SYRACUSE – Don Ridall felt relief. His Manlius-Pebble Hill boys soccer players were just glad it was behind them.
Half a season of pressure and anxiety were finally released late on Wednesday afternoon when the Trojans rallied to defeat Tully 3-2 and give Ridall his 600th win in a career that spanned back to 1976.
When the final whistle sounded, players, fans and students all took turns congratulating Ridall with, among other items, a special banner, T-shirts to mark the occasion and red-and-black balloons with the number 600.
Ridall said that, ever since this season started, his players have felt the pressure attached with achieving this rare milestone for any high school coach in any sport, even though he never once mentioned it to them.
For a quarter century, Ridall patiently built MPH into a consistent winner, but had to wait until the dawn of a new millennium to find the payoff for his hard work.
In 2000, the Trojans won its first-ever state championship, claiming the Class D title at Liverpool High School Stadium, and repeated as state champions a year later in Bath.
A run of five consecutive Section III titles in Class D and C followed from 2002 to 2006, and one more was earned in 2010 when the Trojans beat Cooperstown in overtime in the Class C final.
As 2021 began, Ridall had 594 career wins. MPH then started 5-2 and moved to no. 14 in the state Class D rankings.
But in the Trojans’ first opportunity to get no. 600 at Bishop Grimes on Monday afternoon, it played the winless Cobras to a tense, physical 1-1 draw.
Playing effective defense, Grimes, who entered the game at 0-8, kept it scoreless until it went ahead in the 55th minute as Nick Walsh’s free kick from midfield went into a scrum and Joel Fasama poked it in the net.
The Trojans tied it two minutes later on Chance Mugabe’s goal off a corner kick, but for the remaining 20-plus minutes of regulation and 20 minutes of overtime the Cobras maintained the tie.
Back home to face Tully two days later, things started well when, in the 11th minute, Jack Hogan curled a direct corner kick into the top right corner of the net.
But the Black Knights settled down, tied the game late in the half and then took a 2-1 advantage early in the second half. Here, said Ridall, his players, including a group of 11 seniors, kept poised.
Even after Mugabe’s chance to tie the game on a penalty kick in the 55th minute got stopped, the Trojans attacked again and, two minutes later, pulled even 2-2 on Alex Fung’s goal.
And just when it looked like another overtime loomed, with 2:52 to play Mugabe, constantly under pressure from Tully’s defenders all afternoon, timed a perfect pass to a streaking Fung, who calmly put home the winning goal.
As he accepted congratulations all around, Ridall confirmed that he won’t coach long enough to get to 700 wins, but still hasn’t decided if he will continue beyond the 2021 season.
At any rate, there’s still a chance to do something special this fall, maybe even add to the legacy of Section III titles and pair of state Class D championships earned in 2000 and 2001.
“If we can get everybody healthy and 100 percent, we’re as good as anyone we face and can play with anybody,” said Ridall.
