Northport Boys Soccer Defeats Newfield, 3-2

Survive and advance. That's the playoff credo. And the  boys soccer team did just that in defeating Newfield, 3-2, in overtime Tuesday on a golden goal by junior forward Neil-Ryan Yodice.  

No. 10 Northport (11-3-3) knocked off No. 7 Newfield (14-2-1) on the road in the first round of the Suffolk Class AA playoffs thanks to a fast start. After going up 2-0 in the first half, the Northport Tigers let the Newfield Wolverines back into the game when they allowed two second half goals.

Heroes: Yodice scored two goals in the game, including the overtime game winner.  His first came with 8 minutes left in the first half when he took a pass from senior midfielder William Luft and lined it past the diving goalie to score and put the Tigers up 2-0. 

Yodice's winning goal came 5 minutes into overtime when, after a throw in from the far side of the field, teammate Chris McBride centered the ball to the front of the net through a scrum of Newfield defenders.  Yodice was there waiting.  He deked the goalie and kicked a solid strike into the back corner of the net before being engulfed by teammates in celebration.

"He kicked it right across the face of the goal," Yodice said.  "I took a touch forward and had enough time to actually look up and see where the keeper was going.  I had to compose myself in that situation.  I don't want to miss for my team because they're everything to me."

Luft also had a big game for the Tigers.  In additions to his assist, he scored the first goal of the game.  It came 12 minutes into the game.  Junior Dillon Johnson was able to split the Newfield defenders on a fast break towards the goal.  One on one with Newfield's goalie, his initial strike was deflected.  His teammates were there quickly with help and after another saved shot, sophomore midfielder John Glancy passed to Luft who connected for the score.

Goalie Jackson Sirica endured a barrage of Newfield shots in the second half after not seeing much action in the first half.  He totaled 12 saves in the game.

Turning Point: The Tigers established themselves early with some strong attacks lead by Dillon Johnson, whose speed caused major problems for the Newfield defense.  Johnson suffered a back injury towards the end of the first and was held out for most of the second half.  Newfield took advantage when Jake Barros scored just 3 minutes into the second half.  Northport looked to be on its heels for the rest of the period and was somewhat lucky to make it into overtime with the score still tied.

"In the second half they were really peppering me," Sirica said. "I didn't know how long we would hold out, but we pulled it our because of Neil Yodice's overtime goal."

Quotable: "I kept thinking two to nothing is just not a good score," Northport coach Don Strasser said. "Then they stuck it to us.  They put two in and the probably could have put a third in.  We thought that when we got to overtime it kind of leveled off a little bit and we felt like we got out of that second half."

Bottom Line: If the Tigers can play a full game the way they played Newfield in the first half, they're going to have a very successful playoff run.  They came out flat in the second half of this game and were beat on nearly every ball.  Sirica did a great job in net to limit the damage, but the Tigers need to be able to keep offensive momentum going for two halves from here on out.  Johnson's speed is key to their success, but other players need to be able to step up when he's not on the field to keep pressure on opposing defenses.

Key Stat: Yodice's game winner was his 11th goal of the season.

Who's Next: Suffolk Class AA quarterfinals Northport @ No. 2 Commack (15-1-1), Friday, 2:30 p.m.

Boys Soccer: Suffolk Class AA First Round 

Teams..................1.....2....OT -- F

Newfield...............0....2......0 -- 2

Northport.............2....0.......1 -- 3

Goals -- NP: Luft, Yodice 2; NF: Barros, Engelman. Saves -- NP: Connell 12

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