Panthers win 3-0 to remain unbeaten, tied for CCAA II lead
PORTVILLE, NY — The Portville boys soccer team had created at least the potential for opportunities over the first 40 minutes.
Indeed, in this anticipated rematch against a league and local rival, the Panthers spent the majority of the first half in their attacking end. In each instance, however, those prospects were thwarted — by too often “trying to force a square peg into a round hole,” as veteran coach J.J. McIntosh noted afterward, or by the “nice job (Franklinville/Ellicottville) did of pressuring us and not letting us break through.”
At around the 11-minute mark of the second half, there was no real opportunity.
Only what seemed like an innocuous throw-in to the Portville center back near midfield. And, of course, that ended up being the play on which the Panthers scored … and which broke the game open.
VIC VENA somehow scored on a far-off floater and Portville turned a scoreless tie into a 3-0 cushion in just a five-minute stretch before downing E/F by that same count in a CCAA Division II contest on Tuesday night. The Panthers (8-0-3) not only remained unbeaten overall and tied with Randolph (at 4-0-1) atop the league standings, but they exacted a bit of revenge after settling for a 2-2 tie with Ellicottville/Franklinville in a Gator Cup consolation game back on Aug. 30.
“I don’t want to necessarily call it fluky,” McIntosh said of Vena’s goal, which was assisted by Parker Keim, “but it was one of those … he had it go from, I don’t know, just on the other side of midfield it felt like. The way the wind was, the way the sun was, whatever it was, it kind of held the ball up a little longer than the keeper probably judged it, and it floated past his head a little bit.
“Even when it went in, I thought maybe it had gone over the top and was out.”
Acknowledging that ironic reversal of fortune, he added: “We had a ton of good chances on goal from right around the 18 and we couldn’t score, and then wouldn’t this be how it goes — we get a goal from who knows how many yards out?”
A minute later, Colin German scored on a penalty kick to give the Panthers some breathing room, finishing his own effort from the play that led to the whistle. And shortly after, Garrett Reynolds tallied off a pass from John Neeson as Portville took full control in the 56th minute.
The victory continued a torrid stretch for the Panthers, who have won their last three games by a combined count of 14-0, which came on the heels of a hard-fought 2-2 tie with Randolph. And it was another sign of how unrelenting they’ve been since that season-opening Allegany-Limestone tournament, when they tied Genesee Valley/Belfast (but fell in PKs) in the first round and tied E/F in the consolation.
So, what was different in this second of three scheduled matchups with the Eagles?
“I DON’T WANT to take anything away from Ellicottville, but (we knew) all along after watching some film that that was not our best effort,” McIntosh said. “Whatever the reason was, maybe the mental aspect of losing in PKs the night before, being in the consolation instead of the championship … you might call it an excuse, but I think that did play into it a little bit.
“I think we did a better job (Tuesday) of trying to rally to the ball a little more and trying to make things more difficult on them than we did the first time, playing a little better together as a unit.”
And then the other component was effort.
“Tonight wasn’t perfect by any means either,” McIntosh continued, “but I think the effort was there a lot more. It’s what I preach to these guys: If we play with the effort we’re capable of, then we’re capable of great things if the effort’s there. And we saw through a couple games there early, for sure, what we can look like if we don’t have that effort.”
FOR AT least a portion of the second half, Portville conjured the offense it needed.
German, after a strong eight-goal season as a sophomore, is now up to an impressive 16 goals and six assists with five games still remaining in his junior campaign.
“It’s no secret if anyone’s paying attention to soccer in, I’d go as far Western New York,” McIntosh asserted: “Colin German is one of the best players, I think, that our program has ever seen. He’s playing with confidence, he’s a tough kid, he’s tough to defend, he’s got great vision; he does a lot for us.”
But from start to finish, it received another strong defensive performance, allowing it to keep a solid Ellicottville/Franklinville squad (4-4-3, 2-2-1) at bay. Sophomore goalkeeper Tristen Harvey earned his sixth clean sheet of the season and Portville’s back line, led by senior Riley Horsley, who “is really able to cover a lot of ground for us and able to stop the attack before it really gets too dangerous, for the most part” — limited E/F to just two shots
“We tried to stop their attack before it became an issue,” McIntosh said of his defense. “(Ellicottville/Franklinville’s) Tosh Klein (11 goals on the year) is a real shifty, solid player; tough to defend. But I thought our guys did a nice job of holding them in front and then having that help defense kind of come in from being a little bit and keep them at a distance.
“If we did give up a shot, it kind of came from the outside and our keeper was there to make the play.”
Jackson Kruszynski made three saves for the Eagles.
Both teams return to action on Thursday, with Portville playing at Cassadaga Valley/Falconer and Ellicottville/Franklinville traveling to Pine Valley/Gowanda.
(Story courtesy of J.P. Butler)
