By HUNTER O. LYLE
lyleoleanstar@gmail.com
SALAMANCA, NY – With seven minutes to go, Easton Chudy found himself on a fast break with only two defenders in the area. One on his hip, one defending the goal in front of him.
Vying for possession, he went down, falling to the ground just outside the box but hearing the whistle as a reward. Lining up the direct kick, Chudy sent a shot over the wall, targeting the top right corner of the goal and seeing the ball clear the rising hands of Cassadaga Valley/Falconer’s keeper.
Beyond tallying his second goal of the game, Chudy’s late-game score put the finishing touches on a comeback, one that saw a tale of two halves as the Salamanca boy’s soccer team rallied to pull off a 3-1 win over the Cougars.
“I think in the second half we figured some things out. We were kind of messing with our formation and I think something clicked in our heads as a team and we were able to lock in,” said Salamanca head coach Parker Rieman. “With that comes success.”
Entering the night, the Warriors were looking for a way out of their three-game losing streak. And early on, the Cougars made it clear they were not going to give them any easy opportunities.
Leading with an unmatched aggression, Cassadaga Valley put their foot on the gas pedal, hustling for possessions, cutting off passing lanes and swiftly maneuvering back and forth across the pitch. Continuing to pester Warrior ballhandlers and interrupt any would-be drives, the Cougars never strayed far from the box, taking their first look at the net in the first minute. Not long after, their persistence paid off.
Pulling from over 30-yards out, Cassadaga Valley’s Jakob Huling shot a volley above the crowd, one that ricocheted off the top right post and into the back of the net, taking a 1-0 lead in the third minute of play.
Shaking off the initial gut punch, Salamanca’s back line dug in. Responding with physicality and a renewed cluster of on-ball defenders, the Warriors staved off any more chances on goal. Anchoring the defense was Cayden Lafferty in goal, who came away with several clutch stops as he repeatedly sacrificed his body to the turf.
“(Lafferty) is really good at keeping a clear head. If a shot gets by your goalie, it went by ten other people already, so we preach keeping a clear head and controlling what you can control,” said Rieman. “We have total faith in him. We wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for him.”
Despite the efficiency on one end, Salamanca’s offense still struggled to break free. Continuously playing from their heels, the Warriors were relegated to their own side of the pitch, failing to turn lofty clears into connected passes and sustained possession. Although they managed to eventually muster some steam late in the half, their shot volume remained low, being forced to pull from long distance before facing a swarm of collapsing Cougar defenders.
Going into the break down by a goal and seeing a mirage of their fourth straight loss on the horizon, Rieman and Co. knew what they had to address in the intermission.
“(Aggression and intensity) was up there,” said Rieman on the message to the team at halftime. “We know we can be more aggressive than we were in the first half so we emphasized that.”
Out of the gates, their adjustments quickly took form. Although the Cougars took the first swing, seeing a shot rocket towards the net in the opening minute, Salamanca quickly put their finger prints on the game. Chasing down loose balls, mobbing drivers towards the middle and finding glimpses of crisp outlets up the field, the Warriors were primed to find an equalizer. And in the 46th minute, it arrived.
Cycling their way up field, Chudy needled a pass between two chase down defenders, finding the foot of Andrew McCormick who took it in stride and launched a perfectly placed shot to the right of a diving goalkeeper. All of a sudden, the game was back to even, and that’s all Salamanca needed.
Reinvigorated by the score, Salamanca took full control of the contest, ripping the momentum away from Cassadaga Valley and dominating the pitch. Awake and on the attack, the Warriors continued to hold possession, peppering the net with shots and relegating their opponents to defense. Ten minutes after their initial goal, Salamanca punched in another, taking the lead with a corner kick that saw Chudy rise up above the pack tally his first score of the night via header.
“It’s been a tough couple of games. We haven’t really been able to find the net consistently and I think that’s been bugging our boys,” said Rieman. “I think they were hungry, they were ready to go and once one went in, we knew we could get more.”
Although the Cougars began to find rumblings of retaliation, sparking renewed drives downfield, Salamanca still held control. Staving off drives and sending their own return trips across the pitch, the Warriors refused to let up their grip, and with seven minutes remaining, Chudy came up big again.
Having a two-goal cushion with under ten minutes to go, the Warriors resorted to defense, using high-arching clears to burn clock as their inevitable win inched closer and closer.
Chudy’s two goals in the win puts him at five on the season, a team-high, while McCormick’s lone score sits him just behind at three on the season. Calcium Farnum ended with two assists, his third and fourth of his senior campaign.
Sitting now at 4-3 and 2-2 in CCAA Division II play, Salamanca now heads out on the road for a three-game stretch, the first of which will be against the second-seeded Randolph Cardinals on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
“Our motto is to go 1-0 every day,” said Rieman. “Whether that’s a game or a practice, if we go 1-0 every day, we’ll have a great season.”
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