Seeded second for the Section V Class A boys soccer playoffs, Spencerport got one goal, in each half from junior Max LaRosa and senior Justin Hockenberger to defeat seventh-seed Greece Athena 2-1 in a spirited match.
Both teams traded scoring chances in the opening 30 minutes with Rangers senior Ajan Rajamohan having his direct kick from inside midfield headed just over the crossbar by classmate Robby Streicher in the sixth minute.
Three minutes later a feed from Hockenberger to freshman Jacob Lenhard was knocked just wide of the net.
The Trojans countered with two chances of their own, the first tipped just over the crossbar by Rangers goalkeeper Jadon Schlierf and the second deflecting off Schlierf and the left post before being cleared.
Spencerport got on the board at 31:05 as junior Greg Ranieri dribbled from midfield before sending a thru-pass to LaRosa who put it home for a 1-0 lead.
Just 84 seconds later Athena tied the game 1-1 on a CJ Takatch tally.
What would prove to be the game-winning goal was scored 2:15 into the second half as Hockenberger put a ball on net that skidded on the wet turf part the Athena net-minder and into the net.
“I was not going to shoot and was looking for a teammate on the far side, but I saw an opening, put a low shot in and it skipped in,” Hockenberger said.
In the 63rd minute Athena was awarded a penalty kick, but it was nixed when the shooter started and stopped, which is not permitted. Schlierf made the stop on the attempt diving to his left as insurance.
“We knew we were the better team,” Schlierf said. “Last year we went out early (in the playoffs), so we really wanted to bounce back this year.”
The last three years we lost our first game at sectionals, so we wanted to win this one and now go on and win it all,” Hockenberger stated.
The Rangers defeated Brockport 2-0 in the pre-quarterfinals and now advance to the Class A semi-finals against third-seed Brighton.
