Sports
Garden City Boys Fall to Jericho 2-0
Defending State Champion Jericho defeats Garden City boys 2-0 to remain unbeaten and unscored upon.
The Garden City boys soccer team took on the Jericho Jayhawks on Wednesday afternoon in a highly anticipated matchup. The Jayhawks are the defending State Champs and came into the match undefeated and unscored upon. While the Trojans looked forward to this match as a barometer of their play this season.
The Trojans played a strong game but could not muster enough offense and were defeated 2-0.
Jericho got on the board early in the first half as Zach Cohen launched a tremendous throw in to the far post that Derek Medolla pushed past a diving Tyler Biscone and into the goal for a 1-0 lead only a little over six minutes into the game. The rest of the first half was well played wth both teams having several scoring chances.
Garden City forwards were able to put some good pressure on the Jericho defense but were stopped each time. The best chance came late in the half when Patrick Keogh challenged the keeper on a free kick into the box. The ball got behind the keeper but went just wide. Other scoring chances for the Trojans came mostly on set pieces as Jack Metzler put several balls into the box that Jack Gillan, Matt Greiner and Keogh all got their heads on but couldn't put the ball in the net. Joe Torres was also able to apply pressure up front using his speed to break through only to be stopped by an active keeper and solid defense.
On the defensive side of the ball the Trojans were able to stay with the Jericho forwards and control the play in their end of the field. The most dangerous chances for the Jayhawks continually came from the long throw ins from Cohen. But it was the heads of Garden City defenders Kyle Ritchie, Stephen Soviero and Jake Menges that prevented more scoring chances for Jericho.
With a little over 20 minutes gone in the second half Jericho was able to connect on a free kick as Barry Sarifi pushed the ball past second half keeper Robert Wotczak to net the insurance goal.
Garden City pushed the attack the remainder of the game as midfielders Marc Schwendemann, Greg Vouzianis and Metzler tried to provide some offensive support for Gillan and Keogh. But the Jericho defense held strong and came away with another shutout for keeper Ari Lewis.
The Trojans next face a Roslyn team that they beat 2-0 in September. The game is on Friday night at Roslyn.
