Elmira District Boys Soccer

Written by Joe Mink - www.stargazette.com - 8:25 PM, Oct 23, 2013

ELMIRA — Beating the same team a third time in one year is never easy.

Elmira was able to accomplish that against Horseheads, claiming a 1-0 overtime victory in the Section 4 Class AA boys soccer semifinals Wednesday at Southside High.

Curtis Grant scored off Logan Brimmer’s assist 9 minutes, 7 seconds into the extra session to help the Express (8-7-1) advance to the sectional championship, where it will face Ithaca on Nov. 2 at Wright National Fields in Oneonta.

The Express will try to keep Ithaca from doing to it what it did to Horseheads — win three straight meetings.

The Little Red defeated Elmira 3-0 on Oct. 2 and 2-1 on Sept. 12.

“We played better than that,” Grant said of the 3-0 contest.

Elmira coach Derek Hamilton’s take: “We know how hard it is to beat a team a third time in a season.”

Yet the Express pulled it off against the Blue Raiders (5-8-2) after Grant rushed up the middle, took a feed from Brimmer on the left side and pushed the ball into the net.

“I just broke through and finished,” Grant explained.

Pat Coster earned the shutout by making seven saves for the Express. Rhett Seeley also turned away seven shots for Horseheads.

Elmira controlled the ball for most of the second half and the overtime.

Grant came close earlier in overtime with a penalty kick a little less than six minutes in. The ball sliced into the left outside netting.

Horseheads threatened when Foster Clark fed Jose Garcia on the left side just before Grant’s game winner. That attempt sailed just over the crossbar.

“We had a few chances. We didn’t convert when we needed to,” Horseheads coach Mark Mucci said.

The Blue Raiders played evenly with the Express in the first half, and Mucci thought his team had the edge.

“We controlled the ball,” he said.

Their closest try may have come on a 60-yard free kick by Marc Andrien 10½ minutes into the game. It was just a bit high.

Hamilton thought the familiarity of the two teams and what was at stake may have affected how the the game was played.

“It was two teams trying not to make a mistake,” he said. “In the second half we had some opportunities, but there were only one or two great chances.”

The Express had a tough time with Horseheads each time out, winning 2-1 in overtime on Sept. 25 and 1-0 on Sept. 6.

Close games told the tale for the the Blue Raiders this season, as Mucci said his team lost six times by one goal.

“The record doesn’t show it, but we played well,” he said, adding that lack of offense held Horseheads back. “It was the bane of our existence.”

_______________________________________________________________________________________

 Elmira boys top Horseheads in OT

By Shawn Vargo svargo@the-leader.com
Posted Oct. 23, 2013 @ 8:02 pm  

ELMIRA – It took nearly 90 minutes before Elmira’s Curtis Grant scored the game’s only goal in overtime to lift the No. 2 Express to a 1-0 win over Horseheads in a Section IV, Class AA semifinal at Southside High School Wednesday.

The golden goal came with 5:53 remaining in the first 15-minute sudden death overtime period after the Express and third-seeded Blue Raiders battled to a scoreless tie in regulation. Grant was the leader of a three-on-two breakaway in the Horseheads zone after taking a pass from teammate Logan Brimmer. His shot slipped by Blue Raiders keeper Rhett Seeley to end the contest.

"I think it was very fitting that a soft goal was the game-winner," Elmira head coach Derek Hamilton said. "It was kind of a sloppy game by both teams."

The nine minutes of overtime actually had three of the better offensive opportunities of the game. With 9:09 left Grant was just wide with a free kick outside the 18, before Horseheads’ Jose Garcia sent a shot just wide of the net 1:30 later.

"We had our chances," Horseheads head coach Mark Mucci said. "We just needed it to be a foot more in.

"We had opportunities, but we just didn’t convert when we needed to. This is our sixth one-goal loss. We’ve struggled finishing."

In the first half, it was the Blue Raiders that controlled things offensively. Horseheads outshot Elmira 5-3 over the first 40 minutes. Express keeper Pat Coster needed just one save to keep the game scoreless, however, as most of the shots were high or wide.

One of Horseheads’ top opportunities came with 4:10 remaining in the half, when Chris Bankiatis took a feed from Ben Morse, but his shot was blasted over the cross bar.

Elmira’s best chance in the opening half came with 2:20 to play when Brimmer had what appeared to be a good look at the net, only to have Horseheads defender Gerardo Nunez block it.

The half ended with Bankiatis nearly floating a 35-yard shot into the goal, but Coster was there to tip it over the cross bar.

The second half saw Elmira pick its game up offensively. Kyle Johnson led the charge with back-to-back shots near the midway point of the period. His second shot was deflected by Seeley and cleared by a defenseman before any Express players could converge on the ball near the open net.

Elmira nearly broke the scoreless tie with 13:40 left in regulation when Grant spun a corner kick through the Horseheads defenders and Seeley, but no Express players were in a position to punch it in.

"We definitely had our opportunities in the second half," Hamilton said.

Hamilton lauded his defensive unit for playing strong throughout the contest.

"Our defense has been our strength," he said. "When we moved Caleb Johnson to defense, it changed our fortune.

"I also think that Joey Nugent is just phenomenal. He’s the best defender in the league."

Coster finished with four saves in the game, while Seeley stopped six for the Blue Raiders.

Elmira will travel to Oneonta to face No. 1 Ithaca on Nov. 2.

Elmira Scoring - Grant (1-0), Brimmer (0-1)

Shots/Corners - Elmira (12-8), Horseheads (10-4)

Saves - Elmira (Coster - 5), Horseheads (Seeley - 7)