Beacon midfielder Tom Poulos powers past Francis Lewis senior Sebastian Guenzatti. (philip hall)
Joseph Nikic remained on the turf, his head buried in his jersey. His teammates just stood on the sidelines, transfixed, a look of disappointment, shock and pain rolled into one.
For the second straight year, the Beacon boys soccer team saw its season end with their best player on the bench in pain and an opposing goalkeeper shutting the door on the Blue Demons’ championship dreams in penalty kicks.
Last year, it was Martin Luther King Jr. in the PSAL Class A final. Friday afternoon, it was No. 2 Francis Lewis defeating Beacon, 3-1, in penalty kicks after 100 minutes of scoreless, edge-of-your-seat soccer.
“It hurts a lot,” Nikic said after his shot was turned away by Patriots keeper Chris Herrera, the final nail in the Blue Demons’ coffin. “To work hard all season and lose in penalty kicks is really rough.”
The match was even over the first 40 minutes, each side having fine chances turned away by the respective keepers. Twenty-five minutes after halftime, the game turned when Blue Demons striker Pascal Louis reinjured a charley horse going up for a 50/50 ball against Patriots fullback Michael Zebzda.
He remained down for several moments, before limping off, unable to put any pressure on his left leg. He wouldn’t return. Instead of creating havoc for the Lewis back line, Louis, who is being recruited by Bucknell and Cornell, wore a dark jacket and sat on the bench.
“It sucked sitting out there watching and waiting,” said the senior, who had scored five goals in three playoff victories.
Without the speedster, Beacon’s attacked was weakened. The Blue Demons (11-5-0) have plenty of others capable of finishing – juniors like Nikic, the Poulos brothers, Tom and Peter, and Walker Latham – but those four lacked the experience and game-breaking ability of Louis.
“He’s always dangerous,” Mahrer said. “We lost that edge.”
Instead of bemoaning the lack of luck, Mahrer focused on the many positives, of this fateful final match and another season where his club proved itself to be part of the city’s elite.
Keeper Max Brown was phenomenal from start to finish, making 12 saves, many of them in the second half as the Patriots (13-0-2) put the pressure on. There were diving saves on long bullets, last-second deflections of headers and his commanding the box by coming out for crosses.
“That gentleman played his heart out,” Lewis coach Roger Sarmuksnis said.
There was the play of the senior fullbacks Alex Scrum, the lone Blue Demon to score in penalty kicks, Alex Brass and Jacob Kipnis. With the help of Brown, they managed to keep the explosive Patriots off the scoreboard, a significant accomplishment considering the Queens power had scored seven goals in two playoffs games proceeding this one.
Most of all, Mahrer was pleased with how much his team improved, from starting out 4-3-0, to winning seven of their final nine matches. To prevailing in its first three playoff matches by a combined 15-0. To hanging in there against Lewis, without Louis.
“It’s frustrating, but it doesn’t take away from our season at all,” Mahrer said. “I’m very proud of my guys, just the way we came together as a team.”