Rebels Beat Syracuse to Stay Alive in New York Cup

The Albany Rebels needed a win on Saturday to keep their New York Cup hopes alive, and did just that, defeating the Syracuse Gaels 2-15 (21 points) to 0-5 (5 points) at a steamy Plumeri Sports Complex in Albany. The Rebels controlled the match throughout and cruised to their 7th victory of the season.

The Rebels are now 2-1 in the New York Cup, so they would need to beat Buffalo on the road next Saturday and win by more than four points to win the tie-breaker and bring home the league title.

“We did our job today,” said Mark Adam, Rebels co-head coach. “Every guy on this team worked hard and contributed to the win. Now we need to focus on Buffalo.”

Midfielder Tom Caldwell got the Rebels started on Saturday, scoring the first few points of the game. The Rebels began to pull away in the second quarter, scoring a goal and six points during that period. Ian Maher created the goal when he launched a long ball from the right side of the midfield line into the box where Ryan Moloney volleyed it past the goalkeeper.

"I made a long run to the back post, mostly expecting to pull the defender away," Moloney said, "but saw the ball coming my way and just reacted without time to even think about it."

Maher scored a goal of his own in the second half, going on an individual run through the Syracuse defense before blasting a shot past the keeper.

Albany played strong defense all game, denying Syracuse’s playmakers and getting back behind the ball in transition. It was a great team effort given the extreme heat.

Rookie forward John DeCourcey performed well in his debut, scoring three points while winning a number of 50-50 battles.

Rebels scorers included Maher (1 goal, 2 points), Moloney (1 goal, 2 points), Caldwell (4 points), DeCourcey (3 points), Brian Kanalley (2 points), Tim Gerrish (1 point) and Mike Lee (1 point).

New York Cup Standings

Team-Win-Loss-Draw

1) Buffalo-3-0-0

2) Albany-2-1-0

3) Syracuse-0-4-0