The Section IV soccer postseason gets underway next week. The Ithaca High School boys soccer team will be one of many local teams hoping to bring some hardware back to town, and the way they’ve played throughout the regular season has shown plenty of promise in that regard.
The Little Red holds a 9-1 record, as of October 4. They have already clinched the STAC West Division title for the second time in three years, reclaiming the crown from Elmira. Despite graduating 14 seniors from last season’s squad, head coach Jonathan Billing knows they have not seen any drop in quality.
“We didn’t lose anything as far as skill-wise and talent-wise,” Billing said. “Some of these kids have been playing together for a long time. I think that’s really been the foundation that we’ve built everything this year on and working on the different combinations that might be playing well together on any given night.”
The Little Red had a tough test right from the get-go against defending Section III Class AA champions Fayetteville-Manlius, falling 3-2 in overtime. Since then, they’ve clearly struck a chord and found their identity.
“They work hard for each other,” Billing said. “I think some players are willing to put in the energy and effort for the betterment of the team. I think there’s a bit of push and urgency sometimes not necessarily for yourself, but for everybody. That’s the constant message that the coaching staff is pushing right now. They’re all talented soccer players. But I think when you’re working for each other, it takes an extra level up in play.”
One valuable trait that the Little Red has this year is that they’ve found multiple ways to win games. They’ve been able to grind out low-scoring victories, like their 1-0 win over Elmira. They’ve also prevailed in multiple high-flying shootouts, out-dueling Horseheads 4-3 and Vestal 5-4. Having a tremendous amount of depth has been paramount to that sort of success.
“We’ve had a lot of guys step up,” Billing said. “We’ve got guys willing to share the ball. We’ve got guys willing to work hard to get those assists or open up an opportunity for somebody else.”
When last year’s top scorer Charley Leyden Githler suffered a season-ending injury in the first game of this year, someone needed to take the mantle as the go-to goal machine. Ben Susskind has risen to the occasion by some measure. The senior has 14 goals through the opening 10 games. It’s his first season on the varsity team after playing club soccer in Rochester the last three years, and it’s been quite the debut campaign.
“He’s a tremendous player,” Billing said. “He has lots of experience. He’s had really good coaching. We build the team around players. It’s also getting him to work into the routines and the ways that we want things to happen as a coaching staff for our team. He’s gelled really well. He’s been in school with a lot of these kids and knows these kids, and I think this is a great opportunity for a senior to come back and just play his heart out.”
The Little Red has had 12 different players get on the scoresheet, including sophomore Felix Teschl (seven goals) and junior Sam Lima (five goals). Helping them set up all those goals is a deep midfield that features seniors Adrian Beers and Sebastian Pineros, junior Porter DeRito, and sophomores Jasper Hall and Marshall Kootsikas.
The area of the pitch where the Little Red lost the most talent was in their defense, including All-State goalkeeper James Reiter, now playing at nationally-ranked Babson College. Senior Joseph Barbash and junior Wren Selin have shared time in between the sticks. Whoever is in goal, they’ll be helped out by the experienced senior defender Bennett Rickard.
“Bennett’s kind of been able to secure the back,” Billing said. “He’s probably one of the best headers in our league, just clearing every defensive header. We also have a whole host of juniors who can play defense. Every night’s been a slightly different look with who’s playing in the back. We’re pretty strong back there.”
While there are a few more regular season games to go, Ithaca will be playing for a STAC championship on October 15 at the Metro division champion, which will most likely be Vestal. If the Little Red can sustain their staggering run of form, it’s sure to be a fruitful postseason.
“[We’re] trying to get some more clean sheets,” Billing said. “We’ve had a couple here, but the more we can keep opponents out of our end [the better]. Night after night we’re getting almost double-digit opportunities on goals and shots, so we just need to continue to get our looks, continue to score, but also shut down the other team. I think that’s gonna be our recipe for success as we move forward here.”
