ICC came away with a tough, hard-nosed win over Hudson thanks to two first-half goals. Still things could have gone more smoothly. “Could have played more intense,” said Rider keeper Deme Kramarchyk. In a game that saw three yellow cards and a lot more fouls whistled, the Riders were able to net the game’s only goals in the first 78 minutes while the Bluehawks controlled more of the tempo.
The first half saw Hudson pressure more of the action but struggling to find anything on offense. “Our defense, I thought, was very solid,” Kramarchyk commented. The Riders struck first, 17 minutes into the game, after a foul was whistled at midfield. Nick Boardman struck a ball to the far post forcing players to scramble to that side. Mitchell Niemeyer headed the ball back across the face of the goal where Devin Collins slid in unmarked to head it in for a 1-0 lead. Two minutes later, the Riders struck again. This time Justin Stall played a ball from the sideline into the middle, where Trent Andros scored on a back heel past the outstretched arms of Hudson keeper David Wrigley, who was caught off guard by the heel kick.
The second half went much the same way as the first. Hudson controlled the pace of the game but struggled in the final third of the field. A mere seven minutes into the second half, the Riders nearly struck again. Niemeyer sent a fantastic through ball which allowed the speedy Andros to run on to, but Andros’ shot was stopped by Wrigley. In the 58th minute, Hudson had an excellent chance on a free kick from Ledug Luna, but his strike went over the bar. Finally, with just 1:11 left on the clock, Hudson scored as Estuardo Rodriguez dribbled in up the sideline and fired a low shot to the far post, slicing the deficit in half, but the goal was too little too late.
For the Riders, the key to the rest of the season is simple, according to Krmarchyk, “keeping up with the hard work and intensity.” For the Bluehawks, the loss drops them to 3-9 with three games remaining. On Thursday Hudson will host Coxsackie-Athens, and on Saturday they host Taconic Hills, before closing out the regular season with a home game against Maple Hill.
