Woodlands boys soccer team beats Dobbs Ferry behind Kermue’s four-goal outburst
By Skip Pearlman
The Woodlands High boys soccer team came up with a 5-2 victory over Dobbs Ferry last Thursday, but followed with a 4-1 home loss to Hasting Saturday in a non-league meeting.
Saturday at Woodlands (6-9), the Falcons ran into a solid Yellow jackets squad (11-5) that built a 3-0 lead by intermission.
Woodlands got its lone goal from Weston Maxwell 17 minutes into the second half, off a pass from Kevin Benedith, to make it a 3-1 game.
Edison Pintado stopped seven shots on goal for the Falcons.
“Hastings is a very good team, their record is no fluke,” Woodlands coach Colin Hemmings said. “They put three goals in in the first half, all in a 10-minute span… it was tough to keep them out of our end.
“In the second half we played a lot better,” Hemmings added. “We stuck to the script more, and even had a penalty shot (by Matt Williams) but their goalie saved it. We just dug ourselves too big a hole. Sumner Kataka played well for us on defense, and he’s played well in our last few games.”
Last Thursday at Woodlands, the Falcons struck first against Dobbs Ferry, with Prince Kermue scoring the first of his four goals 15 minutes into the game, assisted by Maxwell.
Dobbs Ferry responded with a goal five minutes later to tie the game, but the Falcons dominated the second-half scoring, with Kermue finding the back of the net three more times. Maxwell also had a goal and two assists in the half, and Luis Padilla and Toby Obealor each had an assist.
“It was a must-win game for us,” Hemmings said. “And with the importance of the game, the guys played well… we probably made it more difficult than it should have been, but Kermue, Maxwell, Kataka… they all played well. Especially Sumner. And Prince is a great player, with a lot of talent… he dribbles by guys, and he can finish. And he’s not selfish, he’s always looking to pass and get teammates involved.”
The Falcons had one regular-season game remaining, Monday against Sleepy Hollow (too late for inclusion in this issue) and needed a win or a tie to get into the sectional playoff tournament, which gets underway with first-round action Friday.
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