B.B.’s historic boys’ soccer season ends with heartbreaking 1-0 loss in semifinals
November 6, 2024 at 11:16 p.m.
After Pleasantville beat the Trojans in the final game to deprive Blind Brook of an undefeated season, the intensity began to rise. The second-seed Trojans, who finished the season with a 10-1-5 record, went into the playoffs with a first-round bye. The boys practiced heavily in preparation to face the winner of Yonkers Montessori Academy versus Alexander Hamilton High School.
It was time for the quarterfinals and the playoff opener for the Trojans on Tuesday, Oct. 29 as Yonkers Montessori came to town. It did not take long for Nico Palacios to make his way to the penalty box and knock it down for a 1-0 Trojan lead. It stayed this way until the 25th minute, when Noah Brookman found himself in a 2 on 1 situation and dusted the two Yonkers defenders for the goal.
However, Brookman wasn’t done. With six minutes left in the half, he shot a missile into the top-left corner from 25 yards out. The Trojans went into halftime with a 3-0 lead.
Junior Jack Shaw fights for possession with a Yonkers Montessori defender in Blind Brook’s Oct. 29 home quarterfinal game. The Trojans won that contest and moved on to the semifinals, losing to the Rye Neck Panthers 1-0.By Joseph DeCarlo
The Trojans continued poised and calm play the entire game, and in the 55th minute, this time to the bottom left corner, Brookman finished off Yonkers Montessori with his third goal of the day, completing the hat trick. The Trojans won 4-0 and moved on to the section semifinals.
A day of film later and the Trojans were back at it for the section semifinals on Thursday, Oct. 31 at 2:30 p.m. They welcomed the Rye Neck Panthers to town, ranked the third seed. Stakes were high, as the winner of this game would advance to the section championship at Lakeland High School on Sunday, Nov. 3. Games against the Panthers have been intense all season, with a 0-0 draw for the first meeting at Rye Neck and a 1-1 draw for the rematch. This game started in front of a large Trojan crowd who filed in just as kickoff began.
The contest was powerful right from the jump. Great ball movement and energy from the Trojans led to a chance at scoring a few minutes in when Noah Becher hit the crossbar on a beautiful shot off a rebound just centimeters away from the score. Late in the first half, the Panthers scored off a corner kick to break the game open. The entire second half was mostly the same, and no scoring occurred. The Trojans shifted their entire offense up in the final minutes, but it was not enough. The Trojans’ historic season had come to a heartbreaking end as the final score was 1-0 in favor of the Panthers.
Goalkeeper Luka Cuk rolls the ball out near his defensive line in the Trojans’ Tuesday, Oct. 29 quarterfinal game against Yonkers Montessori Academy. Cuk received All-League and All-Section recognition for his performance during the season.By Joseph DeCarlo
The seniors have devoted everything they have to this program during their Blind Brook careers. Captains Dylan McRedmond, Nico Palacios, QuiQue Almeida, and Luka Cuk have been among the best leaders the team has seen and led one of the greatest Trojan boys’ soccer teams Blind Brook has seen in years. Noah Brookman, CJ Stumpf, Jack Gold, Danny Keilman, Cooper Schloss, Cameron Scott, Hiroumi Shizuka, Zach Taerstein, Luke Miller, and Victor Lopez all put in hard work, and their contributions to the Blind Brook soccer program during the past four years are appreciated and recognized.
Tyler Taerstein, Jack Shaw, Zach Taerstein, and Noah Brookman all received All-League Honorable Mention awards, with Luka Cuk, Nico Palacios, So Achiwa, Dylan McRedmond, Cooper Schloss, and QuiQue Almeida winning All-League recognition. Winners of All-Section mention were Cuk, Palacios and Achiwa.
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