Saxons season ends with shootout in ECAC Quarterfinals
Brandon Harrison
ALFRED, NY—Sophomore keeper
Chris Gutierrez (Holbrook, NY/Sachem East) was a wall in goal in the Metro-Upstate ECAC Quarterfinal making two saves in theshootout rounds; however the Saxons were eliminated 5-4 in Yunevich Stadium Wednesday evening.
In the 14
th minute the Saxons grabbed the lead on a picturesque long ball sent in by sophomore
Miguel Reyes (Valencia, Venezuela/Franklinville) which found freshman
Adam Taylor (Newton, NJ/Sussex County Technical) in stride to bury a header into the back of the net. The Saxons would only put one more shot on goal until the 69
th minute despite maintaining possession of the ball in Manhattanville's defensive third for a majority of the game.
The Valiants knotted the game 1-1 in the 59
th minute when Jefferson Santos found the ball at his feet after a scramble in the box. The forward tapped the ball passed Gutierrez who was on the ground attempting to grab the ball. Down the final stretch in regulation the Saxons dominated play putting three shots on goal and clearly looking more energized than their counterparts.
In the first overtime, AU dominated Manhattanville putting five-of-six shots on goal. In the 100
th minute sophomore
Jesse Lichtman (Mahopac, NY/Mahopac) possessed a ball just inside the eighteen and blistered a powerful shot through heavy traffic to the right post. However, a Valiant defensemen was there to push the ball outside the post to safety.
In the second overtime the Saxons shot three more times, but were unable to sneak a goal past the opposing keeper. Neither team could break the tie in the fourth period, sending the game to a shootout.
After three rounds the shootout was tied at 1-1. The next three rounds saw both teams burying all three goals to remain tied at 4-4. Manahattanville's Willie Silber turned away a final chance in the fifth round and Michael Jean-Charles took advantage of the opportunity to win the game.
After the tie the Saxons finalize their season at 10-5-3 (3-3-1 Empire 8), improving on their record in 2014 of 9-8-3 (3-3-1 Empire 8).