Lucas Flood scored in the eighth round of penalty kicks to end what was officially a 1-1 tie between the Mighty Warriors and the Tartans in last Saturday’s Section II Class A quarterfinal game in Scotia.
Flood’s kick moved Mohona-sen (6-10-2) one step closer to repeating as Sectional champions – something head coach Corey Gregg couldn’t be part of last year while serving in Iraq with the National Guard. Instead, he heard about it from his brother Joshua, who filled in for Corey.
“Any time you get good news from home, it can take your mind off of what’s going on over there,” said Corey Gregg. “Experiencing it first-hand is even better.”
The Mighty Warriors would have won the game outright had Scotia-Glenville (7-5-5) not struck for the tying goal with 35 seconds left in the second half. The Tartans had a direct kick, so coach Chris Bailey moved his entire starting lineup into the penalty box. Goaltender Scott DiBiase headed the ball as it was about to go out of bounds and got it to Bryce Campbell, who headed the ball into the goal.
That was the last good scoring chance Scotia-Glenville had in the game. Mohonasen controlled the action through the two 15-minute overtime periods, but couldn’t get anything past DiBiase.
“We came out very well [after allowing the tying goal],” said Gregg. “We had two chances to end the game in the first overtime and couldn’t do it, and they didn’t have any chances in both overtimes.”
“We kind of held them off,” said Bailey. “In the second overtime, we had the wind at our backs, but they controlled the tempo of the game.”
The battle continued through penalty kicks. Each side made three of its attempts during the first five rounds of penalty kicks. Scotia-Glenville then hit its next two penalty kicks in sudden death, but Mohonasen answered each time before getting the winner from Flood.
“It is what it is,” said Bailey. “It was a great game, just like last year. We just happened to be on the short end again.”
Mike Korzun gave Mohonasen a 1-0 lead 3:30 into the game when he launched a shot from the top of the penalty box that DiBiase had no chance to stop.
“I always emphasize that the first 10 minutes of the game sets the tone,” said Gregg.
Scotia-Glenville had a hard time generating scoring chances the rest of the game, as Mohonasen’s defenders cleared lead pass after lead pass.
“They played very direct – a lot more direct than we’re used to in the Suburban Council,” said Gregg. “My [defensive] backs held their own and positioned themselves well to prevent opportunities on goal.”
Mohonasen will try to get back to the Sectional finals Thursday when it meets Patroon Conference champion Ichabod Crane in the semifinals at Queensbury High School.
“As long as we play our game, I think we should do fine,” said Gregg.
As for Scotia-Glenville, it can only think about what could have been again.
“Our seniors were devastated, but in the same light, it’s only high school soccer and you have to take things as they come,” said Bailey.
