Scarsdale Varsity Boys Soccer Beats AA champion Arlington High School in a Shut-out on Sept. 14

This was the show-down that many had hoped would be the Section 1 Final championship in 2015. Last year Scarsdale fell to Arlington 2-0 in the regular season, preventing Scarsdale from proceeding to the semi-finals. Yesterday, the Scarsdale team travelled up to Arlington -- an almost two hour trek to get there for an away game during the school week. The pressure was on for the Scarsdale boys who were positive after their win over North Rockland. This was The Raider's chance to show that they are a strong contender in 2016. This year's team has gelled thanks to a core group of seasoned players, many of whom have been playing together since elementary school.

After a quick 20min warm-up for Scarsdale, the game started at a furious pace. Within the first 5 min Scarsdale had a chance to score -- the front line of Luca Novaes, Ian Konigsberg and Owen Hall ably supported by the mid-fielders Michael Spiro (Captain), Chris Gaujean and Maki Sekine, moved the ball well and were able to send a cross across Arlington goal with a close missed opportunity. Scarsdale continued to move the ball and had strong possession through the opening 20 minutes. However, Arlington's tough athletes pressured the Scarsdale team with hard tackles and quick movement which squashed the skilled early passing for Scarsdale. Goalie Kyle Koslowsky keenly controlled the team while shutting down Arlington in the box. The game was in fine balance when Chris Gaujean made a quick move into the attacking third, dribbled past 3 defenders and was taken down as he entered the box resulting in a penalty for Scarsdale! Michael Spiro stepped up and crisply slotted the ball in for a 1-0 lead for Scarsdale with 15 minutes to play in the first half.

The Arlington team, supported by a large contingent of home fans, went into an even higher gear. They began making aggressive tackles, shut down the Scarsdale ball movement and began to look dangerous in and around Scarsdale's box. The defense led by the strong center back pairing of Fayez Merchant (Captain) and Caio Vieira and the outside backs Joey Ballan and Alex Quill held off a furious and sustained challenge. Scarsdale goal-keeper Kyle Koslowsky was an ever-present player shutting down any balls that got through the defense. The active coordination across the Scarsdale back line with Kyle Koslowsky – Fayez Merchant – Caio Viera reduced the shots on goal and blunted the Arlington force. The Scarsdale attack also made some strong moves despite the aggressive Arlington play and had a couple of close misses. Udai Singh and Dylan Cohn came in to further the attack while Bruce Appel and Harris Gelblum bolstered the mid-field and defended the slim Scarsdale lead. Toward the last 15 minutes of the game, the intensity went up several notches as Arlington kept pressing and were held off by a couple of strong saves by Goalkeeper Koslowsky. The last few minutes of the game saw their striker collided with Caio Viera in a tough challenge which had both players on the ground in pain. When the final whistle blew, it was a 1-0 win for Scarsdale who now have a 2-0 record as they start their season. The boys played hard, had some strong movement in attack and all defended hard to hold the lead and come away with beating the 2015 Section One champions.

Photos by Jon Thaler -- see more at www.Jon Thaler.com.