B.B. boys’ varsity soccer team bounces back with overtime win
September 20, 2023 at 11:27 p.m.
The Blind Brook boys’ varsity soccer team hosted Briarcliff High School on Wednesday, Sept. 13. Having a 1-0 record, Blind Brook came into this game with confidence coming off a shutout led by star goalie Luka Cuk. Briarcliff, one of the top soccer schools in the section for years now, came into this game seeking a big win.
The Trojans started off strong with senior captain Martin Otero scoring in the first five minutes. However, about 15 minutes later, at the 21st minute, Briarcliff struck back to tie the game. Fast forward 12 more minutes and the Bears struck again, going into halftime with a 2-1 lead. Blind Brook battled all game, but it wasn’t enough. With around 10 minutes left, the Bears sealed it up with another goal that shut the Trojans down.
The Trojans were looking for revenge a day later, hosting Croton-Harmon. Hoping to get back into the win column, Blind Brook started off strong. The defense led by captain Joaco Otero was a wall, keeping the ball only in the offensive zone. The Trojans were maintaining good control and had many opportunities but couldn’t capitalize on them until around the 31st minute when junior striker Nico Palacios found the back of the net to start the scoring with a tally for the Trojans.
Fast forward to halftime, the game was still in the Trojans’ favor by only one. However, the Tigers came out of halftime extra aggressive, with many opportunities and a few dirty plays. One of them landed a Croton-Harmon Tiger a spot on the bench due to a red card after a dirty tackle on captain Tomo Yamano. Yamano was big all game for the Trojans and kept making chances happen despite the slight injury.
A few minutes later, Croton-Harmon tied the game at 1-1. Blind Brook kept their intensity up after that and responded with a goal from senior Eli Zimmerman with around 20 minutes left in the game to give the Trojans a late lead. The Trojans now had the adrenaline to finish off the Tigers. They were playing great defense and were able to fight off the Tigers all the way down to the last few minutes of the game with their defense. However, a questionable call by the referee changed the game with around 5 minutes left, giving the Tigers a penalty kick inside the box. The Tigers buried it into the bottom left corner of the net and forced overtime.
After a quick break, both teams got back into formation on the field for the first of two 15-minute overtime halves. The first was very even, both teams playing cautiously and defending their zone well. The first half of overtime sped by with no damage done to either side. The second half of overtime went mostly the same up until the end.
About 10 minutes through the second half of overtime, in the 105th minute of the match, the Trojans set up for a corner kick. A beautiful corner kick from Palacios put the ball into the possession of junior Dylan McRedmond, who drew the Tigers’ goalie out of goal and set up Zimmerman for a nice and easy volley into the net to upset Croton-Harmon and 3-2 bring Blind Brook home the win after a 105-minute thriller.
The bench and fans mobbed Zimmerman and Palacios, who were celebrating in the corner. A huge, well-deserved celebration ended the day for the Trojans and upgraded their record to 2-1. Final stats included two goals and an assist for Zimmerman, a goal and an assist for Palacios and a clutch assist for McRedmond.
The Trojans would get back to business on Tuesday, Sept. 19 at Valhalla High School followed by a home match on Thursday, Sept. 21 against Rye Neck at 4:30 p.m. Next week they will play another home match on Tuesday, Sept. 26 vs Pleasantville followed by an away game the next day against Westlake and another away match against Tuckahoe on Thursday, Sept. 28, all at 4:30 p.m.
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