Goldbacks blanked in Class AA championship

By Mike Zummo
Posted 11/3/21

The Newburgh Free Academy boys’ soccer team saw its season end by the one team that it couldn’t get around in three tries.

The third-seeded Goldbacks advanced to the Section 9 Class …

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Goldbacks blanked in Class AA championship

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The Newburgh Free Academy boys’ soccer team saw its season end by the one team that it couldn’t get around in three tries.

The third-seeded Goldbacks advanced to the Section 9 Class AA championship game, where they were eliminated by the No. 1 Warwick Wildcats, 2-0, on Saturday at Faller Field in Middletown.

“I thought we lost to a better team,” Newburgh coach Matt Iorlano said. “They were good. We knew that. They beat us twice during the regular season. Both games were competitive as I thought we were competitive today, but they’ve got a lot of seniors. They have some special players, and it wasn’t for a lack of effort. We put forth a good effort, but sometimes you lose to the better team.”

The Goldbacks had previously lost to the Wildcats, 2-0, on Sept. 21 at Academy Field, and 2-1, at Sanfordville Elementary School on Oct. 13.

The Wildcats scored their first goal off a corner kick in the game’s 13th minute, when Jacob McGowan sent a kick in from the right, and Joe Holder headed the kick just inside the left post to put Warwick on the board.

McGowan added a goal about four minutes into the second half to put the Wildcats up by two.

“They’re a dangerous team,” Iorlano said. “They’ve got some really fantastic players, and they might make some noise in the state tournament.”

The Goldbacks advanced to the championship game with a 1-0 victory over the No. 2 Monroe-Woodbury Crusaders on Thursday. The Crusaders were another team to which the Goldbacks had suffered two defeats, but Javier Rodriguez scored the game’s only goal to lift the Goldbacks to victory.

“That was very satisfying for this team,” Iorlano said. “It seems like we’ve been battling all season long to earn some respect a little bit. And that’s partially our fault because every time we would get up, we would find a way to fall back a couple of steps. I think that got us into a spot where these kids go into next season – because a majority of these kids are coming back – with a positive.”

The Goldbacks entered this season short on experience and had a bit of an up-and-down year, never getting on a roll and finished the season with an 8-8-0 record, and while most of the team is expected back next year, the Goldbacks will lose All-American standout Javier Rodriguez to graduation.

“I think he’ll be tough to replace,” Iorlano said. “He’s a special player, and not too many times does a kid like that come along. I was lucky enough to have him for four years.”

The Goldbacks fielded a team with about 10 juniors, six sophomores and a freshman that all got valuable game experience both during the season and won a big game together to get to the championship.

Between the semifinal win and their effort in the championship game, next year’s returners have some experience to call on going into next season.

“I told them, ‘don’t let today’s game be your entire memory of the season,’” Iorlano said. “They made some great strides individually and as a team. I’m very happy for them.”