GUILDERLAND — With three minutes remaining, it looked like the upset of the year in boys’ soccer.

But with three minutes left in Monday’s Section II Class AA quarterfinal game, Bethlehem, the top-ranked team in the class, struck and avoided the titanic collapse. The Eagles won in overtime, 2-1.
"That was a pretty good effort," said Guilderland Coach Mike Kinnally of his team. "What more are you going to ask for" We scored our 40th goal of the year, which was a goal for us, and we were up with three minutes to go against the number-one team.
"They beat us 4-0 and 4-1 during the year," Kinnally added. "They are a great team, but beating them would be fun to watch."

With three minutes left, Erik Russo tied the game when he made an acrobatic, diving head shot after a pass by Rob Wexler.

Wexler kicked the ball low; Russo dove and directed the ball into the goal past Guilderland goalie Uriah Myrie.

Bethlehem won the game with 3:35 left in the first overtime period.

The Guilderland defense got caught flat. Bryan White got the ball and was in a foot race with Guilderland defender Greg Murphy. Without any help on defense, Murphy was just barely beaten and White got off a great shot that went into the upper right corner to give the Eagles the win and end the Dutchmen’s season.

Good start

Guilderland scored its goal in the first half.

Sophomore Frank Campagnano got the score with a hard-hit but well-placed shot in the upper right corner from just inside the penalty-area line. Havard Brustad, an exchange student from Norway, got the assist on the tally.

The Guilderland offense had some chances to ice the game in the second half but was mostly playing on its defensive end or in the midfield.

The Dutchmen took only two shots in the entire game. Bethlehem had 18 shots and six corner kicks in the contest.

The Guilderland defense was stellar for most of the contest.

Myrie came up big in the goal, making 12 saves in the game and taking control of loose balls and of his defense.
"Uriah was very good in goal," Kinnally said of his junior goalie. "We changed up our system. We were playing a 4-4-2, but today we played a 4-5-1."

The Dutch had five midfielders in Monday’s game instead of two forwards.

But Guilderland’s defense was the big factor in the game. Phil Cassidy, a junior, was big at sweeper, knocking a lot of balls away. Senior David Herkenham played well in the back as did juniors Kyle Tassone and Murphy.

"On the right track"
"It’s hard to be negative," Kinnally said. "We lost two games to them last year. I’d be greedy if I asked for more right now. Two years ago, we won four games [all season]. I think the program is on the right track. We have seven starters coming back.
"Murphy played White for the entire game," Kinnally said. "And he took the kid who is likely the number-one striker in the area and marked him for 87 minutes."

The Dutchmen do lose big contributors in Mike Camardo, Herkenham, Kousha Navidar, Nick Stark and Brustad.
"Unfortunately, we graduate our entire midfield," Kinnally said.

Guilderland had advanced to the quarterfinal with a 1-0 win over LaSalle Institute of the Big 10 on Friday night in South Troy.

The Dutch struggled in the first half but junior Kyle Klapp scored his first goal of the season with 11:27 to go in the game.

Klapp got a pass from the right flank by Campagnano and volleyed it into the goal for the score and the lead.

The Dutch held on with solid defense and advanced to Monday’s quarterfinal game.
"That was a good team," Kinnally said on Friday. "People talk about the Big 10 and Suburban Council. It is a bunch of garbage. That’s a good team...
"Klapp got his first goal," the coach added. "For 30 minutes, we played better than average."

The Dutch wrapped up the season with a 10-7-3 overall record and were 9-6-3 in the Suburban Council.

The Dutch also scored 17 more goals than they did last year, something Kinnally and the team wanted to do this season. The team will work in the off-season, mainly with the Dutchmen United Football Club and build off a good season.
"We’re starting to turn the corner," Kinnally said. "We are gaining respect in the community."