Bryant Talbot knew that a high bar had been set for him.
Two years earlier, his older brother Dylan had scored a team-leading 23 goals while leading the Allegany-Limestone boys soccer team to an 18-2 record, a Section 6 Class C title and a spot in the Far West Regional. The elder Talbot was then named the Big 30 Co-Player of the Year, sharing the honor with Belfast’s Adam Enders.
As a senior this fall, Bryant took his own turn at being perhaps the top overall player for one of the best soccer programs in the area.
The younger Talbot led his team in both goals (22) and assists (17) while helping the Gators to a 15-3 mark and the Class B-2 title game, where they dropped a 2-1 heartbreaker to Eden, with Talbot collecting the helper. And though this A-L team fell a game short of the 2017 Gators (both siblings were contributors to that team), Bryant all but matched the standard that was put into place … all the way down to the hardware.
Bryant was recently named the Rich Sullivan Award winner as the Big 30 Boys Player of the Year, giving the Talbots their second major award in the last three years and A-L its fifth POY accolade since its inception in 2005. He was chosen among an impressive group of finalists that included Bradford’s Ian Grady, who finished second in the Big 30 with 29 goals, and Fillmore’s Levi Webb, who was No. 2 in Allegany County in total points (47; 19 goals, 9 assists) and led the Eagles to the state final four.
“It means a lot,” Talbot said. “It means all the work that I’ve put in over the years really paid off and showed throughout my high school career.” Of following in his brother’s footsteps, he added: “It definitely feels really cool. There were big shoes to fill and I worked hard enough to show that I was also deserving of the award.”
What made Talbot worthy of being named this year’s top player?
It’s the combination of talent and a good attitude, coach Jon Luce said.
“For him, it’s always been about the team,” Luce noted. “He’s just kind of accepted the role of whatever we needed him to do — whether that be an attacker, a midfielder; last year, he played a winger. His role has changed as he’s been on the team, but he’s been consistent in his production wherever we put him on the field.”
Talbot highlights a new-look Big 30 All-Star Team that consists of 12 first-time selections and just three repeat choices: Jack Snyder (Ellicottville), Webb (who made it as both a sophomore and senior) and Howie Stuckey (Port Allegany).
The fact that Talbot himself is a first-time all-star shouldn’t come as much of a surprise.
The Gators have always been a senior-laden, team-oriented group that hasn’t had to rely on a singular scoring star. Their success in recent seasons has revolved as much around an unrelenting backline and goalkeeper as anything they’ve done offensively (this year, A-L shut out 10-straight opponents, and 13 for the season, before falling to Eden in the sectional championship game).
And yet, when the Gators have needed to make a play, Talbot has generally been the catalyst.
As a sophomore, he finished third on his team with seven goals. In 2018, he was the leading assist man on a squad that went 16-2 and reached the Class B-2 semis. This fall, with each of the previous two leading scorers (his brother and Sam Flanders) having graduated, he made it more of a point to be a goal-getter.
“This year, he put a lot of pressure on himself needing to be that person to score the goals instead of just setting them up,” Luce said. “Actually, this year, he did kind of both — either doing it himself or including a teammate on the scoring chances.”
He added: “That’s also how our defense gets as great as they are; they practice against our offense every single day. It’s a serious battle between the offense and defense just trying to see who’s going to get the upper-hand. So even our defense can take some credit (for Talbot’s award) by pressuring them everyday to make them better as well. It’s definitely the whole team together.”
To Luce, it makes sense that both brothers would wind up winning the Rich Sullivan Award.
“They have a similar chemical makeup,” said the long-time A-L coach, who also counts Bryce Barker and Shane Ward (both in 2006) and Blake Barker (2010) as Big 30 POYs. “They’re both awfully dedicated to the sport. They’re both very unselfish. They would do whatever it would take in order for their team to have success.”
At one point, the Talbots might have engaged in some friendly banter over who was more deserving of the honor or who had the better high school career. A sibling rivalry once existed.
“When we were younger, there was a big rivalry because I was always better than my big brother,” Bryant maintained, “and I guess when we hit high school we both realized, ‘hey, we have to work together to be able to reach our goals.’”
Now, though, after helping the Gators maintain their long standard of success, and winning a sectional title together in 2017, they’re only supportive of one another. In fact, when the younger Talbot brought his Player of the Year plaque home following the awards ceremony at the Times Herald, one of the first persons he showed it to was Dylan, now a student at Alfred State.
“He said, ‘well, all your work has finally paid off — you proved yourself,’” remembered Bryant, who plans on majoring in business administration with a focus on finance in college. “So he was super happy for me.”
