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STAC West Boys Soccer Should Be Competitive Division
By Andrew Legare
alegare@stargazette.com
Star-Gazette
It's still August, but already the race for the Southern Tier Athletic Conference West boys soccer championship is rounding into an intriguing, competitive battle.
The division's top two teams from last year -- defending overall STAC champion Horseheads and defending Section 4 Class A champion Elmira Free Academy -- met on Saturday and Horseheads won a back-and-forth game 3-2.
Today's game between Horseheads and already 2-0 Corning, set for a 1 p.m. start at Corning Memorial Stadium, promises more excitement.
Area soccer fans can expect these types of games all season.
"We have four teams that can pretty much beat or lose to anybody on any given day," EFA coach Derek Hamilton said. "It says a lot for soccer in our area, especially our youth programs."
Said Corning coach Chad Freelove: "It's going to be really competitive in the West this fall compared to the last couple of falls. Things are a little more spread out between the teams. I think EFA has seven or eight seniors coming back, we have 15 seniors and Horseheads doesn't have as many seniors, but it's still Horseheads. They're always good."
Hamilton's team has one strike against it in its bid to stop Horseheads' stranglehold on division supremacy. The Blue Devils will get another shot at the Blue Raiders later this season, and Hamilton said games within the division should be the deciding factor as to who emerges with the title.
"The team that takes the majority of those division games is going to be victorious in the STAC West in the end," Hamilton said.
A look at the four STAC West boys soccer teams:
•Horseheads: The Blue Raiders are coming off a 15-3-2 season that saw them win the overall STAC title, finish as the Section 4 Class AA runner-up and earn a No. 15 ranking in the final New York State Sportswriters Association rankings. That's the good news. The bad news is only one starter from that team -- Rejean Archambeault -- returns this season. Another returner Horseheads is counting on is Brian Kawzenuk.
Among the 14 seniors lost to graduation were Andrew McIntosh, a second-team all-state selection and a member of the adidas East Region team.
With all the fresh faces, veteran coach Curt Grottenthaler said it's imperative those new players become acclimated to the speed of the varsity game.
•Elmira Free Academy: EFA bounced back from a 2-11-3 record two years ago to finish last season at 9-7-3 and win the Section 4 Class A championship. The Blue Devils' season ended with a 2-0 loss to Goshen in the state quarterfinals. EFA, which is 1-1 this season, finished with a No. 10 Class A state ranking last year.
Though Academy lost three all-division or all-conference players from that group, there's still plenty of talent on the team. Eleven players are back, including nine seniors.
Among the key returners are goalie Bobby McGinnis, who had six shutouts last season and was named to the all-division team. Also back are midfielder Joey Burin (five goals, five assists), forward Kevyn Rustici (10 goals) and defender Mike Chrabazcz, an all-division selection.
Academy doesn't have an easy road, with 12 of its 16 regular-season games against Class AA teams.
•Corning: No team in the division returns as many players as Corning, which has 17 players back from last season and 15 seniors on the roster. The Hawks were 6-8-4 last season and are already a third of their way to matching that win total this year.
Among the returners are junior goalie Craig Allen, junior midfielder George Baity, senior forwards Chris Davis, Justin Divens, A.J. Johnson and Jakub Mlejnek; senior defenders Jason Collins, Charles Devine, Greg Ginnan, Charlie McLaren and Stephen Dombrowski; senior defender/midfielder David Hoffman and senior midfielders Josiah Knowles, Ben Nix, Adam Shafer, Michael Solano and Chris Stratford.
•Southside: The Green Hornets are off to an 0-2 start as they face a tough schedule against the STAC West and some very talented teams in the conference's Metro division.
"We are very young, with two freshmen, two sophomores and four juniors in the potential starting lineup," Southside coach Steve Mastronardi said. "Talent is good and the team has been working hard. If we stay tight in the back and play solid defense, we will be OK."
Top returners for Southside include Mike Frame, Tyler Spencer, Mike Weaver, Joe Sullivan, RJ Woodard, Roger Staples and Kyle Murphy.
