NTL BOYS SOCCER: ATHENS RALLIES TO EDGE WELLSBORO, 2-1 — WINS SIXTH STRAIGHT LEAGUE TITLE (10 PHOTOS) (2019-10-10)
Valley Sports ReportWELLSBORO "” Athens fell behind for just the second time this season, but rallied to top Wellsboro, 2-1, and clinch its sixth consecutive NTL title here Thursday night in NTL boys soccer action.
"It was a tough game," said Athens coach Jake Lezak.
"Wellsboro is a tough team, and they played us very tough," he noted. "They wanted to pull the upset, that was obvious. Those are the kinds of games I'd love to have every time we step on the field.
"Wellsboro is really physical, and they came out of the gates really fast," said Lezak. "For the first 30 minutes, we were on our heels. We were making a lot of mistakes.
"Not to make excuses, but the league games we've been playing haven't prepared us for a tough game like this," added Lezak. "The last close game we had was Corning (Sept. 21), that's a long stretch and it's a tough stretch to train through."
Will Poirer put Wellsboro ahead in the 18th minute on a direct kick.
Athens senior Aaron Lane tied the game in the 34th minute with a goal in traffic.
"We went down 1-0 and had to play our way out," said Lezak. "It's good to see that type of resiliency, and the type of grit it took to come back.
"One of the questions you always have is how will your players handle that type of test?" added Lezak. "I was really pleased with the never-give-up effort we showed."
Senior Jesse Sumner scored 91 seconds after the intermission to give the Wildcats a 2-1 lead, and the Athens defense limited Wellsboro to just one shot-on-goal in the second half.
Athens had a 12-5 advantage in shots-on-goal, and a 4-2 edge in corner kicks.
Senior Joel Maslin recorded four saves in net for the Wildcats.
Lezak's said his team will now focus on defending its District 4, Class AAA championship.
"Winning (the NTL) was definitely one of our goals," said Lezak. "We wanted to win it, we're happy we won it, and we're thrilled to make it six in a row. The players wear that as a badge of pride.
"But, we don't want to stop at league titles," he added. "Now, we can set our sights on preparing for Districts, and doing that with our non-league games."
Athens, now 13-1, returns to action Saturday morning at Horseheads. Game time is 11 a.m.
NOTE: The only other time Athens trailed in a game this season was in its 1-0 loss to Maine-Endwell.
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IN PHOTO 1: Athens senior Jesse Sumner. ... PHOTOS COURTESY OF JAN VOSBURG.
