Somers Leaves John Jay on the Bubble with 1-0 Victory

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On Tuesday October 15, Somers faced John Jay East Fishkill, and before the game the boys learned that their opponents received a New York State Ranking of eight. No recognition for the home team, Coach Brian Lanzetta joked with players that Somers wasn’t even “on the bubble.” But the outcome gave the Tuskers the last laugh and a new motivating designation.

“We’re calling ourselves bubble boys,” Lanzetta gleefully dished the sarcasm after the 1-0 victory.

Beforehand, Somers came out with purpose and play mostly stayed in the John Jay zone. The first near miss came when Somers forced a penalty and the loft had Mason Amorin slide tackling the ball away in the crease.

A minute later at 35:45, Connor Sheldon teed off wide and then the offense went top to bottom. Daniel Cho headed the ball to Conner Van Tassell and his shot sailed slightly past the post 33:50.

Undeterred, Sheldon put a grounder on goal at 32:20, and a little give and go was next. Cho and Trevor Keimig went back and forth, and the misdirection freed up Daniel Nikac for a chance. He charged the net and kicked over the crossbar.

But soon enough Nikac would pass the high bar. The loft coming across from the far sideline, Nikac got his leg way up and control gave the midfielder the necessary vision. “I saw Randy (Contreras). We connect all the time,” said NIkac.

Toward the crease, the pass went over the top, and Joe Bojaj had no apologies for the ball having eyes. “It went off the defender,” said the middie, and the serendipity left him alone with his mouth watering.

From there, Bojaj still had to bide his time with the defense closing. “I played around, and got a shot off,” Bojaj said. “I definitely had to have a lot of patience.”

He did, and Somers broke the bubble at 21:21. The Tuskers almost burst it next. Keimig got the ball to Nikac, and he angled it just wide.

At 19:25, the playing field started to level, and Patrick Fornelos showed the first signs when he won the race into the Somers corner. The shot away, Griffin Hechler had the angle on the goal line, and John Jay was denied at 14:50.

Three minutes later, the Patriots were in the neighborhood again, but Nicholas Chao won the initial race to the ball. Still, the threat remained, and again, Hechler came out to cut down the angle.

Somers didn’t get far the other way either. No problem, the defense held. NIkac got his head in the way to break up the first John Jay incursion, and another long play ahead had Aaron Went strong on top too.

Seth Klayman getting the clear, the John Jay pressure continued. Even so, Somers maintained the status quo into the second half.

The momentum remained on the John Jay side to start, though. Sean Viebrock winning another corner race for John Jay, the finish line still came down to Hechler. The Somers goalie met the shot head on, and the shutout remained.

Back the other way, Somers looked certain to double down. The ball kicked out to a very lonely Van Tassell, and Braden Cole refused to be a sitting duck. The Patriot goalie came flying out and slide tackled the ball out of bounds at 35:30.

Taking the cue, Hechler wasn’t waiting for the game to come to him either. Viebrock in this case, the Tusker beat the Patriot to the ball, and the proactiveness was not by accident, according to Lanzetta. “Tactically, he’s just a great soccer goalie,” asserted the coach.

At the same time, countering the long game was part of the plan. “They wanted long balls to switch the field the whole time. We talked about that to lock them down,” explained NIkac.

In tandem with the goalkeeper, Somers held John Jay at bay despite a number of close calls and the razor thin play also put the refs on the spot. So a lot of grumbling arose from the crowd, which always works to the advantage of Nikac. Parents and kids in the crowd screaming, said the senior, “Some calls don’t go the correct way. So it’s louder, it’s a big environment, and it’s more fun in my opinion.”

The result is motivation for the Tusker, while the coach issued a caution for what the victory means for the rest of section one. “Don’t sleep on Somers,” Lanzetta concluded.