The EFA Boys Varsity socccer team officially got their season underway with a 5-0 thumping of the Binghamton Patriots at Binghamton Alumni Stadium. Binghamton is a Class AA school providing the Devils with 5 big sectional points in the victory.
The technically sound Blue Devils actually had the advantage playing away from home on the fast and true artificial turf of the stadium. EFA used their speed and crisp passing to consistantly move the ball through the midfield to build the attack with the front-runners. The first goal of the contest began with a ball played into space from senior left-back Cory Hill that sophomore Ross Holden ran onto in the left corner of the field. Holden gathered the pass and found senior Joey Burin in support who, after receiving the ball, beat a Binghamton defender at the corner of the box and unselfishly squared the ball to on-running senior Kevyn Rustici. Rustici one-timed the pass and hammered the ball into the net past a diving Binghamton keeper to give EFA a spectacular 1-0 lead. Moments later, Burin would find himself on the opposite corner of the 18-yard box on a pass from junior midfielder Matt Cascio. Burin roasted the Patriots' defender as he crossed the ball behind his leg to his opposite foot and slotted the ball home to give EFA the 2-0 advantage going into the half.
The Blue Devils came out of the intermission with great confidence and it showed. Ten minutes into the 2nd half, junior Francesco Mannino was brought down in the penalty area and the official had no other option than to award EFA a penalty kick. Burin calmly knocked the ball home and EFA took a 3-0 advantage that really seemed to take the wind out of Binghamton's sail. Moments later, Burin would return the favor Cascio provided him with earlier in the contest as he Cascio would blast a shot into the upper-left hand corner of the net from 25-yards out on an assist from Burin to put the Devils up 4-0.
Tommy Hornbuckle converted a left-footed shot after tracking a throughball down from Rustici with about 15 minutes remaining in the contest to score EFA's final goal giving the Devils the 5-0 win and their first win of the season.
Bobby McGinnis earned his 1st shutout of the season and 9th of his career at Elmira Free Academy; however, the play of Mike McGinnis, Mike Chrabaszcz, Hunter Reed, and Cory Hill played a significant part in the effort.
EFA moves on to play Ithaca, Friday, August 31st, 1:00 pm @ Elmira Free Academy.
EFA Goals-assists: Joey Burin 2-2; Kevin Rustici 1-1; Matt Cascio 1-1; Tommy Hornbuckle 1-0.
Goalie saves: Bobby McGinnis (EFA) 3; Sam Guy (B) 8.
Shots-corners: EFA 15-8; Bing. 5-3.
EFA Boys Soccer Listed As One of "Five Stories To Follow This Fall" by Star-Gazette
August 26, 2007
By Al Losey
alosey@stargazette.com
Star-Gazette
STAC West strong in boys soccer
Last year, the Elmira Free Academy boys soccer team beat Owego Free Academy 1-0 to win the Section 4 Class A championship, its first sectional title in 17 years. The Blue Devils eventually lost in the state quarterfinals, 2-0 to Goshen.
Things look just as bright for the Devils this season, but nine-time defending STAC West champion Horseheads looms as the first barrier to EFA's immediate goal.
"We've got our sights set on the STAC West title," EFA coach Derek Hamilton said. "Of course, Horseheads is tough, but our team has been three years in the making. Teams like ours don't come along that often."
After a 2006 record of 9-7-3 and a final state ranking of No. 10, EFA returns 11 core players, including goalkeeper Bobby McGinnis, midfielder Joey Burin, forward Kevyn Rustici and defender Mike Chrabazcz.
"We lost just three starters from last year," Hamilton said. "So, we've got a lot of starters back. That's why this team is so rare. And it's like an 18-person family. They're all friends."
Horseheads was the STAC West and STAC overall titles and finished second in the section in Class AA and No. 15 in the final state rankings. But a big concern is that the team lost 14 seniors to graduation.
EFA Drops Season Opener to Horseheads 3-2
Star-Gazette - August 26th, 2007
In a game with three lead changes, Horseheads scored the game-winner with 18 minutes left to defeat Southern Tier Athletic Conference West rival Elmira Free Academy 3-2 in boys soccer Saturday.
