Thursday, October 27, 2016
By Brian Dzenis
CORTLAND
Lakeview’s boys soccer team hasn’t given up many goals this season — six — but the Bulldogs don’t play like a defense-first team.
Their energetic press leaves teams with little room to breathe and that’s what happened in a Division II district semifinal against Hubbard. Lakeview spent a lot of time in Hubbard’s end of the field during a 3-1 victory, making its first district final since 2013.
“I think we can go farther,” Lakeview forward Daniel Golar said.
A 17-0-1 record is the source of that confidence heading into the final. The Bulldogs completed a three-game sweep of the Eagles, winning by a combined score of 11-2.
They got rolling in the first five minutes when Daniel Gill and Anthony Sylvester turned a two-on-one with Hubbard goalie Dominic Weser into a zero-on-one. Gill tapped in an easy-looking goal.
“I don’t really know how it happened, me and Anthony are in the 6-yard box with the ball,” Gill said. “I told him, ‘Leave the ball’ and I took it.”
On Lakeview’s second goal, the setup seemed to require more work than the shot. With about 20 minutes until halftime, Brandon White chucked a throw-in from the sideline into Hubbard’s penalty area. Golar was wide open for the header.
“It hit my eye,” Golar said. “I knew what I was doing. It came to me and I just placed it in the corner.”
With a 2-0 advantage, Lakeview kept up its pressing style, but also lived up to the sports mantra of two-goal leads being the most dangerous.
Hubbard grabbed some momentum a minute after Golar’s goal when Bashar Rasoul got behind the Lakeview defense and cut his team’s deficit in half.
“I thought we were too lax after the second goal and than Hubbard scores and it becomes a different game and you’re in a fight,” Lakeview coach Bryan Phillips said. “We miss an assignment and they score and now they have the confidence to come back.”
But Lakeview ended any ideas of a Hubbard rally after Josh Kelly put the ball into the bottom right of the net with 25 minutes left to play.
Lakeview continued to attack as its way of defense, limiting Hubbard to six shots on the night.
“They play a really quick press. They press as soon as they turn the ball over — there’s one to two guys around the ball,” Hubbard coach Cory Reinard said. “If we lose the ball in our attacking third, they’re quick with the counter.”
Hubbard unraveled from a discipline side a bit, taking four yellow cards.
“We had one yellow for dissent and a couple for trying hard,” Reinard said. “There were some silly fouls, but they were working hard.”
The dissent was for Rasoul kicking a dead ball into Lakeview’s net.
Lakeview and Canfield will meet in a rematch of the 2013 district final at 5 p.m. on Saturday at Niles’ Bo Rein Stadium. The Bulldogs beat the Cardinals 1-0 in their season opener.
“Canfield is a young team and they’re getting better every game,” Phillips said. “Their attackers are dangerous.”