On Saturday, Sept. 17, Harrison and Rye wrote another chapter in the storied rivalry between the two schools, this time on the soccer pitch, as the Huskies’ girls topped Rye 2-1 in an overtime thriller at Harrison High School. Both the Huskies and Garnets appear to be among the top teams in Class A this year, and Saturday’s showdown promised to be a preview of the grueling battle for a league championship that could come down to the two soccer powers.
Harrison senior Kayla Hymowitz netted the game-winner shortly into the overtime period, beating Rye goalie Hannah Freidrich on a header to give Harrison the win and push the Huskies to 3-3 on the season. Both teams scored in the first half, and played to a scoreless draw in the second in order to push the game into extra time.
Harrison’s defense, led by Nicole Waldman and goalie Kate Ryan, who notched 14 saves, clamped down after the Hymowitz goal to preserve the win.
According to Huskies’ coach Jon-Erik Zappala, games between the Huskies and Garnets always come with added intensity, due to the longstanding rivalry and both teams having their sights set on a league title this year.
“The adrenaline, you can feel it, and so can the girls from both teams,” he said. “I just thought on Saturday that we did a great job communicating on the field, our first touch was excellent and we had really great chemistry.”
Although he believes his team gave up too many scoring opportunities to the Garnets, Zappala feels that playing in a high-energy, overtime game should benefit his team as the season wears on.
“It definitely plays a major role having these early overtime games,” Zappala said. “It’s getting you ready physically, mentally and emotionally for what can lie ahead because a lot of the sectional games can come down to overtime.”
Rye was able to bounce back from Saturday’s loss with a 1-0 win over Lakeland on Monday, Sept. 19. Sara DeGraw scored the game’s lone goal in the first half and Friedrich came up big with an impressive stop with five minutes to play in order to keep the Garnets on top. The Huskies, who traveled to Tappan Zee on the same day, were not as lucky, as they fell 3-0 to the Dutchmen without Hymowitz and several other key players, who were recovering from minor injuries.
“We were dealing with a couple of strains,” Zappala said. “But Tappan Zee hustled, they played very fast, and gave 100 percent the whole time.”
