Albany, NY - The Panthers took on the Huskies of Word of Life in a USCAA matchup on Tuesday night. Although the Panthers played their best game of soccer so far this year, the outcome was not in their favor as they fell to the Huskies 3-2.
Ready to bounce back from their loss against Central Maine, the Panthers were ready to get a big win at home Tuesday night. Right from kickoff, you could tell the Panthers were locked in and ready to fight to get another win in the win column. The Panthers were able to strike first, putting a great string of passes together from kickoff that found the foot of
Charles Casha (Lindenhurst, NY) who ripped a beautiful shot past the keeper. This was Casha's first career goal, and put the Panthers up 1-0 before the game even hit the first 60 seconds. The momentum was already on the Panthers side, and they wanted to carry it into a second goal. With beautiful play from the defensive line, chasing down anything sent into their side by the Huskies, the Panthers were stopping any opportunities for a tying goal. The twenty second minute, the Huskies were able to sneak the ball in for a goal to tie the game at one. One the goal kickoff, the Panthers had a beautiful ball sent down field by
Gavin Carvey (Cato, NY) that was chased down by
Jay Carlson (Saratoga Springs, NY). Carlson, although being tugged was able to get his foot on the ball, and send the ball into the upper right corner to put the Panthers up again just five seconds after the Huskies tied the game. From the defensive line, you could hear
Matt Maggy (Plattsburgh, NY) scream "that is how we answer boys!" The Huskies would unfortuately be given a free kick close enough to the goal for a shot that went in for the equalizer. The Huskies would find one more goal off a corner kick that would put them in front for the rest of the half and going into halftime.
The second half saw the Panthers come out looking to respond. They really wanted to get that game tying goal, and you could tell they were playing with heart as they played their best soccer of the year so far. They had most of the possession in the second half, with a lot of their chances being shut down by the Huskies. The Panthers took 13 shots in the second half, but the Huskies keeper kept getting his hands on the ball. The Panthers did have an amazing performance by goalie
Ryan Herrick (Massena, NY) who had three great saves to hold the Huskies to just three goals. The team played so well in this one, the result was heartbreaking as the final horn sounded.
After the game, head coach Jon Adeseko was asked his thoughts on the hard fought game and how the team played. He responded, saying "I thought we played well, we moved the ball, we were more aggressive, we had more chances to score but the name of the game is you have to put the ball in the net. We had those chances but we didn't put it in...we pick it up from there and keep working in practice and hopefully as we go forward, we start putting those chances in the net."
The Panthers will have that time to prepare and rest for their YSCC matchup against Maine Augusta on Sunday 10/8.
How to follow the Panthers: For the latest information on ACPHS athletics, visit acphspanthers.com or check out the ACPHS athletics social media platforms on Instagram @ACPHSPanthers or Twitter @ACPHSAthletics.
