CROSS RIVER, N.Y. - As the No. 14 seed, John Jay faced the possibility of a very early exit from the postseason. Instead, the Wolves beat Peekskill and Gorton to land in the final four. At Lakeland on Wednesday, Oct. 28, however, it didn’t take long for the Cinderella story to start unraveling.
The Hornets scored four minutes in and found the net two more times before intermission for a 3-0 victory.
They got started even earlier. Nick Ahmataj got the ball in the corner, danced a bit along the goal line and put Lakeland’s first shot on Zach Goldstein.
Lakeland wasn’t leaving the area, either. On a free kick from the sideline, Ahmataj connected with Matteo DiLaura, who stopped the ball with his body and swung his leg around for a shot right at Goldstein.
Stopped again, another free kick did the trick. Ahmataj lofted the ball to the right, and Chris Paljusevic ran between the defenders to kick it past Goldstein.
With the ball in the net at 35:56, Jay started to make itself heard. First, Dennis Galvan controlled the ball at midfield and got it to Porter Bysshe on the sideline. Galvan took it from there and passed to Finn Fothergill. Near the goal line, Aiden Plouffe raced out, and the collision sent the ball high and out of bounds at 32:45.
On the ensuing corner kick, Plouffe rose above the crowd with two hands to make the save. Now Jay stayed in the area, but Plouffe definitely had help this time. After the Lakeland defense was whistled for a penalty in the middle, Fothergill teed up from the 15 and dented the crossbar at 30:38.
John Jay kept Lakeland hemmed in nonetheless, and Bysshe put another scare into Plouffe. Shooting from the right, Bysshe forced the Hornet goalie to make the save at 28:48, and the Lakeland offense took the cue.
Ahmataj got the ball to the sideline, worked it to DiLaura, and the ensuing goal wiped away John Jay’s offensive flurry of the previous eight minutes.
Even so, the Wolves picked up where they left off. Fothergill got the ball on the left, juked his defenders to create space at 26:45 and beat the goalie high.
But not the crossbar. The Wolves kept their heads up anyway and continued to apply pressure. Lakeland, on the other hand, didn’t seem to notice and proved its indifference with six minutes left in the half. Down the right sideline came the Hornet attack, and a cross reached Paljusevic on the left. He beat Goldstein back to the right.
Facing a daunting deficit, Jay still came out strong in the second half. Unfortunately, so did Plouffe.
On a free kick from Alejandro Pineda, the ball landed in the crease and deflected to Bysshe. He kicked toward the left side of the net, and Plouffe made a two-handed diving save with 36:22 remaining in the game.
Showing no quit, the Wolves kept coming, and Galvan was next. He found a little space at the 30 and sent Plouffe leaping with two hands for another save.
Two minutes later, Galvan came open at the same spot. His shot went right at the goalie and then got away from Plouffe. Unfortunately, the nearest Wolf wasn't close enough, and the shutout remained intact.
So did John Jay’s resolve. On another free kick from Fothergill, the ball ended up on Nick Harris’ foot on the left, and his shot went wide. The subsequent corner kick came close, too. Fothergill connected with the head of Harris, but the ball went wide the other way at 26:40.
And so the story went until John Jay was forced to accept the end of its inspired postseason run.
Comments
No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here