Rye Neck’s 2015 soccer season opened the way last year’s did — bumping along at a .500 pace.

By Mitch Silver

Rye Neck’s 2015 soccer season opened the way last year’s did — bumping along at a .500 pace. The 2014 edition recovered in time to win the League and Sectional championships before falling to eventual State champs Mattituck in the Class B Regionals. Maybe pulling chestnuts out of the fire is the Black Cats’ way.

Speaking of chestnuts, this team has the horses to be good. In fact, virtually all those horses are back from last year. While junior Marco Andreoli has replaced longtime keeper Rich Barrios, the entire starting defense is back, anchored by senior Will Galeano in the middle.

Yes, co-captains Corey Soriano and Takuno Nishimura graduated, but Rye Neck still has an abundance of talent to put on the field. Seniors Felix Bigaouette and Eddie Cohen will mark the players in the other shirts right out of the game. The Klur brothers, Noah and Pierre, will string the passes together. And everyone will fight for every ball.

The season got off on the wrong foot September 3 with a 1-0 loss to local rival Blind Brook on a 53rd-minute strike by Justin Endlich.

Things seemed to be coming together a week later with a 4-1 win over Woodlands. Will Galeano (penalty kick), Reed Peterson, Luis Galeano, and Kol Lewis all scored. Woodlands, though, is no Scarsdale.

The Red Raiders are currently ranked 10th in the State Class AA rankings. Still, the Panthers acquitted themselves well in a 2-1 loss to a school with twice as many students. It was 0-0 at half time. Scarsdale took the lead early in the second half, but Rye Neck came right back on a Reed Peterson scorcher from about 25 yards out. Scarsdale got their winner with just 90 seconds left in the contest.

Coach Iacovelli liked what he saw. “We created plenty of scoring opportunities the entire game. Luis Galeano did a great job of drawing fouls. We had solid performances by Noah Klur in the back and Reed and Pierre Klur in the center of the field. It was our best game of the young season, and we fell just short.”

It was more of the same against a Valhalla squad that defeated two NYS top ranked teams a year ago. Will Galeano netted a PK in the 2-1 loss.

Rye Neck got back on track by beating Keio 2-1. Pierre Klur had both goals. Luis Galeano and Adrien Henry each had an assist. Coach Iacovelli also credited Noah Klur and Feaser Shaw, “who played great games defensively.”

Twenty-four hours later, the Panthers met the Irvington Bulldogs in Irvington’s own tournament, one that runs over two weekends. The game ended in a scoreless draw and the teams went to penalty kicks to decide who advances to the championship game.

Will Galeano, Reed Peterson, Noah Klur, and Pierre Klur all netted their shots while two Irvington strikes whistled over the bar. So the Panthers will take on Bronxville this Sunday at 3.