By Cameron Krakowiak
Randall’s Island- As the boys soccer team sits back down on the bus after an 8-2 win over Garden, they know that it is very likely that the Knights will be heading to the ISAL Playoffs as the number one seed and get a chance to go to the State Championships. Almost a year after their first postseason appearance, the Knights seem to be making leaps and bounds towards a league title. The agility and athleticism of the younger players have boosted them forward this season. Pierre Roederer came into preseason just after training nearly two weeks in Spain with his travel team and has looked better than ever. Coach Rohan Cassells moved his position from a center back to a left winger, where his presence has been felt on and off the field. Pierre Roederer has scored 15+ goals this season, tripling his total from last year. A big boost has come from Joshua Sapira, with his defensive skills and good ball control in the middle of the field. This year the Knights have taken advantage of using the wings and spreading the field, with Reggi Condos and Pierre on the wings and Justin in more of a defensive role, allowing him to go up and attack when the ball was up field. Bruce Doyle has played a very good season with 20+ goals, with more than 3 games with 2+ goals scored. Bruce has brought a winning mentality to the team for the first time in awhile. When he is determined, he leaves nothing on the field.
After beating BWL in a downpour, the Knights are headed to Randall’s Island with a lot of confidence in the Championship. Steiner is a team that they lost to in a scrimmage (without 5 Knight starters) and a team they beat in the regular season 4-1. It was a frigid day, the wind was whirling and Steiner brought all of their fans out to the game. It seemed as if half their school was on the opposing sidelines. Steiner came out of the gates playing physical and they tried their best to body each player when the ball was in the air. Steiner missed a couple opportunities when the LREI defense broke down a bit. Three shots were hit where Wriley Hodge, LREI’s goalie had to make running saves. LREI had some good runs as well. Bruce had two opportunities at free-kicks right outside the box, the first went to the left of the goal and the second one went right above the goalie’s head into his outstretched hands. Pierre had a shot at a free-kick that just missed as well. Going into the half, it was a scoreless game and LREI players were tired and hurt. Rohan gave one of those speeches that pumped up the team, the type of speech that gave the players hope during halftime. Rohan showed his love for the team which ultimately bonded all the players together. LREI came out of the second half gates with fire on their backs. They kept on getting chances and after each chance it seemed like they were going to score. LREI slowed down a bit and stumbled but got right back up. The ball was bouncing around a bit in Steiner’s backfield and Bruce decided he had enough put one in the back of the net. It was a strike and everyone lost feeling. Bruce sprinted towards the Knight’s bench in celebration, chest pumped Cameron and celebrated with the whole team. However, there was still a game to be played, there were still 25 minutes left in the half and anything could happen. The Knights knew they had to at least score one more time. About 5 minutes after Bruce scored, there was beautiful ball movement by the Knights. Weston drove into a bevy of players and needed help, he passed the ball to Aidhan who gave a pass to Justin. Justin switched fields to Reggi who had some room and gave a pass to Weston. Weston tipped the ball and let it go to Aidhan. Aidhan hit the ball under the goalies left arm and the rest was history. LREI went on to win the ISAL Championship- the first LREI soccer championship in over a quarter century.
The Knights still had some work to do, but they were going to state for the first time. The 11 seed Knights were facing the number 6 team Dalton. The Knights were prepared but so was Dalton. Dalton was a different breed, they looked more refined than the Knights, they looked like they had a bit of an edge. Through the first half the Knights were down 1-0. Plays that Dalton made wouldn’t have been made if it was other teams the Knights played during the season. Dalton ultimately beat them 4-2. The Knights didn’t hang their heads, they knew what they were up to and in the end were very happy about the outcome of the season.
Watch some videos from the Championship game by Myles Dunlop and Renzo: