October has not been kind to the Newburgh Free Academy boys’ soccer team.

At a time when the Goldbacks were hoping to be playing their best soccer, wins have been difficult to come by, as they lost three of their four games this month, after falling to the Middletown Middies, 2-1, on Friday night at Academy Field.

The Goldbacks’ only win this month came on October 7, when they defeated the Pine Bush Bushmen, 4-1, at Academy Field. Against everyone else, it’s been a struggle since they beat the Middies on Sept. 27 at Faller Field.
The Goldbacks won that game, 1-0, but three days later suffered a road loss to the Monroe-Woodbury Crusaders and a 3-2 loss to the Kingston Tigers on October 4.

They opened last week with a 2-1 non-league loss to John Jay-East Fishkill on October 9.

The loss dropped the Goldbacks into a second-place tie with the Tigers in the Orange County Interscholastic Athletic Association Division and could have them facing a third seed in the Section 9 Class AAA tournament.

The Goldbacks fell behind almost immediately on Friday as Middletown’s Juan Arzu scored in the game’s fourth minute to give the Middies a 1-0 lead. He added another goal in the second half off a corner kick from Jose Pelaez in the 54th minute, giving his team a 2-0 lead.
Justin Saravia scored the Goldbacks’ lone goal in the 66th minute.

The Goldbacks had opportunities to score throughout the game but were unable to find the back of the net. Saravia had a shot go wide about a minute after Arzu’s first goal, and Dennis Ayala had a shot go high off a corner kick. Olvin Flores had a shot directly at Middletown goalkeeper Axy Jetzer, but it was saved.

The second half saw more opportunities, but Anthony Martinez’ shot sailed over the crossbar.

The Goldbacks were scheduled to play their final divisional game on Monday when they were scheduled to host the division-leading Monroe-Woodbury Crusaders.

The Goldbacks were scheduled to honor their 11 seniors.