Bees late rally falls short in state final

Byron-Bergen won their third consecutive Section Five boy's soccer title after a 17-3-1 season and faced East Rochester for the Class C State Tournament play-in game held at Holley.

In the first half, ER had an opportunity in the ninth minute, deflected wide on a sprawling save by Bees goalkeeper Robbie Fuller. In the 31st minute, B-B's Rian Morgan sent a cross into the box where Josh Barnard headed it just over the crossbar. Three minutes later, the Bombers took a 1-0 lead when Vince Correa took a long pass on what looked like an offside play and drilled it into the lower corner of the net.

The Bees challenged again just before halftime when Billy Schneider's direct kick found Adam Weatherbee in front of the net. Weatherbee's header just grazed the top of the crossbar.

Byron-Bergen again had more scoring opportunities in the second half, but East Rochester used their speed on the front line as the midfield consistently sent long outlet passes for breakaways. The Bombers converted in the 63rd and 69th minutes to take a 3-0 lead.

The Bees then poured on the offensive pressure for the rest of the game. In the 73rd minute, Joe Wiesser headed yet another ball over the crossbar. Just two minutes later, the Bees finally ended the shutout bid when ER was called for a handball in the box. Schneider drilled home the penalty kick to cut the lead to two. In the 88th minute, the Bees were awarded a corner kick and Seath Kent converted off a scramble in front to make it 3-2.

The last minute of the game was a flurry with Byron-Bergen getting two more opportunities when a direct kick from a hand ball was saved by the keeper and, with just seconds left, another direct kick from a foul skipped off the goalkeeper's hands as time expired.

Twelve seniors suited up for the Bees for the final time: Daniel Muller, Morgan, Chad Harter, Weatherbee, Billy Tyler, Barnard, Jeffrey Taylor, Rob Fritsch, Schneider, Kent, Octavio Lopes and Chris Mieney.