The Colonie boys soccer team came close to pulling off one of its biggest wins in recent years.
The Garnet Raiders led Bethlehem 2-1 with 14 minutes left in the second half, but Darko Knezevic and Patrick Meany scored late goals to lead the Eagles to a 3-2 Suburban Council victory last Friday in Delmar.
We played a very good high school soccer game with those guys, said Colonie coach Mike Trimarchi.
Adrian Higersberger tallied in the second half to give Colonie its one-goal lead, but Knezevic drilled a free kick 30 yards past John Gerstenberger to tie the game at 2.
`You can’t blame anybody for that (goal). It was a beautiful shot,` said Trimarchi.
A penalty kick was then called against Colonie with seven minutes left in regulation. Meany took the shot and put it past Gerstenberger for the game-winning goal.
Colonie grabbed a 1-0 lead early in the first half. Sean Bonanno beat Bethlehem goaltender Jason Daniels to a ball in the penalty box and chipped it to Dan Sofia, who knocked it into the open net.
`Every year, we talk about hustle goals … and both of our goals against Bethlehem were those type of goals,` said Trimarchi.
Colonie’s one-goal lead lasted until the later stages of the first half. Josh Wing got past one Garnet Raider defender on the left side of the penalty box and kicked the ball inside the far right post to tie the game.
Gerstenberger had a strong game in goal for Colonie. The junior stopped nine Bethlehem shots, including two tough ones in the first half.“
