Amsterdam didn’t come away with a win, but the rematch against Broadalbin-Perth was a much closer contest than the blowout just a month ago. Broadalbin-Perth’s Zach Monks and Nick Myers scored first half goals, and Hunter Monks added one in the second half helping the BPHS boys varsity soccer team to a 3-1 victory over the Amsterdam Rams on Thursday night at Lynch Literacy Academy Field.
“I’m happy,” Amsterdam coach Chris Modelowski. “We had that talk about giving one hundred and ten percent. A kick here or a better glance there, and we’re tied 1-1 and going into overtime. We’re putting in the effort and a full eighty minutes.”
The outcome was an improvement from an earlier 10-1 pasting the Rams took at the hands of the Patriots back on August 28 at Broadalbin- Perth High School. This time around nearly 13 minutes had gone by before the Patriots got on the board.
Zach Monks was at the center of a scramble in front of the Amsterdam goal when a crossing pass by John Murphy found him at the 27:16 mark in the first half. Monks turned and fired one past the outstretched arms of Amsterdam goalkeeper Yony Batres giving the Patriots a 1-0 lead.
“The cross ball was phenomenal,” Broadalbin- Perth coach Billy Eipp said. “It was good to get a win today. A nice bounce back after our game against Gloversville.”
Murphy’s pass to Monks wasn’t his only assist of the night. A corner kick with a little over 13 minutes left to play in the opening half was equally impressive.
At the 13:13 mark, Murphy set up for a corner kick to the right of Batres and placed one perfectly on the foot of Myers who laced one into the top of the AHS net for a little insurance goal. As impressive as Murphy’s pass was to Monks, the corner kick got rave reviews as well.
“It was perfect,” Coach Eipp said. “That was probably his first corner kick, and it was right spot on. That was a well played ball.”
The Broadalbin-Perth offense took advantage of the opportunities they had in the first half, but the score wasn’t as lopsided as the first one due to the hustle and quickness of the Amsterdam players. The Rams had a chance to score early within the first five minutes of the game when Ever Arevalo took a pass from Kevin Vargas deep in the BPHS zone and found himself one on one with Patriots goalkeeper Ian Halloran, who made a diving save on Arevalo’s attempt to bury the ball in the right corner of the net. Halloran’s effort kept Amsterdam off the board, and gave the Patriots a chance to respond.
“You have to make your possessions count,” Coach Modelowski said.
Hunter Monks’ header into the goal put BPHS up 3-0 with 15:12 left to play in the game before the Rams made one count. Amsterdam never stopped hustling and it paid off when Arevalo got another pass from Vargas and was again one on one with Halloran. This time however, Arevalo beat the BPHS goalkeeper with a shot into the upper right corner cutting the lead to 3-1 with 4:18 to play. That was the only blemish for Halloran on another stellar night for the Patriots senior captain.
“Ian Halloran played a great game,” Coach Eipp said. “Our goal was to pick up the speed of play.”
That speed effectively matched the quickness of the Amsterdam attackers, who had opportunities, but not as many as they would have liked.
“Our strategy on their top four was to play them close to shut them down,” Coach Eipp said. “I think we contained them pretty well.”
Another reason for the difference in the result from the previous game was the play of Batres who was credited with five saves of shots on goal, but denied even more Patriots chances than that number.
Batres stopped direct kicks in both halves, and disrupted crossing passes by the BPHS attackers while continuing to give Amsterdam (1-8) chances to score. Not bad for a first year goalkeeper.
“He’s stepped up,” Coach Modelowski said of Batres. “Now he talks more and it picks the team up. Having him back there has really helped us. He’s improving after only three weeks.”
Broadalbin-Perth (5-3-1) also continues to improve as teams near the midway point in the season.
“We moved the ball the way we intended,” Coach Eipp said. “We’re still improving on defense. The way we are moving the ball I couldn’t be happier.”
Amsterdam is on the road for its next two games. The Rams travel to Gloversville on Wednesday for a 7pm kick off. AHS follows that with a trip to Scotia- Glenville for a rematch with the Spartans. AHS played a tight game against Scotia- Glenville the first time around, falling by a 1-0 score. Start time for the rematch at Scotia- Glenville High School is set for 7pm.
Broadalbin-Perth returns to the field on Monday for a 4:30pm contest against Hudson Falls at Broadalbin- Perth High School.
