aquinas cut the deficit to one and had a chance to level the match.
“It’s the same message we’ve preached all year: we play to the final whistle,” said first-year Aquinas head coach Konrad Zydowicz. “There are going to be unlucky bounces in every soccer game. It’s high school soccer.
“It’s about who’s willing to put in the extra work when the other team’s tired and battle the whole 80 minutes. It’s unfortunate those two goals went in against us because I thought it was a pretty close game up to that point. But credit to our boys, they battled back and made it a 2-1 game.”
Peter Goetz took advantage of an open net when Marco Tata’s free kick rang the right post and caromed to the front of frame for a tap in.
Aquinas was looking to win its ninth title in program history.
“We’ve preached since day one that it’s all about when sectionals come, and how we perform,” Zydowicz said. “Every game leads up to this point, and it’s about trying to play the right way. Stuff started to click at the end of the year, so I couldn’t be more proud of these boys. To make it this far, to show the battle, the grit, the heart. They put it all on the line, so I couldn’t be more proud of them.”
Penn Yan’s Carter MacKerchar made seven saves for the win.
Penn Yan will play either Livonia or Haverling in the Class B state qualifier scheduled for Saturday.
Leave a Reply