Scarsdale Soccer Stuns Archrival Mamaroneck

Raiders celebrate Tirabassi's goal.In a game that had broad playoff implications for both squads, the Scarsdale Raiders boy’s soccer team upset its rival Mamaroneck on Saturday October 19. Playing under the lights at its home field, the Raiders concluded its regular season with a spectacular performance against the highly touted Tigers. After battling for 80 minutes with Mamaroneck, Scarsdale pulled out a thrilling 1-0 victory.

The Tigers had recorded a 14-1 overall record going into the affair, along with a 5-0 record within the conference. A win would have sealed the number 1 playoff seed for Mamaroneck. Scarsdale’s record was 6-5-2 overall and an even 2-2-1 conference performance, and was fighting for the number 9 seed in the Conference playoffs.

The match marked the end of homecoming week at Scarsdale and was played in front of a fairly large crowd during a pleasant fall night. The teams had played at Mamaroneck on October 3, where the Tigers held on to an early 2 goal lead and escaped with a 2-1 victory.

The Raiders came out full of energy – as Head Coach Marcos Monteagudo said, “The boys came out ready and prepared.” After an early corner kick six minutes into the game, senior Patrick Artes had a nice early chance for a goal. The teams battled within the middle of the field for the next four minutes with fellow senior Estaban Rudloff controlling the ball for a fair amount of that time period. The Tigers had a tough time moving the ball early. Co-Captain Ben Rubin and Sophomore Luke Peltz helped keep the Tigers at bay.

With 11 minutes gone in the first half, Mamaroneck began an offensive of its own and controlled the ball for most of the next six minutes. Near the halfway mark of the first half, Middie Liam O’reilly took a shot that forward Matt Giraldo headed over the top of the Raider goal. Rubin then cleared the ball and the Raiders began its own possession for Scarsdale. The Raiders Alfred Mrijaj worked hard against the Tigers and Adrian Lim had a very nice dribble down the field. With nine minutes left in the half, the Tigers stole the ball and moved down the field but Peltz stopped the drive and the Raiders regained the ball. After a number of swapped possessions, the Raiders had their first great chance to score as a pass from co-captain Zachary Medvinsky to fellow senior John Dowd almost found the mark with just under five minutes to play in the half. The last three minutes of the half saw Mamaroneck almost score the first goal of the game. The first attempt saw Scarsdale Goalie Luca Schettino make a save and the rebound bounced harmlessly away from Mamaroneck. With a little over a minute to play, Mamaroneck shot a corner kick over the Scarsdale goal. The half ended in a scoreless deadlock and both teams went to their benches.

Raiders Boys Soccer team senior class and parents after ceremony.

During halftime, Scarsdale honored the Seniors on the team and their families with a ceremony near midfield. The following Seniors were noted:

Patrick Artes
Cameron Davis
John Dowd
Lukas Forsingdal
Calvin Lee
Aidan McKenna
Zachary Medvinsky
Benjamin Rubin
Esteban Rudloff
Joshua Strassberg

The second half saw the game open up – as both sides had multiple opportunities to score. With only a minute gone, the Tigers Joey Dos Santos took a shot that went over Scarsdale’s goal. The Raiders Adam Wasserman and Ben Rubin moved the ball down the field rapidly. With five minutes elapsed in the second half, The game took on a fair amount of physicality – as is common in contests between these two teams and noted by Roman Tirabassi: “anytime its Scarsdale/Mamaroneck it’s going to be a fight to the end.” Rubin was fouled quite hard by the Tigers Kevin Vasquez –who received a yellow card-- leading to a Scarsdale indirect free kick. The Raiders had the ball near the Tiger goal for the next three minutes and only a great save by Mamaroneck goalie Niclas Andersen avoided a Raider goal off of a Rubin throw in.

With slightly over ten minutes elapsed in the second half Medvinsky was creamed by the opponents, which led to a Scarsdale direct free kick. This time the Raiders converted as Tirabassi found an opportune time to notch his first goal of the season and booted a rebound past Andersen. With 11:30 gone in the half, the home crowd erupted in a roar as the Raiders found itself with a 1-0 lead.

Scarsdale's Roman Tirabassi scores the sole goal of the match.

The Tigers were far from done and attempted to penetrate the Raider defense. They continued to apply pressure and with 18 minutes left in the game almost converted a cross in front of the Scarsdale goal. This was followed by a direct free kick that missed the mark and led to a Tiger corner – which was cleared by Rubin. With 16:40 left a controversial call by a flustered referee led to another direct free kick – and Schettino made another save. The referee continued his frequent whistle blowing and gave Scarsdale’s Josh Strassberg a yellow card. The ensuing Tiger direct kick represented Mamaroneck’s best chance to score all evening and was just wide of the Raider goal. Scarsdale was left clinging to its lead with 15 minutes left in the game.

Scarsdale then took possession of the ball and Medvinsky nearly scored with a long shot that hit the post with just over ten minutes to play. The Tigers continued their assault and with 7:30 left forward Marco Kecman stole a Scarsdale pass, drove down the field, and put a beautiful cross past the Raiders goal – but no one was there for the Tigers to convert the kick.

The tension was palpable in the final minutes. With 4:30 left, Mamaroneck Kecman had a nice drive down the field – but the Raiders Mrijaj made a fabulous and clean tackle on him. With 2:30 left, Medvinsky cleared a Tiger corner – but the ball went to a Tiger player down the field. Mamaroneck, playing with urgency, had its final chance to knot the score. With 1:30 left they narrowly missed a shot to the left of the Scarsdale net. The Raiders then kept possession and cleared the ball – sealing the upset and a huge Raider win.

The timing of the win was excellent and should clearly boost the Raider confidence as the playoffs begin Thursday. Medvinsky remarked: “this felt like a playoff game,” and Monteagudo said: “this propels us and we feel good about ourselves…anytime you can beat a team of their caliber it’s great.” Tirabassi added: “this gives us momentum and shows we can compete with any team in the section.”

Photos by Pam Rubin and Ray Cooper.

Team captains Calvin Lee, Ben Rubin and Zach Medvinsky