By Dylan Butler
It was the marquee matchup of the first-ever PSAL boys’ soccer showcase event, and the fans who lined the sidelines and packed the wooden bleachers behind one of the goals at Newtown Athletic Field Monday couldn’t have asked for a better finale than Newtown vs. Martin Luther King.
The game, which fittingly ended 2-2, was played like a championship game and both teams — which have combined to win the last seven PSAL city titles — left the first annual PSAL Boys Soccer Classic wanting to meet again in about a month, with stakes larger than just bragging rights on the line.
“They said they wanted to beat us, well, we want to beat them, too,” said Newtown senior defender Junior Herrera. “We’re recognized as the two best teams and we had the chance to beat them. We’re going to get them next time.”
It was the first time the two teams played since the 1999 city title match, when Newtown ended the Knights’ three-year reign as PSAL champs, and it was that loss that has haunted MLK senior midfielder Ian James ever since.
“Every day we’d talk about that game. When we get ready to play a team, we’d say we wish it was Newtown,” said James, who tied the game at 1 in the 36th minute. “We still have unfinished business. We’re going to take care of that, hopefully in the finals or somewhere in the playoffs.”
The game was played with passion, but for the most part it was played cleanly. There were a total of 37 fouls and five yellow cards in the intense match.
When Andres Gonzalez couldn’t control his emotions in the 37th minute, however, Newtown (5-0-2) was forced to play the rest of the match a man down after the talented sophomore midfielder, who put Newtown ahead in the 18th minute, was sent off following an elbow to Eric Abbey’s face.
Gonzalez was also red carded in a 1-0 loss to LIC Sept. 26, a result that has since been reversed because the PSAL ruled that the Bulldogs played with an ineligible player.
“A kid with that much talent should just keep his mouth shut and play soccer,” Newtown coach Howie Ranzer said. “He lacks self control. He needed to learn that, it comes with maturity.”
Newtown dominated the opening 20 minutes of the game and took a 1-0 lead when Gonzalez, at the near post, tipped in Lesmes’ free kick from 10 yards out to the left of the box before James answered in the 36th minute, scoring off a rebound of his own shot.
Despite playing with just 10 men, the Pioneers took a 2-1 lead when Oswald Brown headed the ball past MLK keeper Sakhir Seck on a scramble in front of the net in the 53rd minute.
“I don’t think I did my job completely,” said Brown, who was more concerned with the negatives in his game rather than the positive of scoring the go-ahead goal. “Maybe it was the hype, but I wasn’t focusing right.”
MLK (8-1-1) pushed its numbers up in an attempt to score the game-tying goal but it looked like the Knights were snakebitten as James couldn’t corral a ball off his chest, Fadigo Ibrahim’s one-timer from 16 yards out sailed high over the net and Dwayne Assing’s low shot from 12 yards out rolled inches wide of the far post in a span of nine minutes late in the second half.
Finally, with just two minutes left in the game, MLK struck. After Francisco Gonzalez made an unbelievable save, robbing Felix Fuglo from point-blank range on the right side of the box, Kamal Haruna ran onto the rebound and slotted it into the open net to tie the game at 2.
“We wanted to beat them, but I’m glad we didn’t win big because then they’ll come at us stronger next time,” said MLK coach Martin Jacobson. “It was a pretty just result.”
“I felt like the whole team let down in the last five minutes,” said Newtown senior midfielder Richie Lesmes. “The most important part of a game is the first five minutes and the last five minutes and in the last five minutes we pretty much relaxed.”
While both coaches agreed they’d like to face each other again in the playoffs, both Jacobson and Ranzer were impressed with the first-year showcase event, the brainchild of first-year PSAL commissioner Will Stasiuk.
“The atmosphere was much better than expected,” Jacobson said. “It was a great atmosphere, great rivalry, great game. I’d like to do it again.”
“It’s the greatest thing for soccer; it should have been done years ago,” Ranzer added. “Since it’s a showcase event on a showcase field in the middle of Queens, it’s a shame this field hasn’t been upgraded like some of the others in the borough.”
Reach Associate Sports Editor Dylan Butler by email at TimesLedger@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 143.
