Yorktown falls to Harrison in summer league title game

The boys worked extremely hard and should be proud of making a second consecutive summer league final.”

Yorktown coach Justin Huff

Lakeland reaches quarters, falls to Panas

A second-half goal by Thomas Jorge on a set piece from the corner off a low driven ball from Vinny Karaqi gave Lakeland a 1-0 win versus White Plains in the opening round of the Lakeland Boys Soccer Summer League playoffs on July 29.

“The two seniors did a good job of being composed in a big spot to score the goal and help lead the team,” said Lakeland coach Tim Hourahan.

Aiden Plouffe backed up a solid Lakeland defensive performance with 3 saves.

“Our defense is our strength again at this time in the program, led by two-year senior captain Lucas Boyko, as well as seniors Connor Waluk and Joe Delionado, who helped keep another clean sheet,” Hourahan said. “We only gave up 7 goals in 10 games played this summer, including 6 shutouts. So we will once again lean on the back line.”

Lakeland fell to sister school Walter Panas 2-0 on Aug. 1 in the quarterfinals, with the Panthers scoring their 2 goals in the last six minutes of the game. Plouffe recorded 3 saves.

“Summer league is a massive part of the offseason program, just like our winter workouts and indoor-winter league,” Hourahan said. “It’s important for our players to be around and playing competitive games with each other year-round. You can see how important it is to other programs as well, having 16 teams come compete at Lakeland for the last seven weeks.”

Lakeland’s coaching staff feels there were plenty of good moments this summer.

“We will look to build on that during the preseason camp in August,” Hourahan said.

SHRUB OAK, N.Y.—Defending champion Yorktown fell to Harrison after eight rounds of penalty kicks in the championship game of the 18th Lakeland Boys Soccer Summer League season on Aug. 3. Harrison won the shootout 4-3 after a 1-1 tie in open play.

“Tonight we took a bit to find our rhythm and Harrison played very well,” said Yorktown coach Justin Huff. “The boys worked extremely hard and should be proud of making a second consecutive summer-league final.”

Ryan Dean, Colin Worden and Gavin Mooney scored for the Huskers in the penalty kick shootout, which came after a tight contest on the field.

After a scoreless first half, Worden put the Huskers up 1-0 with 14:20 left in regulation before Harrison tied it almost seven minutes later. Worden almost netted the winner with a header with 1:30 to go, but it was saved to force overtime.

In the extra period, Harrison just missed the game-winner, with a shot going wide left with 4:30 remaining in overtime.

Antonio Spiniello (5 saves) and Joe Popovic (4 saves) did the job in goal for Yorktown.

The Huskers advanced to the title game with a 4-1 triumph against Irvington in the semifinals, also on Aug. 3.

Yorktown took a 1-0 lead with 21:40 remaining in the first half on a long ball to Dean, with Worden sliding the ball past the Irvington goalie to double the Huskers’ advantage at the 20-minute mark.

Five minutes and 15 seconds later, Worden scored again off an assist from Haniel Flores, giving the Huskers a 3-0 halftime lead.

Worden registered his hat trick with 24:15 left in the second half, when he found the top right shelf of the goal. That put the Huskers up 4-0 before Irvington scored with 8:30 remaining to avert the shutout.

Yorktown won its quarterfinal contest 2-0 against John Jay-East Fishkill on Aug. 1, led by Worden’s 2 goals, which were assisted by Sean Davis and Patrick Reardon. Popovic recorded 5 saves for the shutout.

“We started off very sluggish for the first 10 minutes,” Huff said. “Patrick had a game-changing save off the line early on, and eventually we settled in. Colin had two amazing individual efforts and it gave our team the confidence to settle in and play our game.”

Yorktown opened the playoffs with a 1-0 victory against Valhalla in an opening-round game on July 27, on a goal by Worden five minutes into the contest.

“Summer league has shown us all we need to improve on and fitness will be an important aspect of our success come regular season,” Huff said.