Fish’s goal gives T’birds late win
By Simon Teska Special To The OBSERVERArticle Photos
MAYVILLE - It started out as a game that could have gone scoreless for days. Eventually, each team put a goal in the net, but the point difference remained unchanged.
There wasn't momentum for either team. No one controlled the ball for minutes on end without a turnover and neither team was standing out as an obvious favorite.
Then Bryan Fish scored the tiebreaking goal with about 1:30 left on the clock, giving the Chautauqua Lake Thunderbirds the 2-1 win over the suddenly stunned Cardinals from Randolph.
''I don't even know how it went in.
I looked up, I saw the ball bounce somewhere and it was in the net,'' said Randolph coach Jason Halpainy, who was still in shock after the game.
Randolph is now 7-2-1 after the loss while Chautauqua Lake improves to 7-2-1 with the win.
The significance is that they're both Division 2 schools and there's only one week left to decide the regular-season champion.
The game on Thursday night featured just a minor sampling of what the Section 6 playoffs will showcase, but Randolph and Chautauqua Lake brought their A-plus games and left nothing on the field.
The first half was highlighted with dominant goaltending by Ryan Balkama of the Cardinals and Jordan Reynolds of the Thunderbirds.
''Ryan was huge. He saved us the entire first half and made a couple big saves for us in the second half,'' Halpainy said.
This is Reynolds first season in soccer, but, according to his coach, Chris Pendl, he has done very well and is picking up the position rather quickly. Both goalies prevented what could have been a much higher scoring affair.
Danny Auflick of the Thunderbirds had several opportunities to put CLCS on the board in the first half, but each time the Randolph defense and Balkama kept the game scoreless.
Fish and Thorin Kane set up a nice give-and-go - only to be shut down by Davie Wilsie and the Cardinals' defense.
''(Wilsie's) been out with a leg injury, but he played very well for us today. My whole defense played well,'' Halpainy said.
The Randolph attack was spearheaded by the Milliman brothers - Mark and Nick. Nick Milliman, the smaller, quicker sophomore, patrolled the middle of the field while marking on Auflick for an interesting matchup on the defensive end. Mark Milliman, the big, physical senior ran the Cardinal offense and scored the lone goal for Randolph.
Chautauqua Lake's first goal was scored by Auflick, but Milliman's goal tied the game, 1-1, with 12:30 left in the contest. There were only about 90 seconds left in the game and it appeared to be ending in a tie.
But it was Chautauqua Lake's homecoming game, and the team was not going to settle for a tie.
Fish fired a shot that was swatted down by Balkama. Before the goalie could get back to his feet, Fish skipped the ball off the grass and into the nylon netting.
Fish may have scored the winning goal, but in the mind of Pendl, the difference in the game was elsewhere.
''It really comes down to which midfield works the hardest, and not only the hardest, but where you need to be position wise. I think our midfield really took it to them,'' Pendl said.
It was the last game between these two teams in the regular season, but don't be surprised if they meet in the sectional playoffs.
''Both squads are pretty even all the way down to the goalie,'' Pendl said. ''Any given day, (the game) could go either way.''
Thursday night it went to Chautauqua Lake.
''Both sides played really well. It was a good game to watch because both teams play a lot of fundamental soccer,'' Pendl said.
The Thunderbirds are looking ahead to Tuesday's game - another classic battle in Division 2 as they host the Westfield Wolverines under the lights of the football field at Chautauqua Lake Central School.
This week, Chautauqua Lake slipped from 12th to 14th in the New York State Sportswriters Association poll. Westfield, meanwhile is looming at the No. 6 spot.
