Mahopac Boys Soccer Season Ends with Last Minute Carmel Goal

MAHOPAC, N.Y.—The Mahopac and Carmel HS soccer teams fought like a couple of crosstown rivals should in last Saturday’s Class AA playoff opener at Carmel, slugging it out until the final 29 seconds of regulation, when it was the Rams who struck first, burying a free kick to send Carmel to the quarterfinals with a 1-0 win.

Mahopac had more shots at the Carmel net, with Rams keeper Alex Berrardi making nine saves, to Mahopac’s Connor Sterbens, who made six stops.

But it was Carmel’s Jack Foltz who found the net on a free kick from the corner in the final minute.

As a reward, the No. 8 Rams advance to Tuesday’s quarterfinals, where the team faces top-seed Tappan Zee. No. 9 Mahopac closed the season at 8-5-3.

“We had a lot of opportunities, and so did they,” Mahopac coach Chris Mulholland said. “We knew the first team to score would win. That was a really tough way to lose and for our season to end. The guys played their hearts out, they gave it their all, so there’s not much more I could ask.

“We played well with possession,” Mulholland added. “Most of their opportunities came on set pieces. But our guys worked really well. Aidan Paris-Devane has been great all season, and he was strong in this game. Oliver Filip had a really good game, and Oskar Zalesiak and Evan Blake both played a good game for us. They all played really well.”