Somers Falls 4-1 to Pleasantville in Season Opener

See Photos at end of article

On Thursday, September 4, Somers traveled to Pleasantville for the season opener, and it didn’t take long to see what they were up against. Garvin Kayizzi chased a cross pass into the corner, danced the confined space and blasted a shot along the goal line. Nicholas Chao was there, but the wing wasn’t done.

He scored the first and last goal and led the Panthers to an easy 4-1 victory.

Still, Somers was up to the challenge at the outset. Shane Carroll stole the ball on the sideline at 36:05, got the ball to Trevor Keimig in the middle of the field, and the shot went on target.

Slightly over the crossbar, though, Keimig was back moments later. The middie played give and go with Randy Contreras, and the open space yielded another direct line.

Wide this time, Somers was left chasing. Danny McInerny’s cross from the sideline was a few heads too long at 32 minutes, and a corner kick at 28:04 had Chao fielding Kayizzi’s hook from the other side

But Kayizzi was done messing around. Unable to clear the ball on a Chao save, the Somers defense lost the race on the scramble, and the big attacker made the connection at 27:24.

No let up, Pleasantville worked the other corner. Nicholas Tassier’s loft looked pretty tenuous at 26 minutes. Not quite, Chao skied in before any Panther heads could intervene, and a minute later he returned. This time on goal, Tassier maneuvered through two defenders, but Chao read the hook shot through the morass.

Status quo, Somers took their turn when Harper Ritson got behind the defense and had only the goalie in sight. Not good enough, Joe Pecoraro got his foot on the shot to break up the play. Even so, Somers remained on point with possession, and after the throw-in, Eduardo Ruiz hit the crossbar from 20 yards out.

22:47 left in the half, Pleasantville made some noise next. McInerny took Schuyler Brown’s lead pass ahead, and penetrating deep, the middie forced a hand ball in front of the goal. 25 yards out, his shot went high nonetheless.

No problem, the Panthers were back soon enough, and when Tassier got in deep, Chao came out to cut off. Not fast enough, Tassier had an open net, but could not get enough foot on the ball to convert.

18 minutes to go, Kayizzi did more diligence in the corner. Refusing to relent, he sent another sailing through the crease. James Winn this time, his height was a little shy and the score remained the same with 15 minutes left.

Close again ruled the day when Connor Sheldon forced a penalty on the sideline at 9:33. Sheldon lofted across the box, and his connection with Ruiz’s hairline bounced just over the crossbar with 9:09 remaining.

The near misses were over, though. Stephen O’Leary took a lead pass from midfield, drew the defense above the box, and McInerny kicked in a 2-0 lead.

In at 7:48, the duo was back only 62 seconds later. McInerny kept a high bouncing pass alive above the crease, got the ball to O’Leary who controlled with his head and left foot before landing the rock just under the crossbar.

A commanding 3-0 lead going into the half, it was a pretty tall order for Somers. But there was a brief climb when Contreras scored on a penalty kick from ten yards out. At 28:17, Pleasantville still kept up the pressure, and Kayizzi came with the close out. Getting ahead on the sideline, he scored from the right at 12:41, and Somers went home with a 4-1 loss.

Click image for photos