By SPENCER BATES
ALLEGANY — Everything that could have gone right for the Allegany-Limestone boys soccer team, did as it put together a well-rounded 5-0 shutout over Dunkirk in its final CCAA Div. I game at home for the year.
Defensively, the Gators were sound, not allowing the Marauders to put a single shot on target inside of 30 yards all night. In the midfield, Cooper Wilczewski pulled the strings, which allowed his offense to bear down on goal more often than not.
“It was a complete game from the back to the front,” A-L coach Jon Luce said. “We had our defense playing much better, especially in the second half. … I thought our midfield controlled play today really well. And then our forwards put the ball in the back of the net, which is all we need them to do. … There’s a couple things we’ve been working on, like winning balls in the air, and it was just nice having two headers go in today. It’s nice when you know stuff you’re working on is actually starting to work.”
It didn’t take long for A-L to get going either, as Noah Hatch netted the first of his two well-placed headed goals in the third minute as he was left all alone at the back post.
However, Hatch’s game-opener was the only goal that separated the sides at the break. Mostly due to the fact that, as Luce noted, his team became too one-dimensional in attack. Fortunately, the Gators were responsive to their coach’s notes at the break.
“We were trying to get into a track meet in the first half where we were just sending every ball long and trying to run them down,” Luce said. “(Dunkirk has) a pretty solid defense, they have some guys with wheels on the backside and their keeper was coming out and playing aggressive. So, in the second half, we tried to change it up a bit. We wanted to play a little more possession, get the ball wide a little bit more and come in at a better angle.”
Allegany-Limestone’s Kaleb Reed (11) attempts to control the ball on the wing against Dunkirk. Reed scored once for the Gators in their 5-0 over the Marauders. (Derek Gumtow)
The tactical shift opened up the Marauders and allowed for Kaleb Reed, Wilczewski, Hatch and Mat Burnett to score, in that order, with a goal coming just about every 10 minutes — a credit, Luce noted, to his players’ adaptability.
“It’s giving them the trust on the field that they can make that decision,” Luce said. “We told them, ‘let’s go out and continue to use our advantage: we have more speed than a lot of teams, so go and use that speed.’ But when we feel that, on the field, that’s not working, we have trust in the players that they can switch it up and go to more possession or work the ball more, instead of just being direct.”
One player in particular that Luce acknowledged for putting together an impressive performance was Hatch. A winger with unwavering tenacity and a non-stop engine, Luce noted that Hatch had been putting a significant amount of stress on himself to get more involved on offense.
Thanks to some smart positional play against Dunkirk, he was rewarded with two tallies on the scoresheet.
“Today, he just let the ball come to him,” Luce said of Hatch. “There were good services, but he put himself in a position to have a chance to score. … It’s great for him to get a confidence boost going into the playoffs, which is what we need.”
Allegany-Limestone’s Noah Hatch (13) celebrates after scoring the first of his two goals against Dunkirk. (Derek Gumtow)
The Gators have just two games left in the regular season, and only one of which is a league game. A win next time out, at Jamestown, would see A-L finish the year with an undefeated league record. But what’s important to Luce is not just tallies in the win column, but how those tallies hopefully come along.
With the postseason on the near horizon, he wants to see complete performances that show they are ready to make waves in the playoffs.
“We need to see two complete games to finish out the year,” Luce said. “We’ve put strings of halves together of playing really good, but not a complete game. We need to put a complete game together. Going into Jamestown, not always the best place to play for us, we’ve struggled there at times, but it’s an opportunity for us to go and play a complete game, and then a real big tune-up on Saturday back at home.”
A-L is set to make the trip to Jamestown on Oct. 16 for its penultimate game of the regular season. Kick off is slated for 6 p.m.
