CHAPPAQUA – It’s been a nondescript regular season for a Scarsdale boys soccer program that is used to contending, but it would be ill-advised for the rest of Section 1 to let its guard down.
The Raiders have mostly hovered around .500, leading to questions about their viability in the Class AA landscape. But as Saturday’s 2-1 win over what had been a red-hot Horace Greeley squad demonstrated, Scarsdale has the talent and capability to play with just about anybody.
“We had a week where we were struggling with our principles; struggling with gluing together and playing as a team,” junior captain Fayez Merchant said. “I think now we’re starting to get in the rhythm of what we have to do to progress as we get towards the playoffs.”
The Raiders struck quickly with goals from Michael Spiro and Owen Hall in the opening 20 minutes, controlling the pace of play while forcing Greeley goalkeeper Teddy Rader to make seven saves in the first half alone.
The second half was a different story, with the Quakers turning up the heat and creating several scoring chances of their own. But Scarsdale goalie Kyle Koslowsky came up with a few clutch stops and the Raiders were able to hold on for the win, snapping Greeley’s six-game winning streak in the process.
“I liked the pace,” Spiro said. “The field is a bit small, so it was easy to get balls in behind the back line and get opportunities. In the second half, I felt like we sat back a bit because we didn’t want them to score, but we should have tried to get a third. We ended up conceding at the end and it was kind of scary in the last five, six minutes.”
Player of the game: Owen Hall, Scarsdale — The senior forward was the biggest reason for the Raiders’ early two-goal cushion. He set up Spiro’s goal in the 13th minute before cleaning up a rebound to score a goal of his own in the 19th.
Turning point: The Quakers came out of halftime playing with purpose, but Koslowsky was up to the task. The Scarsdale senior made a stunning save on a shot from Johnny Gerstein in the 42nd minute. And in the 52nd, he made a similar diving stop on an open look from Jack Cohen.
“Kyle has done a lot of work for us,” Merchant said. “He’s been one of our best players this year and he’s playing really well.”
Stat line: Scarsdale (5-4) — Spiro scored on an assist from Hall in the 13th minute and Hall scored in the 19th. Koslowsky made eight saves and the Raiders took 15 shots. Greeley (9-4) — Charlie Grob scored on an assist from Gerstein in the 72nd minute. Rader made nine saves and the Quakers took 17 shots.
Quotable: “We’re definitely starting to see signs of us playing how we want to play,” Spiro said. “From last year, we only had two or three returning starters, so the first few games were kind of just building and learning how to play together. We’ve played well for parts of games, but we just want to put in a good 80-plus minutes for a few games heading into the playoffs, when we want to peak.”
Twitter: @vzmercogliano
Soccer ball on grass