Mike Wallin led the Blue Raiders with a goal and an assist, and Kyle Wright and Tyler Nolan added a goal each. Jordan Nolan had two assists. Brian Kawzenuk had three saves for the win.
Nick Lian and Frankie Mannino each had a goal for EFA. Bobby McGinnis had five saves.
Corning Leader - August 26th, 2007
Having lost 14 seniors, and 10 starters, Horseheads probably looked like easy pickings in Saturday's season-opening STAC West boys soccer game.
However, the Blue Raiders have a habit of releading , and quickly.
Tyler Nolan took brother Jordan Nolan's assist and banged in a game-winning goal with 18 minutes left in the game to beat division rival Elmira Free Academy on Saturday. Horseheads never trailed by more than one goal in the back-and-forth game.
"I'm just extremely proud of my guys, we're really young after losing 14 seniors. I had 10 starters leave last year, and EFA is a reallly quality team," said Horseheads coach Curt Grottenthaler. "This gives (the players) great confidence to start the season."
Mike Wallin scored a goal and an assist for the Raiders, while Kyle Wright scored a game-tying goal in the second half. Jordan Nolan finished with two helpers. Meanwhile, first-year starting goalie Brian Kawzenuk made four saves.
EFA got goals from Nick Lian and Francesco Mannino.
Horeseheads will play at Binghamton at 7 p.m. Monday.
Scoring (EFA) - Lian (1-0), Mannino (1-0), Kevyn Rustici (0-1), Ross Holden (0-1)
Scoring (HHDS) - J. Nolan (0-2), T. Nolan (1-0), Wright (1-0), Wallin (1-1)
Shots on goal - HHDS (8), EFA (5)
Cornerkicks - HHDS (4), EFA (8)
Saves - Kawzenuk (3), B. McGinnis (5)
Devils Defeat Bath 2-1 in Final Preseason Match
The EFA Boys Varsity Soccer team outlasted the Bath-Haverling Rams 2-1 in a game well played by both teams.
EFA boasted a 9-3 shot advantage and never trailed during the contest, but the persistant Rams refused to go away. 15 minutes into the contest, Bath was whistled for a foul about 25-yards away from goal in the center of the field. Senior Kevyn Rustici patiently waited for the officials to walk off the 10 yards and struck a well placed shot over the wall towards the upper left corner of the goal. The ball violently struck the crossbar and deflected straight down towards the ground. Alert junior centerback Mike McGinnis, who had moved up from his defensive position to help offensively, followed the play up and headed the ball home to give the Devils a 1-0 lead.
20 minutes later, Bath got the break they needed. Senior Lucas Wales tracked a throughball down into the corner of the 18-yard box near the corner flag. Mike McGinnis followed the play and leaned on Wales to prevent a turn. In a controversial call, Wales fell to the ground and the Rams were awarded a penalty kick. Bath converted and tied the game at 1-1.
However, the Devils would strike back less than 10 minutes later on another set piece by Rustici. This time he needed no help. From the top left hand corner of the 18-yard box Rustici bent the free kick around the wall and inside the post on the near side of the goal to give EFA a 2-1 advantage going into the intermission. They would not relinquish that lead for the next 45 minutes.
17 minutes into the second half, senior centerback Mike Chrabazcz won a 50-50 tackle in his own defensive third. Bath was caught with too many men forward and Chrabazcz quickly started transition to Rustici. Kevyn quickly found senior midfielders Joey Burin on a neat ball through the midfield and Burin slipped a pass to the overlapping Joe Barbaro streaking down the left side. Barbaro one-timed the pass on goal and it slipped in under the crossbar. The Devils thought they had grabbed a 3-1 lead; however, Barbaro was whistled for off-sides on a very close play.
EFA finishes their preseason 2-0 and look ahead to their opening day game against STAC West foe the Horseheads Blue Raiders. The game will be played at Elmira Free Academy, Saturday August 25th, at 1:00 pm.
