Byram Hills versus Rye in boys soccer is about as intense as it gets in Section 1.
Though hardly next-door neighbors – Byram Hills is in Armonk – the two teams are perennial contenders for Section 1 titles and often meet in both the regular season and the section playoffs.
Rye’s 1-0 victory Thursday at Nugent Stadium was particularly satisfying. Not only did the Garnets open the season with a seventh straight win, it also came with a major contribution from the Garnets’ bench.
Head coach Jared Small’s squad was without three injured starters, but the coaching staff wasn’t concerned.
“Missing players is always a challenge,” said Rye assistant Connor McGlynn. “But every player on this team knows they need to be ready when their moment comes. We train for those moments. Our bench brought us amazing energy all game long.”
On this day, Rye’s bench – and entire team – were fit for the task.
Junior Andrey Chenov moved into a starting position in the back row and played nearly 40 minutes of lock-down defense. Sophomore midfielder James Hayashi continues to make it hard for his coaches to keep him off the pitch. And junior defenseman Cameron Burkoth is making the most of every one of his minutes.
The lone goal was scored early in the second half by senior captain Kasen Scarperi off a textbook cross from junior Felix Wismer. This weekend’s forecast notwithstanding, Scarperi has been making it rain all week. Thursday’s goal was his fifth in Rye’s past two games.
“We played well to go up 1-0, but we continued to push for a second goal,” McGlynn said. “We knew that the longer it was 1-0, the more Byram would grow into the game to try to find the equalizer.”
The Garnets will try to get healthy before hosting Pelham on Monday. Looking further ahead on the schedule, the team will hope to be back to full strength before the rematch Oct. 6 at Byram Hills.
“We felt that it would take our best in every aspect to beat this Byram Hills team and our boys had a strong sense of the significance of this match. We came prepared today, and executed our game plan to perfection.”
