Garden City boys soccer shuts out Tappan Zee in regional final to reach state semifinals

The boys soccer players from Garden City may need a wake-up call next Saturday morning. But that’s OK because it figures that there’s nothing else they would rather do than rise early that day to play in the Class AA state final four up in Middletown.

The undefeated Trojans combined a goal from Dylan Fisher early in the second half with their usual airtight defense, and it added up Saturday to a 1-0 win over Section I champ Tappan Zee in their Southeast Regional Final at Armonk’s Byram Hills High in Westchester.

So Garden City will face Section IX winner Goshen Central in the semis at 8:30 a.m. in those state semifinals.

“It’s been in the works for many years, a lot of hard work,” Fisher said. “The season really started in the beginning of July with everyone putting the work in, showing up over the summer. It takes a group effort.”

This group is now 21-0. It needs two more wins to claim the program’s first state championship.

“I’m just very happy for the team, for all the players,” coach Paul Cutter said. “It’s a reward for all the work that they put in.

“We went up in 2017. It’s such a special week. So I’m just going to try to have the team of boys be as prepared as possible, but also take a second and try and appreciate where we got to and enjoy the moment.”

Fisher’s big moment came about four minutes into the second half. The junior is a defender, but he made a run from right back. He took a feed from senior midfielder Connor Griffin and sent a low shot toward the far post that beat Nico Waldhauser from about 16 yards, in the right side of the box.

“On offense, we like to strive on getting our left back and right back going up the line, getting crosses in the box,” Fisher said. “We’ve been working on it all season, and it paid off.”

Waldhauser made nine saves for the Dutchmen (17-3), who were in a regional final for the first time. Trojans senior goalkeeper Ian Pupke had to make just one save. Garden City contained senior forward Brady Jacobs, Rockland County’s all-time leading goal scorer with 104.

This was shutout No. 16 for the Trojans. That includes all five postseason games.

“They’re very coachable, very athletic,” Cutter said. “They have a game plan. They stick to it. The aggression is phenomenal. They’re good soccer players, as well. I think part of the shutouts, as well, is the amount of possession that we have. We don’t really give other teams too much of the ball, so they don’t get too many chances.”