Mather downs Roosevelt to capture regional title

Updated: October 22, 2011 9:18PM

Qudus Lawal and Steven Younus are the heart and soul of Mather’s soccer team. Tough, fearless and skilled, the two are dynamite in the open space and the key reasons for the Rangers’ Public League championship.

Both dominate with or without the ball, providing a multidimensional attack. With the stakes getting bigger with each match, the two are intent on showcasing their individual and collective talents.

Younus recorded a hat trick and two assists and Lawal added two goals and an assist as the Rangers downed Premier rival Roosevelt 8-2 to capture the Elmwood Park Class 2A regional Saturday.

It was the team’s second consecutive regional title. The Rangers advance to Tuesday’s Ridgewood sectional semifinal against the winner of the Kelvyn Park and Lake View game. Mather remains unbeaten (13-0) against Public League competition.

“We have a lot of different guys on this team, Nigerians and Mexicans, but we all play together as a team, all 11 of us,” the Iranian-born Younus said.

Familiarity played a key. “We beat them 3-1 in conference this year,” Younus said. “We knew coming in what they liked to do and how they like to play.”

Roosevelt remained close for the opening 25 minutes, using a Victor Pizano goal to sandwich scores by Younus and Lawal.

As they have done all year, Mather (16-3-1) separated themselves with a scoring blitz in the final minutes of the first half. Younus scored his second tally and assisted forward Chizom Ogbonna during a three-minute burst to power that extended the Rangers’ advantage to 4-1 at the break.

In a four-minute flurry of the second half, Younus and Lawal scored a goal apiece to put the game out of reach. Midfielders Daniel Arellano and Eseh Godman added goals.

Mather got a scare when Lawal was clipped from behind and spent nearly ten minutes on the field, where trainers attended to his left shin. He was taken off on a golf cart. The injury was not expected to be serious.

“This is what we’ve been playing for,” Lawal said. “We won the conference, we won the city, but this is our ultimate goal, winning a state title.”

Pizano added a second-half goal for the Rough Riders (7-3).

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