Soccer: Mount Pleasant Cup Roundup

The following is a roundup of the local results in the second day of the Mount Pleasant Cup, which was held at Valhalla High School on Saturday.

Briarcliff Boys

With 13 seniors, Briarcliff (2-0) has big hopes this fall and already has a championship to show for its efforts.

Senior forward TK Maeda scored five minutes into the second half with the assist coming from tournament MVP, senior center-midfielder Yaron Rubin, giving Briarcliff a 1-0 victory in the championship game against Westlake.

“To get that goal early in the second half it gave us momentum to push through,” Coach Brandon Beck said.

The goal was a sweet one because it came after an extremely physical first half.

“Within the first five minutes we had one player go to the hospital because he got injured,” Beck said. “Arthur Kaufman went for a header in the first five minutes of the game and he came down with a gash on his forehead. We had two or three other guys get injured throughout the first half. It was very back and forth, a very big, battling match.”

Maeda, Jesse Korzen, Louis Greco, and Dan Greenberg, who made eight saves in recording the shutout in goal, all made the all-tournament team.

Beck credited the win to the team’s senior leadership, especially from his three captains, Korzen, Greenberg and Rubin, it’s versatility and depth.

“When players were starting to get injured, I had to turn to my bench and I had to use eight or nine subs,” Beck said. “Jesse Korzen had to move back into a position, sweeper, that he never played before (he’s usually a stopper), as he had to take Arthur Kaufman’s position.”

Briarcliff Girls

Briarcliff (1-1) showed plenty of character as it overcame a 2-0 halftime deficit to beat Westlake 4-2 in double overtime of the consolation game.

Sophomore midfielder/forward Lauren Miller led the Bears with two goals. Senior Gabriela De Frutos contributed one goal and one assist with freshman Samantha Kirsch adding a score of her own.

Miller and De Frutos both made the all-tournament team.

Briarcliff sophomore Sarah Goldstein came up with 11 saves in goal.

Bears coach Owen Scully credited the attitude of the kids for his team’s turnaround in the second half.

“In practice, they are expected to give 110 percent every time and that’s what is expected on the field come game time,” Scully said. “So no matter what, the kids were never going to stop and that sort of mentality they show in practice was evident in the game.”

Scully further elaborated on the never-say die effort of his team.

“They are very tenacious, they never give up until the final whistle,” Scully said. “To come back from two goals is a great testament to a group of young players. It shows a lot of maturity way beyond their years.”

One of those players is Miller, who tied the game at 2-2 after De Frutos had pulled the Bears to within one. Miller then gave the Bears the lead in the first overtime with Kirsch scoring afterwards to double Briarcliff’s lead.

“Lauren was a freshman last year, we threw her into the mix and she did extremely well,” Scully said. “Again, in a clutch situation she was able to score and turn the game around. It is a wonderful testimony to her.”

Pleasantville Boys

Pleasantville (0-2) got off to a slow start, trailing Valhalla 3-0 early in the second half of the boys consolation contest. The Panthers then rallied with two goals by junior forward/midfielder Aidan Heintzman and sophomore defender Adam Bucheister but fell just short 3-2 to the host.

Making six saves in goal for the Panthers was junior Paul Stapleton.

“We just came out completely flat in the first half,” Coach Fernando Zappone said. “We were totally outplayed. We just couldn’t get anything going. We made mistakes in the back that led to their goals.”

Zappone though was pleased with his team’s effort in the second half.

“We gave up a goal early in the second half, but we were a lot more aggressive, we won most 50-50 balls,” Zappone said. “We outplayed them in the second half, we just came up short.”

Senior defender and co-captain Mike Taurone and junior defender Billy Stapleton earned all-tournament honors.

Pleasantville Girls

Coach Tom Micucci’s Panthers’ earned a berth in the championship game, where it fell to host Valhalla 3-1.

Valhalla took a 2-0 lead with a goal in the first half, before registering another tally in the second half. Senior center midfielder Alana Engelbrecht got the Panthers back in the game with an unassisted tally to cut Valhalla’s lead in half.

“It was a really big goal,” Micucci said. “The kids were very excited that they got to the championships and at that point they felt that they could pull it out. Alana made a nice shot, it came off a rebound where she chipped it over the goalkeeper.”

Senior Amy Walsh recorded three saves in goal in the first half with senior Amanda Psyhojos registering two saves in the second half.

Pleasantville earned a berth in the title game with a 1-0 semifinal win at Westlake Friday. Junior midfield/forward Gabby Minton scored in the first half with Engelbrecht assisting.

Psyhojos made three first-half saves and Walsh had two second-half saves.

Engelbrecht, senior fullback Patricia Garibaldi and sophomore defender Sammi Borsellino were named to the all-tournament team.

“The girls are really jelling as a team,” Micucci said. “Unfortunately we didn’t come all the way back against Valhalla and win but the way we played it was beautiful soccer. If we keep that up, we are going to win a lot of big games.”