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On Tuesday, October 14, John Jay traveled to Somers and crosstown rivalry was on everyone’s mind. So when the Wolves jumped out to an early 1-0 lead and the score held through the half, John Jay looked like they might go home bragging. But the elephants still had their tusks and came out in the second half with the ivory sharpened.
The home team scored two goals and sent the Wolves home wagging.
A 2-1 defeat, the boys definitely dug in the whole way and didn’t wait to get started. Jack Green won the race to the sideline at 37 minutes, got the ball ahead to Porter Bysshe and a corner kick resulted. The ball wound up in front to Dennis Galvan, and controlling in a crowd, he got the ball to Will Green.
The first shot on goal, Jeremy Walerys showed the Somers attack what they were up against. On James Brinn’s advance, Walerys picked the Tusker’s pocket and put the Wolves on the attack. Ryan Ramirez taking over, his perfect lead pass at 34 minutes fell prey to offsides.
So John Jay made their own luck. Walerys got the stop on defense, the ball kicked to Jack Green, and he went airmail. Bysshe then fought his way between two defenders on the high bounce and came away with a penalty shot.
The ball placed, Finn Fothergill thread the needle. He lofted over three Tuskers and snuck the ball past a diving Ben Baran.
In at 28:31, Walerys showed he could go on the attack too. The ball came back to the center back from the Somers goal line and his knuckleball almost fooled Baran.
28 minutes to go, John Jay went straight forward on their next near miss. Green hijacked on the far sideline, he sent the ball forward into the corner for Yesbin Cruz and his cross was on target for Bysshe. Not quite, the attacker’s intervention deflected wide, and the one goal lead remained at 25:40.
Of course, Somers could strike too. At 19 minutes, a corner kick scrambled Marc Fein to the ground, and the ball remaining loose, the interior Jay defense got the clear.
A minute later, the Tuskers were back and got behind. Off a big header in the Somers end by Eduardo Ruiz, the ball landed on the foot of Milan Sath, and he played give and go with Trevor Keimig. Only Fein in the way, the offside whistle put a stop to the showdown at 16:44.
But the refs weren’t the only ones standing in the Tuskers’ way. Two throw-ins and a midfield incursion were met with the head and big foot of Walerys. He wasn’t done either. On a loft into the crease, the defender first skied with a header, and with the ball still kicking around, Walerys cleared the ball from the seat of the turf.
Somers kept coming nonetheless. Ethan Steuber forced a penalty kick on the sideline and Fein was on his own. No problem, he snared Ruiz’s sinking line drive at 5:41, and John Jay took their turn testing the goalie.
After Galvan won the battle in the corner, his centering pass had Somers fouling Green. 2:34 to go, Fothergill rang the bell twice. The crossbar and the field goal post, there was one last chance for the Jay defense to shine before intermission.
Baran’s long kick down field located Jason Baez, and finding Steuber, the senior’s hook shot headed toward Fein. The interior defense got a foot there first, and kicking high in the air, Green fought to win the jump ball.
Another win for the Wolves, John Jay pressured first in the second and Walerys got things started. On the sideline, he got the ball to midfield where Bysshe caught Ramirez streaking to the corner. He centered to Fothergill, and the junior tested Baran again at 38:45.
Another save, defense soon turned to offense. James Brinn doing the actual rotation, he stole the ball from Walerys at midfield and with size, moves and speed, he willed his way to a one on one with Fein.
The John Jay goalie came out but too late. The Tusker kicked right and found the corner. All tied with 34 minutes to go, the big man had the Wolves doing a near double take 17 minutes later.
Randy Contreras led the fast moving tank down the sideline, and with the John Jay defender in hot pursuit, Brinn made the most of the overplay, He hit Sath in the middle for a give and go, and on the way back, Fein had no chance again.
From there, the defenses took over, and the stalemate still let the Wolves head home with their heads held high.
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