In a fierce battle between private-school neighbors last Tuesday afternoon, the Bishop Grimes and Manlius-Pebble Hill boys soccer teams kept things in doubt all the way to the end, but it was the Cobras pulling out a 2-1 decision to move to 9-6 and clinch a winning record for 2016.
If that margin sounds familiar, that’s because Grimes also beat MPH 2-1 back on Sept. 16, and just like in that first meeting, all of the scoring plays in the rematch took place in the first half.
For Grimes, David Mo scored once and assisted on Mitch Collins’ goal, with Zach Schell getting the assist on Mo’s tally. MPH got on the board with Naldo Chen finding the net off a feed from Grant Lewis.
Again, the second half proved a stalemate in Grimes’ favor, the flow of play rather even since both goalies, the Cobras’ Ian Denton and the Trojans’ Stew Falso, would finish the afternoon with six saves.
Just 24 hours earlier, MPH had hosted Cato-Meridian and steadily put together a 4-0 shutout of the Blue Devils, scoring twice in each half in a game where it controlled most of the possession and took 18 shots to the Blue Devils’ four.
Lewis, with one goal and one assist, led an attack where four different Trojans scored, including Lewis, Nate Barton, Saad Bukhan and Camden Ciotoli. Ahmad El-Hindi and Sam Goldman earned assists.
With that win over MPH secure, Grimes would test itself against state Class C no. 5-ranked Bishop Ludden in Friday’s regular-season finale. Having lost a 1-0 overtime thriller earlier this season to the Gaelic Knights, the Cobras nearly got revenge for it, but had to settle for a 1-1 draw.
Due to Jake Zona’s goal, Grimes had a 1-0 halftime lead, but Ludden caught up when Lucas Scutari found the net in the second half. And it would stay even through the rest of regulation and 20 minutes of overtime, with few shots from either side thanks to effective defenses.
MPH, meanwhile, routed Tyburn Academy 7-1 on Friday, deciding it by halftime as it led 4-0 at intermission. Goldman earned a three-goal hat trick, with Josh Hutko scoring twice and adding an assist. Bukhan and Carl Beach had the other goals as assists were credited to El-Hindi, Ciotoli, Andrew Park, Naldo Chen and Dan Mezzalingua.
Both Grimes and MPH go into the Section III playoffs in the Class D bracket. As the no. 8 seed, the Cobras hosts no. 9 seed Old Forge in Wednesday’s first round, angling toward a possible quarterfinal against top seed Poland.
Also on Wednesday, as the no. 11 seed Trojans visit no. 6 seed Madison with a quarterfinal berth against McGraw or LaFargeville at stake.
