With their backs against the wall—and one of their top offensive threats sidelined with an injury—the Eastchester boys soccer team managed to keep its season alive last weekend, earning a 2-0 victory over Saunders in the Class A quarterfinal round. For the No. 4-seeded Eagles, the No. 5 Blue Devils presented a serious test but a late Eastchester goal and a terrific performance in net helped the home team take one step closer to a Section I title.

After the two squads battled throughout a scoreless first half, Carlo Ricchiuti put the Eagles on the board midway through the second, collecting a pass in the box and beating Saunders’ backup net minder who was forced to enter the game after a collision knocked the Blue Devils’ starter out of the game.

“That first whole half, we weren’t creating that many chances so we just had to kind of seize it,” Ricchuiti said. “Even if there was a new goalie in there, it doesn’t change anything. If you have a professional goalie in or you have someone who is in there because their goalie is hurt, you just have to shoot it where you think you’re going to score.”

Richuitti has now scored in each of the Eagles’ last five games, an important development considering standout forward Rintaro Miyawaki has been limited with a foot injury and did not play in Saturday’s matchup. But despite the senior’s absence, the Eagles were able to add to their cushion a few minutes later when a deep throw-in by Lucas McLaughlin resulted in a Saunders own-goal that gave the hosts a 2-0 lead. 

Eastchester keeper Aidan Savitt—who made eight saves on the day to seal the win—was tested over the final 15 minutes of the game and said that even a two-goal lead is never quite as comfortable as it seems.

“You think a two-goal lead sounds like a lot, it feels like it if you’re a field player,” said Savitt. “But you know that if you make two mistakes, it’s going to overtime, a shootout, and nobody wants that.”

With the victory, the Eagles earned the chance to take on top-seeded Tappan Zee on Oct. 27, after press time. The Dutchmen are coming off a 1-0 victory over No. 8 Lourdes in which Serxhio Nikolli scored the game’s lone goal just 10 minutes into play. 

“This has been like a dream come true, a couple of us have been four-year players,” said Richuitti. “Even though we started off bad in the regular season, I think we knew we could get here.”

“We can’t stop,” added Savitt. “We just need to keep on getting better and better every game.”

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