Lights go out, Dixon and Sterling soccer bow out in delayed regional semifinals

GENESEO – In a boys soccer match delayed three times because of half of the field’s lights going out, Dixon’s offense never found a bright spot against Geneseo on Wednesday night.

The fifth-seeded Dukes lost 3-0 to the Leafs after battling to a scoreless 50-plus minutes in the Class 2A Geneseo Regional semifinal.

Fourth-seeded Geneseo (8-8-1) advances to face top-seeded Dunlap (18-1-2) in Saturday’s regional final at 11 a.m. The Eagles beat Sterling 7-0 in Wednesday’s first game at Geneseo Middle School.

Because of an apparent blown circuit breaker, the game was delayed three times for the shortage of light. After one side shut off a second time, all of the field’s lights were turned off in order to have the breaker replaced. After at least an hour of delays in total on a chilly night, the teams resumed around 8:30 with 16:17 left in the first half.

Dixon coach Josh Brigl said the delay was not an issue.

“That gave us a chance to rest, if anything,” he said, noting his team was subbing in players when the first delay happened. “Did it kill any momentum? Sure.”

Dixon had a good look at a free kick coming out of the first 30-minute delay, but the shot was blocked by Geneseo’s wall of defenders and turned away.

“We did what we could to contain and try to contain the play through the middle,” Brigl said. “Especially No. 17 [Cole Clifton], he’s electric.”

The speedy freshman was a difference-maker for Geneseo, scoring his first goal in the 52nd minute. Alex Snyder tacked on another for the Leafs with 10 minutes left. Clifton closed the win with his second goal in the final two minutes. Both of the two goals came off deflected shots.

“The second and third goal, two good saves; just great rebounds, good pursuit for the ball,” Brigl said. “Way to finish the play for them.”

Dixon keeper Ethan Bond helped keep the deficit at one, but the Dukes could not find an equalizer before Geneseo pulled away.

“It was a really tight game up until that moment,” Brigl said. “They’ve got some great goal scorers.”

Dixon had just four shots and one on goal in the loss.

Brigl thought the team played well. It just came up short.

“We had a really good first half, a lot of good intensity,” he said. “Second half, we had one big breakdown and from there, we have to push up and take more risks and that led to more chances.

Geneseo kept the offensive pressure on as it finished with 12 shots and eight on goal.

Brigl hopes the team has some momentum next season after 11 wins and a Big Northern Conference title, Dixon’s first since 2020. The Dukes had just 11 wins combined the previous two years.

Dixon loses two senior varsity starters, Cooper Fox and Hayden Yingling.

“They were great kids, good leaders, so we’ll miss Hayden and Cooper quite a bit,” Brigl said. “But we had a really strong freshman class, and we’ve got some younger players coming up as well.”

Dunlap 7, Sterling 0: The eighth-seeded Golden Warriors stuck with top-seeded Dunlap for 25 minutes, but the Eagles eventually showed why they are the top seed in the regional and now boast an 18-1-1 record.

Theo Balea and Jackson Orris each scored two goals, and Samuel Ott, Ben Hampton and Rohan Isaac also found the net for Dunlap. About 12 minutes of game time was cut when Dunlap scored its seventh goal in the last 25 minutes.

“I knew that we could compete,” Sterling coach Chris Interone said. “Playing a strong, organized defense was the key, and we were doing OK in the beginning. Then once they finally slipped through to our back line, that’s where they’re really dangerous.”

Dunlap’s first goal came in the 27th minute before Orris scored his 23rd and 24th goals of the season in the next 10 minutes.

“The first two goals kind of took the wind out of our sails,” Interone said. “And from there it was just trying to regain momentum.”

That moment never came as Dunlap advanced to play for a second straight regional title. Sterling closed the season 8-14-1.

Interone said he wished he had more time after he made some adjustments after taking over as coach midway through the season.

“When I made some adjustments, I think it was going to help us a little bit,” he said. “I just wish I had maybe another month to work with the team and maybe then we’d really figure it out.”

He said the team’s fitness improved this season, and the junior varsity squad has been promising.

“We’ve got a really strong JV team coming up,” he said. “So look for us in the future.”