Two late goals carry Academy
Cadets respond to rally by Schalmont with one of own
Ian Young and his Albany Academy boys’ soccer teammates were not interested in extending themselves past 80 minutes of regulation play Thursday afternoon. Schalmont, however, scored twice to tie the game and the Sabres were seeking to compete in their second overtime contest this season.
As much as the Cadets were fighting through fatigue, the Sabres were even more worn out trying to keep pace with Albany Academy’s prolific offense. Young took advantage of an opening and converted a long feed from teammate Jackson Foley-stevenson for a breakaway goal with 5:36 remaining. Josh Mitchell added another goal 25 seconds later, and the Cadets held on for a 4-2 Colonial Council victory over Schalmont.
“It was a great ball from Jackson. I didn’t know if I was going to get there. We were all really wiped out. It was hot and a tough game,” Young said regarding the 75-degree conditions. “I saw the goalie (Christian Tortorici) come out. All I had to do was put a foot on it and get it over him. I turned around, thanked Jackson and enjoyed the moment.”
Schalmont (2-1-1 overall, 2-1-1 league) overcame a 2-0 deficit and entered the second-half water break doing a better job of curtailing the Cadets’ scoring chances.
“We were all exhausted. The water breaks were absolutely necessary,” Foleystevenson said.
Foley-stevenson, who scored in the first half to provide Albany Academy (5-0, 5-0) a 2-0 edge, masterfully set up Young for his ninth goal of the season in what proved to be the game-winning tally.
“I saw the ball bounce off the center (midfielder) and took a look to see my options,” Foley-stevenson said. “I knew Ian would through to goal if I played it to him and had trust in my teammate. I knew what had to be done, so I hit it to him
where I knew he would finish. He is a good finisher.”
“We used so much energy getting back to 2-2. I was just hoping we could get to the end of regulation tied,” Schalmont coach Vito Urbano said.
The Sabres were still reeling from Young’s goal and Mitchell, a captain along with Foley-stevenson and senior midfielder Sam Murphy, rifled home a long blast with 5:11 left.
After the game, the Cadets sang “Happy Birthday” to coach Adam Collett in acknowledging his 40th birthday.
The celebration actually started early for the Cadets, a squad entering Thursday’s action having already registered impressive wins against Mohonasen (4-2), La Salle (5-1), Lansingburgh (7-0) and Ravena (9-1). Senior defender Nicholas Fisher made it 1-0 when he pounced on a failed clearance to score his first goal of the season. The lead became 2-0 one minute later when Foley-stevenson converted a pass from Harry Haworth for his fourth goal. Albany Academy appeared poised to tack on more goals, but a shot from Sa Moo clanged off the post and Young had a prime chance snuffed out with a block in the box.
“We were fortunate that Christian made a couple of big saves and they hit the post a couple of times,” Urbano said. “We were let off the hook a couple of other times and started to wake up after their second goal.”
Schalmont shaved its deficit to 2-1 as junior striker Drew Kusek scored his seventh goal when he adeptly curved in a corner kick with 11:05 remaining in the first half.
“I wish I could say it was an accident, but it wasn’t an accident. Drew knew exactly what he was doing on that play,” Urbano said. “The keeper was a little out of position. He does that all the time in practice, sneaking one in like that.”
Albany Academy hit the post again following Kusek’s goal and generated two more quality scoring chances before entering intermission up 2-1.
“The whole plan was to stay organized, stay with them and counter quickly,” Urbano said. “We wanted to take advantage of second chances and set pieces. The two goals we let in early are mistakes you just can’t make against a team like them.”
Moo and Young were each denied by Tortorici early in the second half. Schalmont managed to gain the tying goal when senior striker Dan Tommasone corralled a rebound and sent in a shot with 21:40 left.
Collett, like his players, felt the water break came at the perfect time for the Cadets to regroup.
“They have a way they want to play the game and we can’t get dragged into it. I was a little disappointed, but their keeper made some really good saves,” Collett said. “We hit the post and couldn’t buy a goal. It was good we were getting the chances.”
“This was a wake-up call for sure,” Young said. “We could have won this game by a lot more if we played the way we can. They were good athletes, physical, and we couldn’t get past them. Once we slowed it down and played our possession game, we did a lot better.”