Amityville boys advance to state Class A soccer final
Amityville's Oscar Hernandez, facing, celebrates his goal with teammates during a boys soccer Class A state semifinal played at Middletown High School on Saturday, Nov. 14, 2015. Credit: Adrian Kraus
MIDDLETOWN, N.Y. -- As the moments have gotten bigger, Rolman Guardado has only gotten better.
The freshman scored two goals, including the winner, as Amityville defeated Grand Island, 3-2, in a boys soccer Class A state semifinal Saturday.
Guardado also had the winner in the Warriors' 1-0, double overtime win over Floral Park in the Long Island championship, sending Amityville to its first state semifinal appearance.
"When the big moment's on the line, he really stepped up," coach Mike Abbondondolo said. "For the smallest kid on the field to do that, it's just quite remarkable."
Guardado stands at 5-3, yet he tracked a long kick into the box by Haubry Gomez and rose to head it in to break a tie at 2 with 26:47 left. The pass came from the left side near midfield and sailed just in front of the right post.
"I heard yelling," Guardado said. "I knew he was near me, so I just wanted to put it far post."
By no means did Guardado smack the ball into the net, but he placed the header perfectly, not giving Robinson time to recover for a save. It was a new move for Guardado.
"We have never seen him head the ball," senior center back Juan Salazar said.
Guardado also opened the scoring, taking a pass from Josue Martinez down the left side of the box and sending a shot into the net just 96 seconds into the match.
"When he's making a run," Martinez said, "all you have to do is give it to him and he'll score. He's small, but he's fast."
Amityville (15-5) and Grand Island (19-2-1) traded goals the rest of the half to enter the break tied at 2. Garrett Robinson scored off Troy Brady's pass to tie the game at 1 in the 15th minute, and Keisson Amador assisted Oscar Hernandez's goal to put Amityville ahead 2-1 in the 31st minute. Brady scored off a corner with 3:39 left in the half.
The Warriors considered themselves fortunate to finish the first 40 minutes tied.
"I don't know how we did it, to be honest, because the wind was going against us," Salazar said.
Abbondondolo implemented a few changes for the second half, including dropping Gomez deeper at center mid. That and the defensive play of Salazar, Exel Argueta, Victor Cobos, Angel Zavala and goalkeeper Kevin Ramirez (seven saves) with the wind in their backs helped to keep the pressure on Grand Island.
The Vikings had two decent scoring opportunities in the final 40 minutes. Amityville had several, and Guardado rose to the occasion to lead the Warriors into their first state title match, against Pearl River at 12:30 p.m. Sunday at Middletown High School.
"It's crazy to be here," Guardado said, "and as a freshman, starting, scoring the two goals to get us there, there's a lot of pressure but you've just got to enjoy it at the same time."
