Patriots emerge back on top in boys' soccer

PHOTOGRAPHER: Bob Weiner

It only took 1:08 for Dominic Kwiatkowski to make his presence felt in Saturday’s Section II Class B soccer championship game at Colonie High School.

The high-scoring senior forward left-footed a loose ball past a diving Ichabod Crane goalie Zach Ooms to give the top-seeded Patriots a quick 1-0 lead, and he later headed in the game-winner as Broadalbin-Perth went on to oust the Riders, 2-1.

Kwiatkowski has 33 goals for the 16-0-3 Patriots, who return to the state tournament after a one-year absence. Ichabod Crane, the No. 2 seed, fell to 16-0-1.

“That early goal gave us a quick start,” said Broadalbin-Perth coach Brian Henry. “It couldn’t have happened any better for us. It set the tone for the rest of the game. Ichabod Crane is a fantastic squad, but now we’re going back to the state tournament.”

Henry said the Patriots are on pace to complete all of their preseason goals.

“We set a goal to win the Foothills Council, which we did,” he said. “Then we said we wanted to do well in the sectionals. After that, we set the bar even higher, and we met the challenge. We’re going back to the state tournament.

“This team showed so much resilience, right from the first practice back in August. I am very pleased with the way we played today. We were very aggressive, and we attacked all the 50-50 balls. It was very exciting, but it was also nerve-wracking for me. I was just as nervous as I was two years ago, the last time we made it to the state tournament. These guys are are loose, and they help to keep me that way.”

The Patriots’ early lead appeared to stun the Colonial Council champion Riders, who lost to Scotia-Glenville in last year’s finals. After his first goal, the multi-talented Kwiatkowski blasted a left-footed volley from 25 yards out just two minutes later, and Ooms had to make a diving save.

Ichabod Crane, which has only five seniors on its roster, finally got back into the game when junior midfielder Eduardo Gomez drew a penalty in the box. Bernie Watt took the penalty kick and blasted a shot past B-P goalie Madison Wilcox to tie the game at 18:35. Wilcox had allowed only eight goals all year and had posted 12 shutouts.

But the Patriots got the game-winner three minutes later. A.J. Klemczak curled a corner kick toward the goal, and junior forward Ben Bellandi deflected the ball to Kwiatkowski, who headed it in with 15:20 left in the half.

“It was just a deflection off a corner kick. I was wide open. It’s as simple as that,” said Kwiatkowski, who was a late-season call-up from the JV team when the Patriots last competed in the states two years ago.

“I’m a captain and a starter now. It definitely puts more pressure on you as a captain, but we played great as a team, and that’s about all I can say.

“All of my nerves were gone when I got that first goal. It gave us the momentum, and we played great after that. We kind of knew the way Ichabod Crane was playing. We were very prepared for them.”

“There weren’t any real surprises,” said Henry. “We scouted them well. We had the matchups on the field that we were looking for. Like I said, when you get your first goal just 1:08 into the game, it gave us a great start.

“It was unfortunate that we gave up that penalty kick, because it took some of our momentum away, but the guys came back with another goal very soon after that. I really liked the way we played today.”

Although the Patriots were in control for most of the second half, the Riders did have three excellent scoring opportunities to give Wilcox a scare. Giovanni Morales, a junior forward, chipped a liner in the box that Wilcox saved with 23 minutes to go, and then Seth Scarano, a sophomore midfielder/forward, whirled around from 25 yards out and blasted a shot that hit off the right post with 9:25 remaining.

The Riders, who scored 19 goals and gave up none in their previous three sectional contests, also made the Patriots sweat when Tyler Jablonski sent a free kick toward the box with five minutes left, but Wilcox again made the save.

Broadalbin-Perth plays in state quarterfinals at Schuylerville on Saturday.

CLASS C

Steven Sepowski scored in overtime to propel Maple Hill over Lake George, 1-0, in the Class C championship game.

Deryck VanAlstyne made four saves for the Wildcats, who play in the state semifinals on Saturday.

CLASS D

Fort Ann dominated the entire game but couldn’t solve Argyle goalie Joshua Hilder until freshman forward Chris Jackson kicked in shot with 6:18 left in the first overtime to send the Cardinals to a 1-0 victory.

Fort Ann plays in regional competition Saturday.