In an early-season matchup between two of the top boys soccer teams in New York Class A, Rye prevailed in a gritty slugfest Tuesday against Walter Panas by the tennis match score of 6-4.
“There were no surprises tonight, but it was a different kind of game from any other game we’ve played so far this year,” said Rye coach Jared Small. “Panas is an excellent team, they’ve been playing well, we’ve been playing well. We tried to apply a great deal of pressure on the ball for most of the game, and I think we did that pretty well.”
Both teams entered the night undefeated and ranked in the top five of Class A boys soccer teams: Rye No. 2, and Panas No. 5. It may have been the game of the year so far in Section 1.
“We’ve got good, fit athletes on our team who are good soccer players, and who can deliver that kind of pressure,” Small said.
Among the 10 goals scored, four were netted by Rye senior captain Kasen Scarperi, and two by sophomore Connor Dehmer.
The last time Scarperi scored four in one game?
“Maybe when I was tiny playing for Rye Youth Soccer. Not sure,” Scarperi said.
“This win feels pretty good. We just kept fighting all night tonight. We knew coming in that these guys were a good, fast team, so we needed to be extra-prepared. We had some uncharacteristic mistakes in the early going, but our defense played great in the second half.”
With the game tied 2-2 with 32 minutes left in regulation, Rye and Panas combined for six second-half goals. The final 10 minutes were white-knucklers for fans of both sides.
After Scarperi’s fourth goal of the night, Rye led 5-3 with just under five minutes to play. Rye fans started to crack a few smiles, but four minutes later, Panas scored to make it 5-4 with 1:38 to go, and those smiles evaporated.
Forty seconds later, Dehmer turned any remaining Rye frowns upside down with a pure hustle, blasting Rye’s final goal past the diving Panas keeper.
“We have a lot of respect for Panas. They’re a quality team,” said senior Peter Wilmot. “Coach talks a lot about our identity as a team, how important that is for us. We’re determined to out-work any team we play. I think we showed that tonight.”
Rye hosts Byram Hills in its next game at 5 p.m. Thursday.
