WEST SENECA — A big start and an even bigger finish told the tale for the Ellicottville boys soccer team in a wild Monday night thriller against Maple Grove for the Section 6 Class D crown.
The Eagles scored twice in the game’s first 12 minutes to lead the top-seeded Red Dragons 2-0, but the advantage slowly slipped away with three straight Maple Grove goals, all by Eli Moore. Moore scored once before halftime and twice in the first 19 minutes of the second half to suddenly reclaim a 3-2 lead. But surrendering the two-goal lead didn’t disillusion coach Matt Finn’s team, as captain Sam Edwards tied it with 4:44 remaining in regulation and the Eagles held off a flurry of overtime shots, thanks to goalkeeper Evan Bauer, before finally securing a game-winner early in the second OT. Maddox Johnson got the final touch off a pass from Owen Doherty, all set up by an Edwards direct kick from the side of the box, to score in the game’s 97th minute for a 4-3 victory.
Finn said the game reflected a point his assistant coach Chris Keenan made leading up to the postseason.
“He said I want you to think about that over the next couple weeks, what happens if you get down, what are you going to do? What’s your mindset?” Finn said. “And they did it, because they kept coming back.
“They played really well at the end. I was impressed that we still had energy, that the game was a game. We’re both in a similar situation, I think they had some kids sick, we had a bunch of kids sick and for some reason they kept pushing through.
“I’m so proud of them.”
The Eagles repeated as Section 6 Class D champs, their fourth sectional title in program history, all since 2013 under Finn. They denied Maple Grove, the Class C champions the last three years, a chance to lift another trophy.
“It’s amazing, especially coming from … (where) we’re a small D school and we have a football team,” Edwards said. “There are a lot of schools in Section 5 that have double the amount of athletes to choose from. We’re also a young team. We had only one senior starting tonight and we’ve played a lot of our season with no seniors because we had some injuries. So for such a young team to do something like this, especially against last year’s Class C champions, it’s really incredible.”
Ellicottville broke the scoring open just 1:19 into play with Emmett Jacobson-Coolidge burying a chance set up by Edwards. Nearly 11 minutes later, Edwards drew another huge opportunity by forcing a penalty kick when he was tripped inside the box; Doherty took the shot to give the Eagles a 2-0 lead.
“We really wanted it and we knew that Maple Grove was going to be a tough opponent,” Edwards said of his team’s hot start. “So that’s our thing, we want to come out flying, come out and fly every game.”
Finn attributed his team’s early lead to some help from the playoff schedule: with just three teams in the Class D playoffs, top-seeded Maple Grove had a bye to Monday’s championship and had not played since Oct. 14.
“I’ll tell you I think it’s because Maple Grove had two weeks off,” Finn said. “I imagine they’re just, I don’t want to say rusty but they’re not used to game speed. You saw their game speed pick up as the game went on. They were getting faster and faster as the game went on, particularly the second half we couldn’t really keep up for the first 15 minutes when they scored their three goals. I was like, it’s going to be a long second half if we can’t do something. I think it took them a little bit to get their feet under them.”
But even when the Red Dragons (12-3-1) looked more like the imposing No. 1 seed, Ellicottville had a response. Bauer made 11 saves, many of them late in the second half and in the first overtime to keep his team’s season alive.
“We got a little energy from Evan’s amazing saves today,” Finn said. “Unbelievable, he was everywhere. A couple breakaways he stopped, I was like ‘oh no, Eli, here we go.’ And then he stops it.
“Outstanding play. I’m so proud of him.”
Bauer has some history making big plays in sectional finals: last year, he saved a penalty kick that cost him a painful broken thumb on an attempted rebound kick in a 2-1 win over North Collins. He said Monday’s game was the toughest he’d faced this season.
“Most shots, highest energy, everything was the highest,” he said.
“I just knew I couldn’t let my nerves get the best of me. I knew I had to keep my head level, I knew I had to stay in the game. I was just reacting, not thinking. Just making the right moves, I guess.”
Edwards, meanwhile, did what he’s done all year: scored and assisted. He had one goal and one assist (his team-high 24th and 14th, respectively), but played a big part in the other two, drawing a penalty kick and sending the direct kick on the game winner toward Doherty, who found Johnson. Aiden Harrington added an assist.
“I told Sam, ‘if you see it, hit it. Whatever you see, I trust your instincts,’” Finn said. “And he’s been curling them in, I’m like you’re getting too close, you’ve got to get it out a little farther. And sure enough, that last one (went) to about the six, Owen just got the back on it. I was telling Owen all game, you don’t have to finish but you’ve got to get one more pass to someone so they can finish, and Maddox was there to finish it.”
Ellicottville (11-4-2) will play the winner of Tuesday’s Section 5 Class D crossover between Fillmore and Mount Morris on Saturday in the Far West Regional in Spencerport.
