Smithtown West Boys Soccer Edges Out Ward Melville, 1-0

One goal with more than five minutes remaining in the first half off the foot of senior captain Jesse Lyons was all Smithtown West needed to defeat Ward Melville Friday afternoon at Robert W. Pratt Field.

"It was off a rebound, I came around and was trailing it and I just put it in," Lyons said. "Without the help of my teammates it wouldn't have happened."

Despite Smithtown West (12-0-2, 14-0-2 League III) only scoring one goal and Ward Melville's (10-2-2, 10-4-2 League I) constant offensive attack in the second half, Lyons said his team wasn't nervous but confident they could pull out the win at home.

"We came into the game thinking we had all the momentum in the world, we needed to keep the fire up and we needed to keep the pressure up the whole game," he said. "After that goal it just intensified, we had that fire the whole game."

"We've weathered this type of situation before," said Smithtown West coach Tom Lips. "We also missed some great opportunities, we had two solid chances in the second half to increase the lead. The boys are working, they're playing great and they're working, very connected and together."

Smithtown West solidified the win by playing solid second half defense, stopping Ward Melville's offensive attacks without allowing many shots on goal.

"Our back line is very strong," Lyons said. "Me, Derrick [Ladeairous], Ryan Schneider, Luke [Spinelli] and our keeper [Bryan] Hickey, we felt very confident. We were feeding off each others energy."

"Our defense played great," Hickey said. "We all stepped up, it was a big game. We didn't want it to be our last game."

Hickey had three saves for Smithtown West in the win.

Ward Melville coach Jon Stecker said the team lost because of a problem they've faced all year, not being able to put the ball in the back of the net.

"We can't hit the net," he said. "If you can't hit the net you're not going to score goals. It's something we've been struggling with all year and it came back to bite us."

"Our defense came out and played but our offense was non-existent," said Ward Melville junior captain Shane Dineen. "They beat us to every 50-50 ball, they destroyed us today. They were stronger than us and we couldn't get anything off."

Despite the loss, Stecker is already looking ahead to next season.

"We're a young group, I'm looking forward to bringing them back next year," Stecker said. "We have three seniors that are graduating, everybody else is coming back."

After the game, Lips spoke very highly about his latest opponent.

"I have a lot of respect for Ward Melville, we play them every year for a reason because they are very good and very competitive," he said. "It was one hell of a battle but it was a respectful one."

With the win, Smithtown West advances to the Class AA quarterfinals. The Bulls will be on the road next to face Commack (12-1-1, 14-1-1 League I) on Monday, November 8 at 2:00 p.m.

Goals:
Smithtown West: Jesse Lyons (1)