McAlpine's Heads-up Play Seals Colts' Win

Andrew McAlpine was the last line of defense. But when he headed a Comsewogue shot out of bounds with less than 7 minutes left, it snuffed out the Warriors' last shot at a tie game and overtime.

Score: Hills West 2, Comsewogue 1

Records: Hills West 10-0 (6-0 in Suffolk League IV); Comsewogue 4-4 (4-1 in League IV)

Heroes: Andrew McAlpine kept Hills West's unbeated record intact with the play of the game. When Colts goalie Michael Primiano rushed toward the front of the goalie box, he momentarily broke up a Comsewogue run with 7:00 left in the game and Hills West leading 2-1. But a collision left Primiano unable to get back in position and the ball rolling away from him.

A shot went up off the rebound and appeared to be headed for the back of the net. But just before it got there, McAlpine, who had been racing back toward the goal, headed it out of bounds. The score remained 2-1, and that is where it stayed.

"Right place at the right time," Colts coach Doug Gannon said of the play.

The Turning Point: In the game's second minute, Comsewogue let loose with its first shot of the game. But after making the save, Primiano immediately started a run downfield. The ball ended up on the foot of Brett Nason, who passed it ahead to Donovan Frasier. Frasier found himself with only the goalie to beat, and put the shot away to give the Colts a 1-0 lead with 38:15 left in the first half.

Later in the first half, the Colts were running again. This time, Dylan Greenberg hit a centering pass that Frasier was unable to head past Comsewogue goaltender Chris Friedl. But Justin Connor pounced on the rebound to put the Colts up 2-0 with 6:56 remaining in the first half. It was the last goal the Colts would score.

The Quote: "We've been stressing we have to put teams away and we didn't do that today," Gannon said. "We held on. It was a gutty win."

The Bottom Line: In between Comsewogue's opening a shot and its second, a laser of a shot that caromed off the crossbar with 12:00 left in the first half, the Colts had 16 scoring opportunities, none of which they were able to put past Friedl. In all, Hills West had 21 chances to score in the first half, and came away with two goals. The Colts were stymied for most of the second half as the Warriors made their move. But Comsewogue managed only one goal with 28:16 left in the game.

The Warriors had what might have been the tying goal waved off due to an offsides call with 26:26 left, and were whistled for a hand ball deep in the goalie box with 0:25 left in the game, allowing Hills West to run out the clock.

Who's Next: The Colts play at Huntington on Saturday, Oct. 9 at 2 p.m.