The Catskill Chronicle

Liberty’s Tim Burgio and Sullivan West’s Greg Stevenson contest possession.

LIBERTY – “I’m thrilled with how we picked it up, they played with their
hearts today,” said Debbie Owen, coach of the visiting Bulldogs of Sullivan West (4-7-1 overall, 0-3-1) after battling the home team Liberty Indians to a 1-1 tie in Tuesday’s boy’s varsity league soccer game during a brief post-match interview.

Liberty’s Tim Burgio and Sullivan West’s Mark Michel go head-to-head in front of the Bulldogs goal.

The tie left both squads with the taste of bitter ashes in the mouths, as neither team could savor the thrill of victory, but that’s the never-ending story of sports; win, lose or draw. It’s all about giving it your best shot, leaving your heart on the field.

Sometimes you can pick up the flavor of a game by listening in to the coaches as they talk with their team after a heartbreaking loss, and eavesdropping a bit on Owen and Ellison helped dispel some despair.

“This is what you can do, nobody gave up,” said Owen, to which assistant coach Rick Ellison added, “You should be proud of yourselves.”

On the opposite side of the field, figuratively speaking, Debora Simpson, coach of the Indians booters (5-5-3 overall, 1-1-2 league) was also in the position of trying to console a few emotional players after they left their hearts out there on the muddy field.

“We had a lot of momentum going in the first half, [but] in the second half we came out and thought we could get those shots again, and we didn’t.”

“It went into overtime, and even though we had a lot of shots, we weren’t able to convert them into goals.”

Liberty scored within the first four minutes of the opening frame, Ryan Harnish scored off an assist from Kirk Medina, beating Bulldogs goalie Austin Sauer, who with a total of 30 keeper saves during the afternoon, set a personal best.

Sullivan West’s goalie/co-captain Austin Sauer staved off a storm of shots late in the second period of overtime.

Within the first four ticks of the clock in the second half, Sullivan West’s Lucas Bauer received a head ball from Alex Lander and beat Indians keeper Will McGuire, who had 9 saves.

The match went into sudden death overtime, and at the end of the second period, it was entered into the record books as a tie.

In the final minutes of the second OT, Sauer was the man of the hour as he fended off a series of rapid-fire shots on goal, but neither team could set up as the match’s closer.

Liberty’s Conor Siegel and Sullivan West’s Sam Smith react to the ball blasting between them.

To the Bulldogs starting keeper and co-captain, it must have seemed like he was on the line at a carnival shooting gallery. And he was the duck. Liberty had 29 shots on goal, Sullivan West 8.

Owen said the Bulldogs marked Liberty’s Scott Franke and Tim Burgio to shut down their game, and that pre-game strategy worked as neither top booter scored.

“We really wanted this win,” said Simpson.

To view more photos or to purchase prints from Indians and Bulldogs Battle 1-1 to Tie in Double Overtime visit the Chronicle on Zenfolio.