John Jay soccer can't keep pace with Quakers

CROSS RIVER, N.Y. - On Wednesday, Sept. 30, John Jay welcomed Horace Greeley to Contest Field, and the Quakers were quick to hit the accelerator after getting off the bus. Taking control at midfield, a long pass into the corner resulted in a corner kick. At 39:18, the well-placed ball by Noah Zeiger had Zach Goldstein flying out to make a two-handed save. But the early energy and pressure never diminished for the visitors, and the results followed suit.

Greeley mostly maintained control throughout and went home 2-0 winners.

The Quakers continued the pressure despite the acrobatics in goal, and that had Alejandro Pineda and Nick Harris putting on the early stops.

In response, Pineda made a sliding stop and pass to his brother, Sam, and the junior led Jack Hartney all the way down to the right corner. On the resulting throw-in at 31:45, Leo Kemp received and launched a shot over the goal from 20 yards.

A few minutes later, a long pass put Greeley on alert again. Alejandro Pineda sent a defensive clear bouncing all the way down, with Dennis Galvan giving chase.

By a nose, he drew the penalty, and Kemp lined up. His little pooch from the right connected with Auden Lindberg’s head, but unfortunately, the ball made synergy with the field-goal crossbar at 27:41.

Greeley was next to make some noise. Getting some space on the right, Hysni Osmani continued to drift toward the sideline and launched a cross in front of the goal. The ball sailed past several heads and landed on the foot of Zeiger. He swung, and a loud thud rocketed off Goldstein’s kick save at 26:20.

Back the other way, the whistle hit even harder. Alejandro Pineda controlled at midfield, passed ahead to Porter Bysshe, and he centered to Hartney. Settling, he passed left to Jackson Spruill for a one-on-one with the goalie.

The offsides call saved the day for Greeley, and more noise was on the way. Greeley cleared, and the high bounce of the ball had Goldstein racing out to cut it off. However, the goalie was unable to corral it, and the net was left open.

So Zeiger’s birthday seemed to come early. Instead, he hit the post from the left, and the big John Jay sigh was not nearly enough to blow out the candles.

Tempting fate too much, Jay had to face the inevitable at 15:57. Bradley Martin passed to Nathan Covella in the corner, and he refused to surrender to the end line.

Centering, Goldstein was put on high alert, but a flubbed miss-kick by Arthur Keenan gave John Jay a reprieve. Only briefly. Lir Jakupaj stayed on the loose ball and found the net for a 1-0 game.

Still in the game, John Jay threatened with five minutes left in the half. Gio Pelosi received the ball in the middle of the field, threaded it ahead, and Bysshe received with an angle on the goal.

Unfortunately, the wing fell prey to a slide tackle by the trailing defender. The subsequent throw-in resulted in a shot way wide, and Greeley readied to make the final separation.

Down the sideline, Martin chipped from the corner. Missing a few heads, Cavello was left on the receiving end. He took the high bounce, swung his right leg and doubled the score to close scoring with 87 seconds left in the half.

Onto the second half, and Horace Greeley really contained. Play mostly stayed in the John Jay zone, with the only good chance coming very late in the game for the Wolves. Bysshe got the ball ahead to his wing, the goalie came way out to meet him, and the push rolled toward the empty net.

Just wide left, John Jay had to concede the day.