In every sort of manner, the Jamesville-DeWitt boys soccer team earned the 2019 Section III Class A championship.
On its way to the title, the Red Rams had to knock off the top three seeds in the playoff field, two of which had beaten them a combined three times during the regular season, and had to endure the unique pressure of overtime in both the semifinals and finals.
And when Patrick David lofted a shot into the net two minutes, 50 seconds into the extra period of Saturday’s sectional final at Liverpool High School Stadium, J-D was at the summit, having toppled top seed PSLA-Fowler 2-1.
Playing the Falcons close wasn’t a surprise, since the Rams had done so in 1-0 and 3-2 losses during the regular season. The fact that it was so tightly likely played to J-D’s advantage, too, because that was the way it had made it through the sectional bracket.
A goal late in the second half from a sophomore defender, Sam Bobrek, had toppled no. 3 seed East Syracuse Minoa in the quarterfinals. Then Will Quackenbush, without a goal in his varsity career, hit one in OT to knock off no. 2 seed Whitesboro in last Tuesday’s semifinal after Zach McBennett had tied it in the last two minutes of regulation.
Against PSLA-Fowler, the Rams absorbed plenty of early pressure, but began to assert itself later in the first half and, in the 34th minute, took a 1-0 lead when David pounced on the rebound of a shot by Aiden Scott off the post and converted.
Things turned at the start of the second half, with the Falcons going all-out in its attack and, just 2:12 into the half, tying it 1-1 as Christian McKenzie’s shot bent past J-D goalie Matt Gera.
Many different times during the second half, Gera would rescue the Rams, including a point-blank stop in the 50th minute that went off his hands and struck the crossbar, plus a diving stop a few minutes later.
As regulation wound down, J-D mostly stayed in a defensive mode, but in the OT that changed. David, who with his brother Tshike (also a starter on the Rams) arrived here in the United States as a refugee from Congo, found himself in position just left of the net, and his lofted shot flew over PSLA-Fowler goalie Kyaw Pong.
Having won a second sectional title to go with the one it earned in 2014, J-D will now face the winner of Wednesday’s game between Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake (Section II) and Franklin Academy (Section X) in next Saturday’s Class A regional final for a berth in the Nov. 16-17 state final four in Middletown.
