Bushmen advance in Class AA soccer

By Mike Zummo
Posted 10/30/19

Two goals and some strong defense. That’s what it took to propel No. 4 Pine Bush boys’ soccer team to a 2-1 win over the fifth-seeded Washingtonville Wizards in Saturday afternoon’s …

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Bushmen advance in Class AA soccer

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Two goals and some strong defense.
That’s what it took to propel No. 4 Pine Bush boys’ soccer team to a 2-1 win over the fifth-seeded Washingtonville Wizards in Saturday afternoon’s Section 9 Class AA quarterfinal game at Thomas Lonergan Field.

“I don’t think we have any postseason experience at all, so you’re worried about the first 15-20 minutes in general,” Pine Bush coach Marc Gittleman said. “The fact that they were able to put in two in the first half was comforting. Then hang on for dear life.”

Sergio Gonzalez was involved in both of the Bushmen’s goals, registering an assist on the first, and the finish on the second.

“Washingtonville’s a pretty good team,” Gonzalez said. “They played really good. It was a great game. We played good the first half. I got that goal and I was really proud of the team.”

In the 30th minute, Gonzalez passed the ball forward to Michael Dempsey, who found himself one-on-one with Washingtonville goalkeeper Marcos Penaherrera. Dempsey tapped the ball over Penaherrera’s head for the Bushmen’s first goal of the postseason.

“I was looking, and I saw him make the run, and I put the ball in there,” Gonzalez said. “He had a great finish.”

Then about four minutes later, Pine Bush’s Christopher Hall passed a ball in the middle that seemed to just sit in the middle of the pitch for a long second, long enough for Gonzalez to blast the ball into the goal from a little more than 20 yards out, giving Pine Bush a 2-0 lead.

“Sergio took out some anger or something,” Gittleman said. “He really put something on that ball. It was a great shot. Michael’s finish was great, too. I can’t say enough about those two.”
Then the rest of the game, especially the second half, belonged to the Pine Bush defense as the Bushmen and goalkeeper Jack Bisaillon.

Despite only being credited with two saves, Bisaillon spent most of the game’s last 20 minutes under fire, but only surrendered the one goal.

“I knew I didn’t want to let my team down by giving up a bad goal, or even a great goal by them,” Bisaillon said. “I just had to communicate with my defense and make every save that I could.”

One eventually did get past him.

In the 67th minute, Washingtonville’s Alex Kronai found a pass from Nick Mirecki and pushed it into the goal, cutting Pine Bush’s lead in half.

“They were energetic,” Bisaillon said. “They wanted that second one. They didn’t want their season ended. I credit them for that. They were very good.”

Despite two more good opportunities, the Bushmen’s defense held, sending them to a semifinal meeting with top-seeded Newburgh, which was scheduled for Tuesday at Academy Field.

Pine Bush lost the previous two games to Newburgh, 2-1 and 4-2.

“We’re going to have to play our best soccer,” Gittleman said. “They’re going to be fast. They’re going to be skilled and we’re going to have find a way to figure it out.”