By Ted Waddell
MILTON — November 2, 2007 — The Family School Falcons captured the Section IX Class D soccer title on Wednesday evening with a dramatic 2-1 overtime victory over Chapel Field at the Hudson Valley Sports Dome.
With the win over Chapel Field (7-7), The Family School will face the Section XI Class D champion in a New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHAA) tournament opening round match to be played next week on Long Island.
The Family School (13-5-1) opened the scoring at 33:25 in the first half as Rafael Shore beat Chapel Field goalkeeper John McCarthy.
Chapel Field’s Zac Menendez evened it up at 1-1 with a goal at 5:22 in the second half.
Then it was time for sudden death overtime.
As the battle raged back and forth across the artificial turf during the OT, Shore drilled the ball into the Lions’ cage off an assist from Mike Vaguhn to win the match for the Falcons.
The Family School held an 18-9 advantage in shots on goal, while each team had three corner kicks.
Falcon goalie Matt Schneider made 10 saves and McCarthy had eight saves for the Lions.
“It was a great game, but unfortunately we made two mistakes on defense and they scored two goals off those mistakes.” said Chapel Field Coach Elmer Lazo said.
“We play soccer, we don’t kick the ball,” he added. “We play as a soccer team, not a football team just punting the ball all over the place, but that’s how the game goes.”
While perhaps not agreeing with the opinion that his players belong on a gridiron, Family School Coach Bill Musgrove said the match was “pretty intense.”
“Chapel Field was great, I knew they would be excellent…they’re a young team, and they’ve got a lot to look forward to,” Musgrove added.