After realizing a repeat title is not a given, Scarsdale returns to form against Ithaca
YORKTOWN HEIGHTS – Scarsdale has officially rediscovered its mojo.
After being forcibly removed from their comfort zone over the weekend, the Raiders got back to doing what they do best Wednesday and sent Ithaca home, posting a 4-2 victory in a NYSPHSAA Class AA regional semifinal at Yorktown High School.
There wasn’t a lot of drama.
“It felt amazing,” Scarsdale midfielder Lev Stahl said. “The past two games were very shaky against very good opponents, very aggressive opponents. This was a strong team, as well, but we found it again, started playing the ball on the ground more and felt more like ourselves.”
Section 1 title: Scarsdale keeps unbeaten streak alive, survives penalty kicks to advance in Class AA
The Raiders were a little healthier, too.
Lorenzo Galeano had extremely limited mobility on Saturday during the Section 1 title game against Eastchester because of a bad ankle. He was again making things happen on Wednesday, finishing with a goal and two assists.
“I’m feeling better,” he said. “After sectionals, I didn’t practice. I went to the trainer instead and got stim treatment. It’s getting better and better each day so I’m playing with more confidence.”
Scarsdale roared to a 4-0 lead.
“I think this game we came out with more passion and energy,” said Galeano, whose corner kick set up Jose Alava Marino for a goal just 10 minutes in. “We sort of used falling in the rankings as motivation.”
The Raiders fell outside the top 25 in the United Soccer Coaches national rankings. Before the scoreless deadlock with Eastchester over the weekend, they were No. 2 in the country. The defending state champion's unbeaten string is up to 40.
“Maybe a couple of recovery days helped us and there might’ve been a mindset shift after realized we could lose and realized we can’t take anything for granted,” Stahl said.
Game balls
Galeano was more himself, taking on defenders, setting up teammates on corners and driving home a shot from distance.
Zach Ruback, Alex Duval, Zachary Grossberg and Stahl were decisive on the back line, quickly short-circuiting Little Red possessions and getting the ball right back up the field.
By the numbers
Ithaca (10-4): Oliver Klemm scored a pair of goals, making it a two-possession game with 15 minutes to play. ... Leonard Levy made seven saves.
Scarsdale (18-0-1): Leo Khang gave the Raiders a 2-0 lead. ... A blast from Galeano with 15 minutes to go in the first half added to the lead. ... Marc Hajjar came off the bench to close out the scoring. ... Stahl and William McAllister each added one assist. ... Lucas Kantor made two saves.
They said it
"We know how it feels since we already won states," said Galeano, who's one win away from heading back to Middletown for the NYSPHSAA semifinals. "Getting that feeling again is something we have on our minds. Also, we want to be with these kids every day, and we also have that on our minds, just being together for another practice and another game."
"We had like no chances," said Klemm. "It's hard to score on them because you don’t have the ball a lot. They’re so quick, you can’t get around them. I thought we could do it, but we didn’t have the ball much in the last 15 minutes."
"We could've handled that better," Stahl said of the two second-half goals Owego scored. "They came back. We can’t ever let our guard down like we did today and hopefully we can use that as a lesson for future games."
Scarsdale plays Cornwall at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday at FDR-Hyde Park.
Mike Dougherty covers boys soccer for The Journal News and lohud.com. Follow along @hoopsmbd.
What's next
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Boys soccer: Scarsdale beats Ithaca 4-2 in NYSPHSAA Class AA semifinal
