Crusaders overcome Middletown in second half surge
Middletown. Middletown scored two points early in the game, but the Crusaders push past them in the second half.
| 12 Oct 2022 | 07:53
Crusader Neptaly Castro, #9, battles his way past a Middletown defender.
Ibrahim Cela, #14, kicks a loose ball into the net to start the comeback.
Trevor Lagarde, #12, looks to move past the Middies defense.
Alex Exarchakis, #25, center of photo, celebrates the game winning goal with his teammates.
The Crusaders traveled to Middletown to face the Middies in a soccer league match on Friday afternoon, Oct.7. The Crusaders entered the game with a 4-5-1 record on the season after dropping their last game to Mamaroneck 1-0. The Middies entered the game with a 5-5 record after losing their last game to Washingtonville 2-1. The Crusaders beat the Middies 6-0 on September 15 when they visited Monroe earlier in the season.
The Middies surprised the Crusaders when they scored a goal eleven minutes into the game to take a 1-0 lead. Six minutes later the Middies struck again, and the stunned Crusaders were down 2-0. The Crusaders began to turn their fortunes around when, after a mad scramble in front of the Middies net, Ibrahim Cela poked the ball past a diving Middie goalie.
The goal seemed to wake the Crusaders up and they began to press the Middies. Two minutes later the Crusaders tied the score when Trevor Lagarde’s free kick was headed into the net by Alex Exarchakis and the score was tied at 2 as the teams went into the half.
In a very physical second half of the game Exarchakis found a loose ball at the top of the box and blasted it through traffic into the Middies net. The goal finished off the Crusaders come back as they went on to a 3-2 win over the Middies.
The Crusaders victory brings their record to 5-5-1 on the season with a 4-0 record in Division 1 play this year. The Crusaders will travel to Arlington on Monday where they face the Admirals.
The Crusaders began to turn their fortunes around when, after a mad scramble in front of the Middies net, Ibrahim Cela poked the ball past a diving Middie goalie.