By HUNTER O. LYLE
ALLEGANY, NY – With just ten minutes remaining to salvage their season, the Portville boy’s soccer team was on high alert. Sending a barrage of shots towards the net, their year rested on one breaking through.
But while they were playing their best soccer of the day in the fleeting final moments, their late-game efforts fell in vain, seeing the end come to fruition in the form of a 3-1 loss to Randolph in the Section VI Class C quarterfinals.
“There’s not many sports like soccer that can be as unforgiving. If you go out and don’t play a complete game or go out and dominate a team but don’t get any goals from it, it doesn’t matter,” said Portville head coach JJ McIntosh, “It’s all about executing your opportunities and (Randolph) did a better job than we did.”
Familiarity breeds contempt and the Panthers and Cardinals were far from unfamiliar. Meeting several times in years past, both in the regular season and the playoffs, neither held the upper hand for long. After dispatching their rivals in the postseason a year prior, Portville ended up with a split series in 2026, initially losing 3-2 before coming away with a 2-0 win further down the schedule.
“Playing a team that you’ve split (the season series with) is never ideal. We knew that they were going to be a very tough out,” said McIntosh. “We knew we had to play our best game.”
The reunion began with a mash at midfield, both teams fighting through a deadlocked feeling-out process that rarely stretched beyond the perimeter of the box. As stamina wore down, drives emerged and in a track meet, each team striking deep down the field before being rerouted the other way. Then came the settled possessions, but still shots towards the net were a rarity.
As the Cardinals began to take a grip on the momentum, Portville began to sputter. A step too slow on defense, they saw Randolph consistently find threatening drives that were finally staved off by the net tender. On offense, the Panthers passes began to break down. Hail Mary clears, mistimed through-balls and rushed passes gave way to empty possessions and more Randolph drives.
Finally, midway through the period, Portville’s dam suffered their first crack. Sending a kick directly into the cluster before the net, the Cardinals saw the ball bounce from head to head to foot, ultimately being battered into the crease to give them the first lead of the night.
In the initial response, the Panthers began charging down the pitch. While they found their first handfuls of volleys at the goal, they either missed their mark or were stopped by Randolph’s iron clad goal keeper. As their aggression began to evaporate, their synchronicity followed in suit. Plagued by repeated errors and poor facilitating, they entered the break with no momentum to cling to.
The turmoil followed them back onto the pitch, and while they were able to reliably break through midfield, their drives fizzled out just beyond the reach of their aim. Meanwhile, their defense held the Cardinals at bay, but defense alone wouldn’t change the tide.
“Oddly enough, we went to a kid defensively (Trenton Scalon), who played junior varsity for us all year, and kind of said, ‘you’re in,’ in a Sectional game against a league rival. I thought he did awesome,” said McIntosh. “We moved him in, moved another two kids out and just had a good push. We were able to make some on-the-fly adjustments to get a little bit more aggressive, a little more defensive.”
Shouldering the weight of the offense, Colin German ignited a spark single-handedly. Stripping a pass at centerfield, the Panthers’ leading scorer carried it downfield, outpacing three defenders as he approached the net. Launching a shot to the opposite side, German tallied his 12 score of the season to bring Portville within reach.
Then came the swell. Seeing a shot collected in the back of the net, Portville mounted a prolonged attack. Constantly plotting lanes to the opposing box, their effort, intensity and hustle recharged, they began overwhelming the entry defense with crisp passing and on-goal offense. However, the Cardinals’ back line proved bullet proof.
Finding a moment of relief, Randolph dashed their hopes. Getting a direct kick just beyond midfield, the Cardinals launched a shot to the center. Once again, the ball ricocheted from one foot to the next, eventually settling in nylon as the Cardinals pulled away once again.
Still leaning on the gas, Portville returned time and again, threatening but to no avail. With one last clear in the final seconds, Randolph sealed the win, outlasting their rivals for the final time of the season.
“It was a tale of two different halves. We just showed up and it just wasn’t there the first half. I liked our effort, I liked our push at the end but it was just a little too late,” said Portville head coach JJ McIntosh. “It’s kind of the story of our year. I feel like we left a lot on the table this year as far as more than likely being the better team on the field at times and either end up tying or losing.”
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