John Jay Loses Overtime Thriller to Rye

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On Saturday October 4, 8-1 John Jay welcomed 8-1 Rye to Contest Field and the team’s doubled down to a late game 2-2 tie. A ferocious back and forth, the tables seemed to tip when a John Jay shot from above the circle grounded past all kinds of sticks and forced the Rye goalie to kick the dribbler away. Unfortunately, for the stop gap, she swung and missed with her kicker, and the Wolves rose in celebration. But the refs stepped in, played party poopers and the actual tipping point was even more of a killjoy.

They ruled the shot came in unabated, and the Garnets scored with 59.9 seconds left in overtime. The crushing blow was no surprise to Coach Debbi Walsh, though. “Whenever we play Rye, we expect a dog fight, and this game didn't disappoint,” she clarified.

The game started in the Wolves favor and early. Only 64 second in, Callan Keeley took a pass inside from Finja Degl, and the junior swiped the ball into the net for a 1-0 lead.

Still, Rye was undeterred and kept the ball in the John Jay end for most of the first. Even so, the Wolves wouldn’t break. Laney Daly stopped three separate incursions, while Kaitlyn Condon and Keeley thwarted one each.

Of course, McKenzie Ryder had her work cut out for her too. On a give and go between Issy Mann and Olivia Prata, the John Jay goalie ate up the one v one at 8:05, and the Rye offense would have to resign itself to a long day.

John Jay, on the other hand, bided their time perfectly in the first. Keeley worked the sideline, got the ball ahead to Condon, and the ball landed on the stick of Logan Bueti.

Swinging away, a penalty corner resulted at 0:00, and John Jay ignored the zeroes. Degl passed to Condon and she gave her team another score

Down 2-0, Rye didn’t blink. Prata put another on Ryder at 12:25, and the sidewinder proved to be accurate foreshadowing. Moments later, Beau Whalen got the ball in traffic in front of Ryder and went backhand to cut the score in half.

In at 11:56, the Garnets kept going. Robyn Woolsey passed across the crease to Mann and with Ryder committed to the pass, Ciat Brennan was left in the wake. No problem, the defender got wood on the ball and denied the golden opportunity.

The Rye attack wasn’t done either, but Ryder held her ground. The Wolf made three of her 14 saves and maintained her team’s edge through period two.

Onto the third, the same Jay names kept coming up. Ryder made two more big saves, and Brennan stopped three more Rye advances.

So the status quo carried into the fourth until Prata upset the order. Out front, the forward swiped away and beat Ryder to tie.

8:38 remaining, John Jay took the ball, and a minute later, they were next to near miss. Catherine Natko got the ball down the field on the left and crossed to an open Degl on the right. Not fast enough, the Rye defense quickly converged and lived to tell.

John Jay brought the next tale too. From midfield, Degl got the ball to Keeley on the sideline and her stick handling eventually put Brennan on deck. Teed up, the junior took her turn, and the shot went just wide at 4:05.

A minute later the momentum came due - until it didn’t. The ball traveled like it had a mind of its own and the final victim was Chloe Holden. No Wolf even close to challenge, the Rye goalie met to kick and whiffed.

Up in arms, the Wolves’ shock was fully realized when Rye picked up the ball and started the other way. Overtime solidifying the turn of events, Rye really started to put on the pressure in the final five minutes.

Of course, Daly, Brennan, Condon and Ryder continued to do their part and the overall effort didn’t go unnoticed. “I'm super proud of how our players showed up and competed,” said Walsh.

No surprise, probability eventually had its say. Prata beat Ryder, and the loss left a tough lesson. “Playing hard is not enough in these big games,” the coach explained, “competing means we have the mental toughness to never let down.”

Throwing in the towel, that’s not the John Jay way. “We will keep growing and hopefully compete in the remaining games,” Walsh concluded.

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