Elmira District Boys Soccer

In the opener, Corning continued to struggle finding that extra pass to set up its strikers, failing to even hit the post with any one of its 14 shots on goal against EFA. Down 1-0 entering the second half, the Hawks put together a strong 10-minute stretch which kept EFA keeper Bobby McGinnis on his toes. Corning kept the ball in its own end, stripped EFA defenders, forced a corner kick and had a direct kick from the 31-minute mark of the second through the 26- minute mark, but came up empty. Kevyn Rustici was the lone scorer in that game. Academy coach Derek Hamilton described Rustici's goal as "spectacular." Tyler Sampsell took a 45 -yard direct kick and found Rustici for the header inside the 18-yard box, which found it's way into the sid net at the far post. "We're definitely struggling to put the ball in the back of the net. That's been our weakness," said Corning coach Chad Freelove. "The midfielders control the ball, we do a nice job of that, but we're so young and trying to make too quick of decisions and the touch at times isn't getting to the peoples' feet. We're able to string two or three passes together, but all of the sudden that last pass is the one we're struggling to find." Not everything was so glum for the Hawks, holding EFA to one goal on 21 shots despite playing a grueling schedule of five games in seven days to start the season. "It was nice to see the kids play with a sense of urgency," Freelove said. "Four games in a matter of six days is a lot to ask of the kids." EFA keeper Bobby McGinnis earned his first shutout of the season as he turned away everything Corning hit at him. The Hawks (1-3) were to play Campbell-Savona at 5 p.m. in Saturday's consolation round with the EFA/Bath championship game scheduled to follow.