York College men's soccer team sees eight-game unbeaten streak ended
They say in life that all good things must come to an end.
The York College men's soccer team learned that lesson on Wednesday, when its recent streak of hot play was cooled a bit in the Spartans' regular-season finale.
York came into Wednesday's Capital Athletic Conference battle vs. St. Mary's riding an 7-0-1 streak in its last eight games. The Spartans had positioned themselves for a shot at capturing the CAC regular-season title. However, an early goal by Zach Fontenot sprung the Seahawks to the lead in the 12th minute.
York appeared energized after intermission, getting several good chances to tie the contest, but the Spartans were unable to find the equalizer. By the time the Seahawks doubled the lead in the second half, there was little the home team could do to muster a rally and St. Mary's claimed a 2-0 triumph.
York dropped to 9-7-2 overall and 6-2-1 in the CAC, while the Seahawks improved to 7-8-2 overall and 3-5-1 in the CAC.
"Obviously (this loss) was tough," first-year York coach Evan Scheffey said. "Today, to St. Mary's credit, they came out and you could tell that they were fighting for a playoff spot."
The Seahawks, who also snapped a 17-match losing streak to the Spartans with the victory, managed to outshoot York by a 5-2 margin. The difference, however, was their ability to twice find the net on their limited chances, while York couldn't do the same.
"It all comes down to them converting a few chances," Scheffey said.
A quickly flurry of chances for the Spartans came early in the second half behind the play of Nigel Robinson. Robinson was able to get to a loose ball in the box before the St. Mary's keeper, but was unable to cross a pass to a teammate for an open-net tally.
About 10 minutes later, the home team came close again, only to see a shot sail just wide left of the cage.
Surviving those opportunities, the visitors pretty much sealed the victory when Sunny Chhatani converted on a shot inside the box off feeds from Nick Tait and Juwan Kearson.
While the setback was certainly a disappointment for Scheffey and his team, their recent run of hot play is something that the coach and players still feel good about.
"The second half of the year, after starting out 2-6-1, we've had a really good turnaround from all of the guys," Scheffey said. "Hopefully we can use this to refocus and move forward."
York was able to secure the No. 2 seed in the six-team CAC playoff field. The Spartans will be off until next Wednesday, when they play host to a semifinal contest against a yet to be determined opponent.
— Reach Ryan Vandersloot at sports@yorkdispatch.com.