Somers Loses Heartbreaking Back and Forth to Panas

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On Saturday October 26, Somers hosted Panas in the first round of the sectionals, and the seedings were nearly spot on. Eight versus nine, the back and forth thrilled both fanbases, but the higher bracket didn’t hold up.

Somers led, fell behind, tied and ultimately fell crushed in a 5-3 loss.

The play began like the billing. Up and down the field, a trip at midfield put Panas in position to unleveled the playing field first. The kick went up at 35:35 and so did the high heads of the Somers interior defense.

Then it was Panas’ turn to use their heads. On a long lead pass to the corner, Conner Van Tassel ran a collision course with Frank Medico, and the Somers' foot getting their first, the ball kicked off the goalie’s head to close the chance.

Somers contained nonetheless, and the Tuskers got their chance on the penalty. Despite Daniel Nikac kicking wide, he would make the most of the miss on the resulting corner kick.

The striker made no apology for a little help either. Nikac played give and go first, and on receipt back, his shot off the post hit a Panas defender and into the net at 30:04.

From there, Somers kept Panas hemmed in with persistent midfield play, and the diligence almost piled on with 24 minutes to go. Connor Sheldon got the ball ahead, Van Tassell controlled the middle with the outlet and dished back to Nikac. Off the defensive close, Nikac caught a streaking Harper Ritson, and the wing’s diagonal screamed just wide of the left post.

A sigh of relief for Panas, the Panthers would exhale on the other end. Two Somers headers had the ball moving the other way, but Daniel Coelho’s roundhouse kick landed at the feet of Gershon Bosomtwe. A one v one served up, Griffin Hechler didn’t stand a chance in goal at 21:48.

Nonetheless, Somers came close next. Randy Contreras led Sheldon to the middle, he put the ball on the foot of Van Tassell, and his push to the crease had Nikac hitting the turf. He made a determined slide and came up short of Medico’s falling scoop at 15:13.

Unfortunately, Panas was on time at 14:30, and Bosomtwe was again winding the watch. First, he won a 50-50 ball at midfield, played ahead, and the Somers’ attempted clear settled to Cristiano Ferreira, who scooted the ball forward. A perfect lead for Bosomtwe, he kicked around Noah Hechler and into the far right corner of the goal.

A 2-1 lead at 14:30, Somers persisted, and Contreras kept coming close on the edge. Taking Van Tassell’s push to the corner at 3:30, his connection to Diego Verdesoto’s head went high, and with 40 seconds left in the half, the wingman’s shot looked like it would loft over the goalie for the tie.

Over the goal instead, Contreras wasn’t giving in, and Panas really found out eight minutes into the second half. The ball ahead into the corner, the junior refused to relent to the Panas defender, and tightroping control, he lofted a perfect ball into the crease. Onto the head of Nikac on the left post, the striker topped it off, and the score was tied.

Of course, the slugfest continued, and Bosomtwe almost knocked it out of the park again. The tall forward won another high bouncer over the defense, but Noah Hechler was able to stay with the big man and deflect the shot attempt at 25:10.

Now it was Bosomtwe who kept at it. He received the long outlet, dribbled through the double team, and his centering pass left an open look for Ferreira. But Seth Klayman got in the way to deny the blast. A Panas throw in resulting, Griffin Hechler dove for the header, and the tie was preserved with 24 minutes left in the game.

Fate tempted, a Somers penalty would foretell destiny. Coelho went to the ground on Van Tassell’s defense on the sideline, and this time the serendipity was on the Panas side. On the edge, Jahncarlos Ortiz chipped from the 15, and miscommunication appeared to allow the ball to skirt through untouched at 11:09.

Seven minutes later at 4:44, Ortiz scored again, and it was game over. Not so fast, a loose ball taken by Joseph Bojaj at the 30 was threaded through the Panas defense, and that left Ritson sitting pretty with only the goalie in front. His shot hit the post, though. But Ritson kept his head and followed the miss by pulling his team within one.

4:17 to go, Somers was obviously still believing. Of course, Panas played keep away by kicking long, but the strategy almost backfired when the defense was hit with a hand ball.

A minute to go, Nikac teed it up at the 15 and tried to low ball Medico. No funny bounces this time, the Panas goalie had the easy save, and the long kick downfield led to the final goal that closed the Tusker season.