Roller coaster ride rolls on for Fox Lane boys soccer

Lucas Ormazabal heads the ball at midfield. Dex Osherow tries to get off a shot in front of the goal against Ossining. Goalie Drew Bagley makes a save. Jim MacLean Photos

By JIM MACLEAN

It’s been three games in a row with tough league opponents and three games in a row without scoring a goal for the Fox Lane boys varsity soccer team.

The math doesn’t add up well for the Foxes, and the final result was a pair of losses and a 0-0 tie. The tough stretch ended up with a 2-0 setback at home on Tuesday as Fox Lane hosted rival Ossining. Midway through the second half it was 0-0, when Ossining broke the ice to take the lead. The Riverhawks added another goal with eight minutes left to wrap up the 2-0 win.

“It’s soccer, we’re probably in the hardest league in the section top to bottom, we played well today, but soccer is a cruel sport, you can do all the right things and not put the ball in the back of the net and come out losing,” said Fox Lane coach Mike Tomassi. “One of those days. We’ll keep trying to get better every day, but we have to put the ball in the back of the net, until that happens we’re not going to win any games. If you don’t score, you don’t win.”

Fox Lane was hoping this game would be a chance to bounce back strong at home against an Ossining team that entered with just three wins and a losing record, but the Foxes know it will always be a tough game against the Riverhawks. Fox Lane came out strong and applied the pressure, but the Foxes were unable to get that elusive goal.

It was another example of how tough the league schedule is competing against Horace Greeley, Harrison, Ossining and Yorktown. The Foxes had tied Ossining on the road earlier in the season, but fell to the Riverhawks at home. Last week, Fox Lane went on the road to Harrison on Oct. 10, and the Foxes suffered a 2-0 setback against a Huskies team they had beaten at home. On Wednesday, Fox Lane hosted Yorktown, another team they had beaten earlier in the season on the road, but this time the two teams settled for a 0-0 tie. On Monday, Fox Lane suffered a 3-1 setback at Horace Greeley, a team the Foxes had tied in their first meeting.

The four games add up to a rough stretch in the league schedule as the Foxes scored just one goal. The defense is standing tall led by goalie Drew Bagley with senior veterans Hannes Fernqvist, Leo Crisostomo-Garcia, Ryan Joseph and Eoin McIntyre in front of him. The Foxes are in every game with a chance to win once the offense starts to put it together.

“Soccer is a long season, a lot of games and the last two weeks have been rough on us, our league schedule is a gauntlet,” admitted Tomassi. “On the other end you hope it helps make you stronger for the playoffs and we’re battle tested, but it’s going to come down to seeds and match ups. We’ve beaten some of the best teams, we’ve tied some of the best teams, and we’ve lost to some of the best teams. For the most part, we are right there, and if it ever clicks good things will happen.”

Since starting the season at 4-0-1, Fox Lane has gone 1-4-3 as the Foxes are now 5-4-4 overall with three games left in the regular season before the start of the Section 1 Class AA tournament.