Elmira District Boys Soccer

Four area soccer teams have title shots today By Andrew Legare alegare@stargazette.com Star-Gazette November 4, 2006 Section 4 soccer championship game CLASS A BOYS •Who: Elmira Free Academy (8-6-3) vs. Owego Free Academy (11-2-5) •When: 1:30 p.m. today •Where: Soccer Hall of Fame, Oneonta With four high school teams playing for sectional championships today, much has already been proved as far as the local soccer scene is concerned. It's been proved that the feeder programs in the area, such as the Chemung Valley Soccer Association and the Soaring Capital Soccer Club, are having an impact. With Elmira Free Academy and Horseheads in sectional boys finals, it's been proved that teams from the Southern Tier Athletic Conference's West division can compete with, and beat, Binghamton-area teams that have shown up in the national rankings in recent years. With the Notre Dame and Lansing girls playing each other for the Class B title, the Interscholastic Athletic Conference has proved it can play with teams from the bigger schools in the Binghamton area. And with the Notre Dame boys playing in the Class C final, it's been proved that there's more than just the girls soccer team at that high school. The point is, win or lose, today is a good day for soccer in the Elmira area. "It's good for this area, to say the least," Horseheads coach Curt Grottenthaler said. "It's very exciting to see as many teams from our area playing as there are. It speaks volumes for the youth programs and what they are doing with the kids." Class A boys: EFA vs. Owego Elmira Free Academy's players have shown that when they get knocked down, they'll get back on their feet quickly and be prepared to deliver the next blow. This is the same EFA team that lost 11-0 to Horseheads to start the season, then beat the Blue Raiders. It's also the same group that gave up a tying goal to Maine-Endwell in the closing moments of the Class A semifinals, only to rebound and beat the Spartans on penalty kicks to qualify for today's game against Owego. "We kind of possess a never quit attitude," Academy coach Derek Hamilton said. "We were really shell-shocked when Maine-Endwell scored that goal with 20 seconds to go. We thought we had that game wrapped up. I think we showed a lot of perseverance and it showed a lot about our team that we eventually got a victory." EFA, the top seed, faces a third-seeded Owego team that knocked off second-seeded Johnson City to get here. However, with its No. 7 state ranking in Class A, Owego might actually be considered the favorite today. EFA is ranked 19th. "They have a ton of speed," Hamilton said. "They have some big ball-winners in the back. They have two center-midfielders with outstanding motors -- they run all day." Hamilton said he usually goes 16 players deep in a game, something that has been needed when players were lost to injury or for other reasons. Kevyn Rustici leads Academy with nine goals, with a lot of balance behind him. Hamilton said the key for his players today will be to settle down and play their game. Said Hamilton: "The first thing we have to do is make every attempt not to come out flat and not be overwhelmed or shell-shocked by the tremendous atmosphere of 10 games going on in the same day in what would be the Mecca of U.S. soccer at the Hall of Fame."