After getting on the board first, Valley Central was clinging to a 1-0 lead late into the first half. VC’s keeper Greg Osterhout hadn’t yet allowed a goal on what would become a busy afternoon for him.
That all changed when NFA’s Alex Ramirez put a shot on goal. Osterhout was ready for it, but another VC player tried to head it out of the way, accidentally knocking it into the other side of the goal, tying the game.

“We had the own goal and that changed the dynamics, we were pressing,” said Valley Central’s coach Paul Berkowitz.

The star of the game for Newburgh was sophomore forward Javier Rodriguez, who was able to capitalize on VC’s mistake and add on two goals of his own, giving Newburgh the 3 - 1 victory.

“I got the ball and ran through one defender and then another. I took my time, it was wide open on the right side and I placed it there and it went in,” said Rodirguez, of his first goal.

Rodriguez’s second goal came when he finished off a corner kick for the Goldbacks. The ball was placed right around the six and Rodriguez came right up and put it in.

“Newburgh’s such a technical team and that part was challenging,” said Berkowitz.

“They got the first goal, and we weren’t attacking nearly fast enough,” siad NFA coach Matt Iorlano. “We just picked up the speed at which we would attack.”
The wind had an impact on the game as well. “The wind in the first half helped them out; the second half it helped us out,” said Iorlano.

In the first half, Osterhout was sending booming punts well past midfield and could have put the Vikings in a great scoring position, however the combination of VC players not going out far enough and Osterhout not waiting for his offense to get into a better position often led to NFA getting the ball right back.

In the second half the Goldbacks were relentless in their shots attempted on goal, although Iorlano did seem to be trying to get his team to be taking better shots.

Osterhout totaled 23 saves in the contest.

“Our keeper played amazing. This was the best game he’s played in his high school career. He kept us in it,” said Berkowitz. “We had opportunities and weren’t able to convert them. At no time did we do anything but give 100%.”

“They took a lot of shots,” said Osterhout. “I just played my game and gave it my all.”
Newburgh improves to 6-3-2 the season. Valley Central drops to 4 - 8.