Over the next couple of days I’ll look at each of the three local teams that made the state finals and what happened to them at Oneonta. Where else can I start but Bronxville, which captured the first state championship in school soccer history.

As far as coach Don Lucas is aware, it’s the only state title in school history in ANY sport besides cross country. The football team went to the finals a few years ago but lost.

Bronxville (23-1-1) made it look easy too. In seven playoff games they outscored opponents an incredible 28-2. And that’s with a first-round bye in sectionals where they probably would have won 6-0. One of the goals against came in the final minute against Rye Neck against the backup keeper when they were up 5-0. In the state semi they took a Chenango Forks team that let up two goals in six games and put up four on them.

At least Forks gave the Broncos their first taste of adversity. Forks tied the game at 1-1 in the second half. It was the latest they’d been tied in any postseason game to that point. So how did they respond? Ilya Dubinsky untied it two minutes later. A minute after that Brian Rogers made it 3-1. And within seven minutes of the tie, Chase Tarantino made it 4-1. For a team that wasn’t used to being threatened, they showed a surprising ability in both weekend games to respond to adversity. You can read Matt’s account of the semifinal here.

Bronxville was a better team than Forks, no question. I’m not sure you can definitely say the same about East Aurora, its undefeated (23-0) finals foe. East Aurora had a slight possession edge. Over the first 20 minutes it was a big edge. And yet it was Bronxville that went up. East Aurora’s attempted clear hit Rogers in the chest and bounded in the other direction. It couldn’t have been a better bounce for Rogers, who was the only one in the area. Allowed to line up a shot, the poor keeper had no chance.

East Aurora started pushing up late to get the tying score. They were keeping the ball well and I thought they might get a good shot or two off. But suddenly Rogers, the only Bronco not playing D, got a pass on a counterattack and was gone. East Aurora had one defender that was as fast as him; however that was not the kid who was chasing him (futiley). Once again Rogers was solo against the keeper. You don’t need me to tell you what happened.

Players piled on each other. Rogers and Leighton Welch, the other captain, rolled on the ground with joy. There was still a minute left but this one was over. You can read my full account here