By Rob Potter
POUGHKEEPSIE —November 04, 2005— The Sullivan West Bulldogs saw their 2005 soccer season come to a disappointing end on Wednesday afternoon.
After a close first half, the host Spackenkill Spartans scored three goals in the second 40 minutes of competition to record a 4-0 victory in a Section IX Class B semifinal game.
With the win, second-seeded Spackenkill (17-2) advanced to tomorrow’s Class B championship match versus James I. O’Neill. SW, which was the sixth seed in the Class B tournament, ends its season with a record of 9-9-2.
In addition to losing the game, the Bulldogs lost starting goalkeeper Joseph Layman to an injury midway through the first half. A crowd of players gathered in front of the SW net and a Spartan kicked the ball towards the goal cage. In the rush to control the ball, Layman went down amid the group of players.
Layman, a senior, stayed on the turf for a few minutes while being attended to by SW Coach Debbie Owen and some teammates. He left the game and did not return.
After the contest, Owen said that she was pretty sure that Layman had suffered a broken nose.
Logan Grishaber took over for Layman in the goal cage.
At 31:03 of the first half, Nicholas White beat Grishaber to the ball as it rolled towards the goal. White then kicked the ball into the open net to give the Spartans a 1-0 lead.
Travis Woyner was credited with an assist on the goal.
With 11:23 elapsed in the second half, SW was whistled for a hand ball in the goal box. Spackenkill’s Andrew Maher took the subsequent penalty kick and scored on a low shot to Grishaber’s right.
Spackenkill took a 3-0 advantage when Maher scored on an assist by Gregory Dooley at the 15:34 mark.
Woyner scored the final goal of the afternoon on a penalty kick with less than six minutes remaining. Woyner was dribbling the ball towards the Bulldogs’ goal cage when he was inadvertently tripped by a SW player.
He faked right and then kicked the ball to the left of Grishaber.
Spackenkill enjoyed a 21-9 advantage in shots and a 6-1 advantage in corner kicks.
“All of our goals were hard-earned goals,” Spackenkill Coach Manny Blanco said. “After that first goal, we settled down and played our game.”
Despite the Spartans’ four-goal victory, Blanco thought the match was much closer.
“The final score doesn’t indicate how the game was played,” he said. “Credit goes to Sullivan West. They played hard the whole game and didn’t give up. They should be very proud of the way they played.”
Owen praised the Spartans on the way they competed.
“They are a very talented team,” she said. “The Spackenkill players are players who play soccer all year long. We have three-sport athletes who love to play soccer.”
While Owen said that Layman’s injury shook up the team for a few moments, she was pleased with the way they played during the remainder of the match.
“Logan Grishaber came in to play goalie and he did an awesome job,” Owen said. “All of these guys played with heart today.”
For the seven seniors on the SW roster, the loss marked the conclusion of their scholastic soccer careers. Those seniors are: Kevin Brewer, Chris Franke, Layman, David Lundgren, Will O’Brien, Brandon Redmond and Jonathon Reynolds.
Owen said that this group of seniors helped the Bulldogs’ soccer program improve and gain respect around Section IX. The team was competitive in every match this autumn and defeated third-seeded Highland 3-2 in overtime on Monday to reach the semifinal round.
“I really hate to see this season end,” she commented. “This is quite a group of seniors. I have connections with them all the way back to their AYSO days. I am really going to miss them.”