Greenwich holds on and advances to Class LL final 3-2 over Farmington #ctbsoc pic.twitter.com/0ymDSidL2q
— Scott Ericson (@EricsonSports) November 19, 2019
NAUGATUCK — The long wait is finally over for the Greenwich boys soccer team.
Greenwich, which last won a boys soccer title in 1961 and last played in a championship game in 1978, is going back to the title game.
The No. 14 Cardinals built a three-goal lead but had to hold on in the final moments, defeating No. 7 Farmington 3-2 in the CIAC Class LL semifinals at Naugatuck High School.
BOY SOCCER STATE TOURNAMENT SCOREBOARD
Greenwich will play No. 4 Hall in the state finals Saturday at either Dillon Stadium in Hartford of Veteran’s Stadium in New Britain.
Hall was the Class LL runner-up last season.
Max Pisacreta of Greenwich on going to a state final #ctbsoc pic.twitter.com/QTgZO9PSNl
— Scott Ericson (@EricsonSports) November 19, 2019
“It’s great. The first time since 1978,” Greenwich senior Max Pisacreta said. “Getting Kurt (Putnam) to his first state final, feels amazing.”
Greenwich (14-4-2) stunned Farmington with a goal less than five minutes into the game.
Joao Pedro Lima received a nice pass from Matias Lew, finishing strong from the left side of the net.
Greenwich would strike again, this time early in the second half with Farid Ghaliya finding space in the box and scoring for the 2-0 lead.
Colligan save 2;22 left #ctbsoc pic.twitter.com/aAK2C4gOIm
— Scott Ericson (@EricsonSports) November 19, 2019
The Cardinals then went up 3-0 on a firecracker of a shot from Isaac Dumeny, perfectly placed in the upper-left corner of the net.
Farmington (14-4-2) would not go quietly.
The Indians got on the board with 30:31 remaining on a penalty kick by Shrey Sharma after a handball was called inside the box on Greenwich.
Farmington kept up the pressure but Greenwich keeper Paddy Colligan made several difficult saves, preserving the lead.
Farmington finally got a goal during play when Sharma followed a rebound with a diving header with 3:33 to go.
Farmington would threaten and have the ball near the Greenwich goal during the final minute but could not get the equalizer.
“I can’t say enough about the intrinsic motivation of my team. They left everything on this field, tonight,” Farmington coach Nick Boorman said. “This is my first year as a head coach of this team and I couldn’t have asked for a better group of guys. They have high character, they work hard every single day and they represent the great town of Farmington at the highest level.”
PLAYER OF THE GAME
Max Pisacreta, Greenwich. Pisacreta’s job was to man-mark Sharma and he did that all night, keeping the dangerous scoring threat off the sheet until Sharma’s late rebound header.
QUOTABLE
“I brought Max (Pisacreta) in from left back to play as a man-marker (on Sharma) and I think he did a fantastic job,” Greenwich coach Kurt Putnam said. “I wouldn’t have expected (going to a state final) with this group. I didn’t know what to expect at the beginning of the season after graduating, basically, a whole program. To be honest, we have just worked very, very hard. The pressure these boys put on other teams is incredible. We had 11 guys working really hard behind the ball and in front of the ball.”
