The first score came on a penalty kick.

It turned out to be all the third-seeded Kingston Tigers would need, but not all they would get as they eliminated the No. 2 Newburgh Free Academy boys’ soccer team from the Section 9 Class AAA semifinals on October 24 with a 3-0 victory at Academy Field in Newburgh.

“We got outplayed in all aspects of the game,” Newburgh coach Matt Iorlano said. “I won’t say that’s our fault. Give it to Kingston. They played a great game. They challenged every 50/50 ball. They just outplayed us. They physically outplayed us.”

The penalty kick came with 11:52 remaining in the first half, after a flurry of activity in front of the goal.

“The PK changed things real early,” Iorlano said. “That’s a tough call to make. They called a handball on that one and three or four other ones, they’re yelling, ‘no.’ It was the same exact play, but the referees didn’t cost us the game. It is what it is.”

Newburgh goalkeeper Isaac Ortega stopped several shots, but a handball penalty gave Andrew Foster a penalty kick. He fired a shot past Ortega, giving the Tigers a 1-0 lead.

“The kid made three great saves and we just couldn’t clear the ball,” Iorlano said. “That was the problem. We can make two good saves and we can’t clear it. We swing and miss two or three times. Things didn’t go our way today.”

Caden Fitzgerald widened Kingston’s lead to 2-0 in the game’s 35th minute, sending the game to halftime with the Tigers leading 2-0.

The Goldbacks had opportunities to get back in the game in the second half, and Anthony Martinez had their best opportunity to score after a ball rebounded after the Kingston goalkeeper.

However, his header went over the crossbar, and he reacted in frustration.

“We picked a bad day to not have such a great day,” Iorlano said. My hats off to Kingston. They played fantastic. (Middletown) is going to have their hands full with them on Thursday. They have a lot of guys that work real hard.”

Kingston’s Keegan Oxford buried the Goldbacks’ hopes with about 10 minutes to go with the Tigers’ third goal of the game.

The Goldbacks had struggled throughout the month of October but entered the game coming off a win over 1-0 top-seeded Monroe-Woodbury. The Crusaders were eliminated by the Middletown Middies on October 24, as well.

“The effort was there, but we just got outplayed,” Iorlano said. “I’m not going to lie to them. We got outplayed and I appreciate the effort they put in. Unfortunately, sometimes that isn’t enough.

Somebody’s got to win, and somebody’s got to lose, and today, they were the better team.”