Somers Wins Section One Tournament Over Rye

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On Tuesday June 3, Somers faced Rye in the Section One Finals, and while a championship was certainly on the mind of Cam Violante, a trophy wasn’t the only thing inspiring him. “I did it for him,” said Violante.

The sophomore was referring to the tragedy that recently took his uncle from the Violante family, and scoring six goals paid lofty tribute in the Tuskers 12-7 victory over first seeded Rye.

The defensive game plan took hold first, though. “We tried to condense some space on them and make them shoot the ball from the outside,” said Defensive Coach Chris Spillane.

The Tuskers throwing their bodies around hard after Rye took the opening draw, the Garnet real estate was resultantly sparse, and the two wide shots came at a distance.

Shot clock violation, the Rye defense was no less forgiving and quickly forced a turnover. Another far off shot went wide for the top seed, and more hard Somers body work dislodged the ball in favor of the elephants.

Back the other way, Somers set up, but this time the collision course favored the offense. Violante pounced on the loose ball in front and beat Ry Ramachandran for a 1-0 lead at 7:27.

Still, there was no doubt that Ramachandran could play. Ryan Brush and Mason Kelly both found a line of sight around the six minute mark, and each time the Rye goalie got a piece.

Rye’s turn at 4:33, the pace was not letting up. Tyler McDermott made a perfect pass in front to Henry Shoemaker and the Garnets were primed to upset the best laid plans.

Not so fast, Somers still had a stop gap. Hudson Ruby stood tall and got his catcher in the way. The Tusker didn’t stop there either.

All the way up into the offensive zone, the stakes elevated with each step and went a bit off the rails when his dump off pass was deflected. Not to worry, Violante saved his goalie and gathered the loose ball. Not done, he found space with a curl over the middle, and his underhand shot gave Somers a 2-0 lead.

In at 3:26, Matt Mayfield’s draw win had a three goal lead dancing in the sights of the Somers crowd. Straight down the field, the senior’s beeline looked on point.

Ramachandran’s deflection said otherwise, but the moment proved foretelling. To start the second, Mayfield went on rewind. A draw win sent him forward, and this time Mayfield hit the trifecta for a 3-0 Somers lead.

Of course, Rye refused to shrink. Charlie Brady was able to swing right around the defense, and his sidearm beat Ruby at 9:21.

More bang, Rye really made some noise on the subsequent draw. Mayfield’s bulldoze getting to Kelly, the middie took a big check, and the Garnets were on their horse. Long distance offense again, Henry Gilroy went high on the left and then tried to go inside with a pass to Thomas Goldszer.

Open, there were still a lot of footsteps, and when the attacker dropped the ball, Somers took their turn. First, Dylan Jimenez missed on the short side, and back again, Miguel Iglesias saw his shot nestle in Ramachandran’s nylon.

Time out for Rye, the respite paid off. Will Niejadlik wrapped around the goal, shot underhand, and the low ball made it 3-2 with 6:37 left in the half.

A tie looming, Rye aimed to turn defense into offense. After Mayfield won the draw, Chris Juliano jarred the ball loose, big sticked his way upfield and left it to the offense to triangulate.

Matt Gianetti to Tucker Hess, Ruby didn’t waiver on the old adage about the crossbar being part of a goalie’s defense. “Yes, absolutely,” he joked, and the boast was backed by his deflection that caused the graze.

A big sigh, Ramachandran was next. Ryan Brush to Tristen Iglesias, point blank was not good enough for the goal but possession remained.

Somers called for time, and Violante made the most of the respite. He wrapped around the goal, and the defense closed the half by continuing to keep the Rye offense at arm’s length. “They took a lot of shots, not necessarily good shots,” said Spillane.

The third began the same way. Niejadlik and Shoemaker both missed shots, and one more time, Ruby’s catcher put his offense on the docket. There, Ramachandran returned the favor twice, which didn’t go unnoticed on the other end of the field. “Respect to the Rye goalie, he played great,” boasted Ruby.

Unfortunately, perfection was the prescription Ramachandran needed, and Violante refused to issue the Rx. The attacker made a rush on the right, and the unleashing opened a 5-2 lead at 9:14.

Next draw to Wilson Redd, Rye got close again. Tucker Hess and McDermott went low and high on misses, but Shoemaker was true on his pass inside to McDermott at 8:15. Not good enough, the point blank stop by Ruby refused to have him tell any little white lies about the lunacy of being a goalie. “Dude, it’s something you have to be born with,” the goalie assured.

A good thing since he was stopping another close up 15 seconds later. Fortunately, Ruby had Violante to alleviate the PTSD. After the Somers defense forced a shot close violation, Violante curled left over the middle again and gave the Tuskers a 6-2 lead.

5:51 remaining in the third, Somers had no illusions about Rye capitulating. “We knew they weren’t going away,” said Spillane.

The Garnets then scored at 3:34 and 1:56, but it was the goalies who closed the third. Ramachandran picked up Miguel Iglesias' low ball at 1:22, and Ruby thwarted McDermott as he fell headlong into the crease at the buzzer.

Twelve minutes to go, Rye opened with a crucial mistake. A drop on the sideline gave Somers the ball and Kelly responded with a full head of steam. Into the fray, the running back shot down the middle, and his bounce was too hard to handle for Ramachandran.

At 11:19, Mayfield took the draw and was ready for another go six seconds later. In between, the senior rushed forward and his pass off to Violante was good for goal number five.

8-4 now, Rye was on the precipice. Not that the Garnets knew it, they built off Ramachandran’s catcher at 10:36 and pulled within three on Goldszer’s goal at 9:16.

A minute later, McDermott got majestic and the optics didn’t look good for Somers. The middie got in front, jumped off one foot and delivered a skyhook. Rocketing down, the crowd took solace that you can’t believe everything you see. The projectile pinged the post and traveled all the way to midfield.

Undeterred. Rye won the race, and Niejadlik made the most on the goal line. Charging the crease, he cut in, and his score at 7:46 still had Somers a long way from home.

Even more so when Matt Gianatti came up with a steal and made a one goal lead seem inevitable. Not the way the Somers defense thinks, Dean Palazzolo did more than say it. “We had to come up with a big play,” said the defender, and his strip at midfield slowed the Rye express

Still with a ticket, though, Rye forced a shot clock violation, and once again, the Garnets couldn’t believe their ears. Shoemaker hit the post at 4:25, and the upcoming silence was worse.

Brady’s sidearm met Ruby’s catcher, and the save had Violante ready to put Rye on the clock, according to Coach Jordan Hirsch. “No moment is too big for him,” he said, and winding up from the right gave Somers a 9-6 lead.

3:50 remaining, Mayfield won the draw to Violante and Rye sealed their fate when getting flagged at 2:44. Pulling their goalie, Somers scored three straight easy goals and the trophy raised high wasn’t the only reason Tristan Wachtel was looking up. “Now the sky is the limit. So who knows where it will take us. But we want to go all the way with this,” the defender concluded.