By HUNTER O. LYLE
OLEAN, NY – Playing in one of their final games before league play begins, the Portville boy’s soccer team snuck out a win over Olean, beating the Huskies 1-0 in a game that hung in the balance for all 80 minutes.
Coming into the matchup, both teams had a few games under their belts and had experienced ups and downs. While Olean had won one and lost another in their back-to-back action last weekend, the Panthers had opened the season with frustration, tying both of their first two games before finally etching a win in their 5-1 rout of Bolivar-Richburg on Monday.
Eager to avoid another stalemate, Portville hit the ground running. Starting with the ball, the Panthers quickly set up shop in Olean’s backfield. Driving through the defense two or three at a time, they used their speed to dangle around opponents and crisp passing to find cutting teammates. When ultimately sent back, Portville mobbed Husky ballhandlers and came away with strips and steals to contain the pressure away from their side of the pitch.
“Early on I thought we were hustling to the ball and moving it pretty decently,” said Portville head coach JJ McIntosh. “We had several really, really good chances that just never went in.”
Despite dealing with a constant attack, Olean held their own. Forming a wall sooner rather than later, as well as surrounding the Panthers’ stars, the Huskies turned their surging opponents away numerous times without having to suffer shots on goal.
“I give credit to Portville’s (Colin German.) He’s really good and we tried to lock him down as much as possible because we knew all the plays went through him,” said Olean head coach TJ Magro of German, who scored five goals in Portville’s first three games. “Locking him down was definitely our key strategy and then having our defensive line high up so (Portville) wasn’t trying to just kick it up over us all the time.”
On the other side of the ball, Olean still struggled to kick their offense into gear. Mistimed passes and cuts, coupled with clearing kicks that just didn’t find sufficient range, the Huskies couldn’t mount an attack. However, in the final 10 minutes, Olean began to break through with long outlets that found their forwards in prime position. After failing to register a shot on goal through the opening 30 minutes, the Huskies came away with several to end the half. Still, both teams walked off the pitch deadlocked at zero.
“If you have good chances early and you put them away, the game might have a whole different feel to it. When we didn’t put those chances away, (Olean) fed off of it,” said Portville head coach JJ McIntosh. “They got some chances, they got some momentum. They built off of it and the longer it would take us to score or try to put a goal in, it seemed like the more confidence they were gaining and maybe the less we were.”
Unlike the initial minutes of the first half, both teams traded drives up and down the field to begin the second. While the Panthers still seemed to hold a tighter grip on the game, showing more finesse as they weaved up the field in tandem, Olean continued to hold them at bay. That would change in the 45th minute.
Earning a corner kick with 35:11 left to go, German would take the ball out. Upon the whistle, he sent a beautiful arching pass above the reach of Olean’s goalkeeper, Braylon Torres. On the backside of that play was a crashing Milo Backus, who closed the distance between him and the goal to deflect the ball into the net with his chest, scoring the first goal of his high school career.
From there, Portville’s grip on the contest tightened and although their shots on goal would come only in sporadic waves, they dominated possession and stuffed Olean back onto their side of the field.
The Huskies, on the other hand, did not respond well. Relapsing back to inconsistent movement and passing, their drives failed to yield both sustained depth or pressure. While Portville attacked with duos and trios, the Huskies advanced with one streaking ball handler, ultimately being sent back in one-and-done attacks. Despite one last resurgence from the Huskies, Portville held onto the ball, killing time and preserving their second win of the season.
“The takeaway is that we have to have that Husky heart. We have to keep wanting the ball more than the other team,” said Magro. “Moving forward we’re going to just take it day by day and work on the little bits of soccer.”
Going forward, both teams now face league opponents, a stretch of games where the rubber meets the road. In their respective next 12 games, 10 of them will have standings implications. For Olean, they stay on their home field to face Allegany-Limestone (2-1) on Tuesday, while Portville takes on Cassadaga Valley-Falconer (1-4) on Monday.
“Now everything really counts. All the other games are just trying to gear up for this league battle. We play Olean again and Wellsville again but outside of that it’s all league games. That’s where we’ll see where we shake out,” said McIntosh. “It’s going to be a tough C bracket so every game is important. Hopefully we’ve done enough to prepare ourselves and we’re going to try to defend the league. We won it last year and we’ll see if we can do it again.”
